Managerial use of quality tools for decision-making: a case study on price registration for materials procurement in a public military company

Abstract

This paper analyzes the application of the KJ method, or Affinity Diagram, in a public military company in the process of procurement through price registration. The KJ method is a quality management tool developed to clarify unstructured problems qualitatively, gathering verbal data from confusing and disorganized situations. This study presents an analysis of how a specific quality management tool can assist the manager in making the diagnosis of the problem/situation. We discuss the relationship between decision-making and quality of information considering the opinion of managers and decision makers of a public military company. We observed that the use of information derived from the tool occurs in a limited way in the military organization. Therefore, a more effective management of steps for the price registration process should be made by those responsible for reducing errors.