21 replies to this topic

[loveforfood]

Hi, I've read too many options and right now I'm confused. I'm the QA Manager in my company and I'm currently reporting to the CEO. We don't have a Director of Operations but I know they are looking to have this position filled soon. Who should I report? CEO or operations?

Thanks for your help.

[brianweber]

Everywhere I have been has the QA Manager reporting to the ops manager. My personal opinion is we should report to the CEO.

[Charles.C]

Everywhere I have been has the QA Manager reporting to the ops manager. My personal opinion is we should report to the CEO.

 

Yr FS Manual should (somewhere) have an Organisation Structure ? Especially if it is certified to one of the "Big" Standards.

 

If not, sounds like a good time to issue one. (Assuming you are happy reporting to the CEO).

 

IMEX the chain of command varies depending on Top Mangement's "viewpoint" of the QA function.

[ladytygrr]

In my head, it makes sense to report to the CEO/President/etc. because it's a conflict of interest, of sorts, if Quality reports to Operations. I was an internal auditor for a company registered to API, ISO and A2LA and they were told by auditors they couldn't have the Quality Manager report to the Ops Manager. As someone in another forum put it, it's the "separation of church and state" principle. 

[Simon]

In some standards such as pharma the quality function must be separate from production to prevent conflict of interest.

 

In reality the operations guy could be more switched onto quality then the CEO and vice versa and both can allocate resources or not, so it very much depends on the individuals involved in your unique situation.  In fact it would probably be better if the operations and quality lead could work happily hand in hand.

 

Regards,

Simon

[Tony-C]

IMEX the chain of command varies depending on Top Mangement's "viewpoint" of the QA function.

 

Yep and the calibre of the head of the QA function.

 

All too often for my liking QA Manager is viewed as a 'junior' role

[CARIII]

One time I dual reported to the operations manager and to corporate quality outside of production.  The was an attempt to resolve this issue.  I agree with Simon that if you also report to the operations manager you have more of a chance to influence them.  If operations manager does not listen they know you have the ear of someone else.  As Simon also said it depends on the personalities, but it might be an option to consider.

[mrickard]

My opinion is that Quality should never report to Operations, as there is a conflict of interest.  I have seen too many instances of the Director of Quality being overruled by VP of Operations when it never should have happened.  Fortunately in my organization, we have a VP of Quality who reports directly to the President/CEO.

[Kelly S]

Quality should never report to Operations, it's a conflict of interest. In one of my first roles (and it wasn't a quality role) the Production Supervisor always told me that I had to report any quality issues to him. The first (and last) time I did that the foreign body was disposed of and that was that  After that I always went straight to the QA Supervisor. I always got into trouble from the Production Supervisor for it but better that than someone getting hurt 

[Rob Marriner]

Along with avoiding conflict of interest, achievment of Senior Management commitment is a key element of the success of control systems, which is more likely to be assured if the line of communication and responsibility is direct between yourself and the CEO.

[sandra_]

Does anybody have a literature reference in support of the Quality reporting to CEO and not Operations structure. Thanks in advance.

[RMAV]

Does anybody have a literature reference in support of the Quality reporting to CEO and not Operations structure. Thanks in advance.

 

I personally don't, but I've also not run into trouble in SQF audits with this type of structure.  They're more interested in management commitment than who reports to who.  If Quality reporting to Operations is a problem, it will show up in management commitment. 

[Plastic Ducky]

You mean you get to report to the CEO and he listens to your concerns/requests

directly??

 

Wow! I am peanut butter and JELLY!

 

So extremely  jelly!

[BrummyJim]

We have a Technical & Operations Director. Both the Technical Managers and the Operations Manager report directly to him. No conflict of interest as he has overall responsibility for both functions. Works well too.

[JohnWheat]

All depends on YOUR structure. Some establishments have QA as the TOP quality/Technical function on site, many do not and sits at the same reporting level as department manager.

Titles are sometimes a little irrelevant as roles may be different. In a 'Normal' structure a Technical manager would be in charge of the QA function including QA Manager.

 

For arguments sake and to answer the question, QA manger is the head role and really should report to a production manager. They should report to the site or general manager and the same with the factory production manager.

[Simon]

An enlightened Operations Head, yes, maybe.  However, with this set up you miss the parts of the business that can have a big effect on food safety and quality such as R & D, Sales, Technical and Customer Service.  Quality goes beyond product and manufacturing.  Gathering and interpreting customer requirements and ensuring they can be met efficiently and effectively by operations is often a weak area that can build in quality and food safety problems.

 

CEO is preferable for me.

[trubertq]

You report to whoever you are told to report to in my experience and you have very little input into the decision.

[sandra_]

@Simon: agreed. here is a good reference.

Attached Files

•  Mastering Software Quality Assurance_Best Practices, Tools and Techniques By Murali Chemuturi.pdf   172.32KB   159 downloads

[Simon]

Thanks Sandra, it's not often I'm agreed with.

 

I would take it one step further than the suggested structure in the attachment; I would have Quality coming out the side of the CEO in an executive role with a free reign in the organization to implement quality.

 

Regards,

Simon

[rumansalman]

An enlightened Operations Head, yes, maybe.  However, with this set up you miss the parts of the business that can have a big effect on food safety and quality such as R & D, Sales, Technical and Customer Service.  Quality goes beyond product and manufacturing.  Gathering and interpreting customer requirements and ensuring they can be met efficiently and effectively by operations is often a weak area that can build in quality and food safety problems.

 

CEO is preferable for me.

I agree with the opinion that QA Manager must not report to the operations due to conflict of interest on the one hand and ineffectiveness of qc or qa  function on the other hand. I have worked for several companies and found many gaps in the system implementation, and quality control in the organizations where the qa/qc head/manager reporting to operation instead of CEO/President.

[tiberius]

Even is an old topic:

How the companies (many of them...) see quality...? Often Quality is just for publicity...to show the certification they have.Sorry, but I have examples of multinational companies, arrived in low cost countries like mine, who doesn't give a dime on the quality."Respectable" companies....Delivery is the main focus. They play too often poker with clients. Quality guy is something they need as a system pet, to grow. After that Quality becomes a pain in the ***. Further.... Quality is just a word in many companies. Operation managers are brought on "dog" position to make "order" by delivering all the **** to the clients. Sorry, but I worked also in automotive, and things were different. All the shame for some...

[SQFconsultant]

I've been quite fortunate to have consulted with companies that are forward thinking, (aka they don't have their heads up in the wrong place) in that when it came to re-doing the organization chart/reporting flow the light was seen and shined brightly on having QA report direct to the President or CEO with a dotted line to Operations.

 

With one exception (I seem to remember there was a lot of yelling and screaming in the conference room that day), every single one changed from viewing QA as a "non income producing division" to being a critical component of the big picture.