Current Challenge in the Correctional Industry

Current Challenge in the Correctional Industry

Introduction

The correctional industry is rapidly changing because of the advent of technology. However, it also emerged as a prevailing challenge because it is difficult for the correctional industry to keep with the new, innovative and emerging technologies to make the process and practice effective and to improve quality and productivity.

Innovative and new biometric security, services technologies and interactive inmate communication facilitate correctional industry to create efficient inmate management processes and secure environment. In practice, the correctional industry finds it hard to match the swiftness of technology due to several reason discussed later in this paper. However, this lack of technology gives a boost to inefficiency and might be effectively addressed by total quality management (TQM) principles. This paper also discusses strategies relative to total quality management to engage staff and improve quality and productivity.

Discussion

Technology brings innovation and efficiency to processes and systems while the lack of technology leads to reduction in productivity and quality improvement. Technology is the most reliable media of effective communication while the correctional officers in the prison do not have a cellular phone service in the prisons. Likewise, the process at the prison becomes inefficient due to the lack of the technology; for example, it is revealed by the California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA) that they are unable to determine the impact on post release inmate employability because of unreliability data. Correctional industry also faced the challenge is of the safety of inmates and correctional officers as it lacks in technology thereby, cannot keep surveillance. Hence, become vital to address the issue appropriately by the correctional industry.

One of the most effective and appropriate method to address the issue of keeping up with the technology by the application of TQM principles, such as add value to the process, found relations of mutual trust, provide training and adopt an approach of team-work to resolve issues, implement new technology and develop a win-win scenario, and others.

In order to address and tackle the issue of keeping up with the technology by the correctional industry, TQM principles must be used. For instance, if the correctional industry wants to add value to its processes they must use TQM techniques to determine a reason why they are unable to keep up with technology. There are several TQM techniques can be used, such as Six sigma, Statistical Process Control, Pareto Chart and Fishbone Diagram. The approach of cause and effect relationship (Fish-bone) diagram can be used to determine the reasons why correctional industry has failed to cope with technology (Kachwala & Prajapati, 2012).

Since, due to the serious nature of the problem, it is significant to explore all aspects that might cause it, before moving towards the solution. This analysis of cause and effect offers correctional industry a useful of improving quality and productivity. This approach combines a type of mind mapping (brainstorming) that pushes individual to look at all possible causes of an issue that just focusing on ...