| Course | APS-4020 Applied Quality Management |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Written assignment: achieving organizational excellence |
| Length | About 519 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | B.S.B.A. in Operations Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for APS 4020 Module 1
Bagels by the Thousand, Quality by Inspection: How Far a Wholesale Bakery Is From Excellence
Student Name
B.S.B.A. in Operations Management, Thomas Edison State University
APS-4020: Applied Quality Management
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Bagels by the Thousand, Quality by Inspection: How Far a Wholesale Bakery Is From Excellence
The Bakery Today
Our bakery employs 85 people across two shifts and produces about 40,000 bagels and 12,000 rolls a night. Quality means a packer pulling misshapen or burned products before they go on the truck. When a customer complains, the owner calls the night supervisor, who talks to the baker on duty. Last year customers returned or refused about 2.3 percent of deliveries, mostly for underweight bags, inconsistent bake color and late arrival.
What Total Quality Means
Goetsch and Davis (2020) describe total quality as an approach to doing business that attempts to maximize an organization's competitiveness through continual improvement of its products, services, people, processes and environments. They list key elements, including a strategically based approach, customer focus, obsession with quality, a scientific approach to decisions, long-term commitment, teamwork, continual process improvement, education and training, freedom through control, unity of purpose and employee involvement and empowerment. Total quality differs from traditional management in building quality into the process rather than inspecting defects out at the end.
Does It Pay?
Powell (1995) surveyed firms that took up total quality and found the gains came less from tools than from hard-to-copy behavior, such as committed executives, openness and empowered staff, rather than from techniques such as benchmarking and process improvement techniques, which competitors can easily copy. Hendricks and Singhal (1997) compared firms that won quality awards with similar firms and found that award winners outperformed them in operating income growth and other measures in the years after implementation. Together the studies suggest that quality programs pay when they reflect a real change in how the organization is managed.
Where the Bakery Stands
The rating shows a bakery that works hard and cares about its product but manages quality by inspection and reaction. Powell's findings suggest that buying new tools will not change this; what matters is whether the owners commit to involving employees and managing by data.
| Element | Our practice | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Customer focus | Complaints settled case by case; no customer survey | Weak |
| Scientific approach | Decisions by experience; no data on weights or color | Weak |
| Continual process improvement | Fixes after complaints; no ongoing projects | Weak |
| Teamwork | Strong within shifts; weak between bakers, packers and drivers | Moderate |
| Education and training | New hires learn by watching | Weak |
| Employee involvement | Bakers know the problems but are rarely asked | Weak |
| Long-term commitment | Owners invest in equipment, not in people or methods | Moderate |
Where to Begin
The weakest elements are linked: without data, the bakery cannot take a scientific approach, and without involving bakers, it cannot get the data, since bakers see the problems first. A sensible first step is therefore a simple daily log, kept by bakers, of oven temperatures, dough temperatures and products pulled, reviewed weekly with the supervisor.
Conclusion
Organizational excellence, as the textbook defines it, would mean building weight, color and timing into the process, listening systematically to customers and involving the bakers who know the ovens best. Research suggests the payoff depends on the commitment behind the tools, which is where the bakery must begin.
References
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2020). Quality management for organizational excellence: Introduction to total quality (9th ed.). Pearson.
Hendricks, K. B., & Singhal, V. R. (1997). Does implementing an effective TQM program actually improve operating performance? Empirical evidence from firms that have won quality awards. Management Science, 43(9), 1258-1274. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.43.9.1258
Powell, T. C. (1995). Total quality management as competitive advantage: A review and empirical study. Strategic Management Journal, 16(1), 15-37. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250160105
APS 4020 Module 1 instructions, in plain terms
APS-4020 grades ten discussion forums, six written assignments worth 20 percent, a proctored midterm on Modules 1 through 5 and a final project worth 25 percent titled "Quality Management in Local Organizations," with Goetsch and Davis's Quality Management for Organizational Excellence as the text. With no dates given for the six papers, the first appears here beside the opening module. You will explain what total quality means and how it differs from traditional management, review evidence on whether it improves performance and judge where a real organization stands. Rate the organization element by element with specific examples. Use real figures such as return or defect rates to show where the organization stands, and finish by naming a first step. A table works well for the ratings.
Inside the APS 4020 Module 1 example
The paper opens with the bakery's volume and its reliance on packers pulling bad products, with return rates and their causes. Goetsch and Davis's definition and key elements frame total quality. Powell's study and Hendricks and Singhal's award-winner comparison show that quality pays when commitment and involvement are real. A margin note explains why evidence comes before the rating. A seven-row table rates the bakery element by element, mostly weak, and the analysis concludes that tools alone will not help. The conclusion names where the bakery must begin. A closing section proposes a daily log kept by bakers as the first step, since data and involvement depend on each other.
Where the marks sit in the APS 4020 Module 1 rubric
Mentors grade APS-4020 written assignments on accurate understanding of quality concepts, application to a real organization, use of evidence, analysis and clear APA writing. Rating each element with an example from the floor beats restating the textbook list. Bringing in research on whether quality programs pay shows critical thinking. Recognizing that culture and commitment matter more than tools shows insight. The midterm covers Modules 1 through 5, so precise use of terms also prepares for the exam. Mentors also credit papers that see how weak elements connect, so the first step is chosen for its effect on others.
APS 4020 Module 1 help from the desk
Students lose marks by copying the list of total quality elements without applying them, by describing an organization without rating it or by assuming that quality tools alone create excellence. Use real figures, such as defect or return rates, rate each element with an example and cite evidence on what makes quality efforts work. Tell us where you work and a free APS-4020 Module 1 draft can be written for it. Name the element to fix first and explain why, rather than ending with a list of weaknesses. Use the textbook's list as a checklist, but give each rating a reason drawn from what you have seen at work.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More APS 4020 and B.S.B.A. in Operations Management sample papers
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- APS 4020 Module 6: Written Assignment: Check Sheets, a Pareto Chart and a Fishbone for Bakery Returns
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APS 4020 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free APS 4020 Module 1 sample paper?
The written assignment above rates a wholesale bakery against the elements of total quality.
What is total quality?
An approach that seeks to maximize competitiveness through continual improvement of products, services, people, processes and environments.
Does total quality management improve performance?
Studies such as Hendricks and Singhal's found quality award winners outperformed similar firms, and Powell found culture mattered more than tools.
How does total quality differ from traditional management?
It builds quality into processes and involves everyone, rather than inspecting defects out at the end.
What textbook does APS-4020 use?
Goetsch and Davis's Quality Management for Organizational Excellence, ninth edition.