Global excellence in management systems: a Diamond Offshore Drilling case

Abstract

How do managers, in their role as decision makers, design and implement systems for management of quality? Proposes that there is no one, definitive answer to this question, given various industrial environments and their operating constraints, diverse market conditions and numerous management philosophies. Attempts to address quality management issues in the business‐to‐business industrial service industry by presenting a case study on the quality management approach taken by Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. ‐ one of the largest offshore oil‐drilling companies in the world. States that the business‐to‐business industrial service markets are characterized by the sale of industrial services to business customers, who often then use these services to produce goods or services for consumers or other businesses. A wide variety of services are provided by the companies operating in this industry, such as offshore oil‐drilling and exploration, warehousing and public utilities. The case study follows the backdrop, initiation and complete implementation of Diamond Offshore’s Global Excellence in Management Systems (GEMS) programme. GEMS can be characterized as a system deeply rooted in the basics of quality management ‐ customer‐defined requirements and quality through customer satisfaction. Also discusses post‐implementation customer feedback results to illustrate the success of the programme. Based on the GEMS framework and relevant literature, proposes a generalized framework for implementing quality management in firms operating in business‐to‐business industrial service markets.