MGT 481 Quality Assurance Management Sam Houston State University College of Business Administration
About the Course About the Instructor MGT 481.01 Classroom MGT 481.02 Web-Based Links E-mail	Solving a quality problem in an automated measuring process Talking quality with Debbie Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies

MGT 481, Quality Assurance Management, is a study of current topics in quality assurance management to include total quality management, statistical quality control, statistical process control, quality circles, and Deming's methods. Emphasis will be placed on the systems approach to quality assurance.

Prerequisites: BAN 363 (Business Analysis), and MGT 475 or IT 478 (Operations Management), and completion of at least 55 hours of undergraduate work.

Texts: Sower, V.  Essentials of Quality with Cases and Experiential Exercises.  This book is currently available on line at no cost. Click here to go to the text download site.

The program POM for Windows, v. 3, by H. Weiss (Prentice Hall, 2006) might be useful for constructing control charts.  It is available in the SHSU Bookstore as a required text for MGT 475.

The program NWA Quality Analyst is available on the SHSU computer network.  It is a full-service statistical quality control software package and is available for your use through any of the SHSU computer laboratories.

Other Materials: Articles will be assigned as outside readings to supplement the text.  Many of the articles may be found in full-text on-line at BUSINESS SOURCE PREMIER available through the SHSU Library home page.

Assignments: Written and experiential assignments will be made in each lesson. Written assignments are to be prepared using 10 or 12 point type, double spaced.  Students taking the course on-line should submit assignments electronically as Word Documents.

This course may be taken ONLY as a traditional classroom course (MGT 481.01).  The on-line course (MGT 481.02) is not currently available. The on-line course allows students more flexibility, however lessons and assignments must be completed according to a prescribed schedule.  The student must make arrangements to take the three examinations either on the SHSU campus or at an approved testing location.  Students may find it beneficial to attend the classroom based course occasionally or use the technology laboratory on campus to complete selected experiential exercises.

ASQ Certification:  ASQ has offers the Certified Quality Improvement Associate program.  The experience requirement is 2 years of general work experience or at least an associate's degree.  This is a certification that students who complete this course should be prepared to pursue.

Dr. Sower is a Professor of Operations Management at Sam Houston State University where he has taught since 1990. He is a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality and is Certified as a Quality Engineer. He also is a member of APICS, the Academy of Management, DSI, and other professional organizations. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, an M.B.A. from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. in Operations Management from the University of North Texas. Dr. Sower is co-author of 3 books, author or co-author of 21 articles in refereed journals, 26 articles in refereed conference proceedings, and numerous presentations.  He is an active consultant in the quality and innovation management areas. He was named a Piper Professor by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation in 2005.  He is a recipient of the Sam Houston State University's Excellence in Teaching (1996), Excellence in Research (2001), and Excellence in Service (2008) Awards.  In addition to his academic experience, he has over 18 years of experience in process engineering, engineering management, and general management of a manufacturing operation.

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