Total Quality Management (TQM)

This image is hidden. Click
to adjust visibility.

Add
Image

Add
Video

Related Terms: ISO 9000; Quality Circles; Quality Control

Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to management methods used to enhance quality and productivity in business organizations. TQM is a comprehensive management approach that works horizontally across an organization, involving all departments and employees and extending backward and forward to include both suppliers and clients/customers.

TQM is only one of many acronyms used to label management systems that focus on quality. Other acronyms include CQI (continuous quality improvement), SQC (statistical quality control), QFD (quality function deployment), QIDW (quality in daily work), TQC (total quality control), etc. Like many of these other systems, TQM provides a framework for implementing effective quality and productivity initiatives that can increase the profitability and competitiveness of organizations.

Home
Knowledge
Research and reports
ISO 9001:2015 Review
Body of Knowledge
Tools and resources
Quality World magazine
Quality Express newsletter
Find a consultant
Find an auditor
Careers in quality
Find a job
Competency Framework
The Quality Profession
Our Challenge
Qualifications
CQI Qualifications
Why study with us?
How to register
Where to study
Exams and assessments
Become an education centre
FAQs
Training
Why choose the CQI?
CQI seminar on ISO 9001:2015
Public training courses
Lean Six Sigma
CQI Certificate of Training
In-company training
Booking
Membership
Individual membership
Company Membership
Corporate Membership
Become a consultant
Community
Branches
Special Interest Groups
Volunteers
World Quality Day
CQI events
External events
Online communities
The CQI
About us
What is quality?
News and Media
Policies
Partners
My CQI

HomeKnowledgeTools and resourcesFactsheets>Total quality management (TQM)

Research and reports
ISO 9001:2015 Review
Body of Knowledge
Tools and resources
Journal of Quality
Quality Survival Guide
Small business standard
Video library
Factsheets
Introduction to quality
Selecting a certification body
Total quality management (TQM)
Quality awards
Integrated management systems
Continual improvement
Quality World magazine
Quality Express newsletter
Find a consultant
Find an auditor
Careers in quality
Find a job

Total quality management (TQM)

Total quality management is a management approach centred on quality, based on the participation of an organisation's people and aiming at long term success (ISO 8402:1994). This is achieved through customer satisfaction and benefits all members of the organisation and society.

In other words, TQM is a philosophy for managing an organisation in a way which enables it to meet stakeholder needs and expectations efficiently and effectively, without compromising ethical values.

TQM is a way of thinking about goals, organisations, processes and people to ensure that the right things are done right first time. This thought process can change attitudes, behaviour and hence results for the better.

What TQM is not

TQM is not a system, a tool or even a process. Systems, tools and processes are employed to achieve the various principles of TQM.

What does TQM cover?

The total in TQM applies to the whole organisation. Therefore, unlike an ISO 9000 initiative which may be limited to the processes producing deliverable products, TQM applies to every activity in the organisation. Also, unlike ISO 9000, TQM covers the soft issues such as ethics, attitude and culture.

What is the TQM philosophy?

There are several ways of expressing this philosophy. There are also several gurus whose influence on management thought in this area has been considerable, for example Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa and Imai. The wisdom of these gurus has been distilled into eight principles defined in ISO 9000:2000.

The principles of quality management:

There are eight principles of quality management:

customer-focused organisation - organisations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations
leadership - leaders establish unity of purpose, direction and the internal environment of the organisation. They create the environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organisation's objectives
involvement of people - people at all levels are the essence of an organisation and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organisation's benefit
process approach - a desired result is achieved more efficiently when related resources and activities are managed as a process
system approach to management - identifying, understanding and managing a system of interrelated processes for a given objective contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation
continual improvement - continual improvement is a permanent objective of an organisation
factual approach to decision making - effective decisions are based on the logical and intuitive analysis of data and information
mutually beneficial supplier relationships - mutually beneficial relationships between the organisation and its suppliers enhance the ability of both organisations to create value

How does TQM differ from the EQA model?

The European Quality Award model is used to assess business excellence. Business excellence is the result of adopting a TQM philosophy and realigning the organisation towards satisfying all stakeholders (customers, owners, shareholders, suppliers, employees and society). The quality award criteria offers measures of performance rather than a methodology.

Why should a company adopt TQM?

Adopting the TQM philosophy will:

make an organisation more competitive
establish a new culture which will enable growth and longevity
provide a working environment in which everyone can succeed
reduce stress, waste and friction
build teams, partnerships and co-operation

When should a company adopt TQM?

TQM can be adopted at any time after executive management has seen the error of its ways, opened its mind and embraced the philosophy. It cannot be attempted if management perceives it as a quick fix, or a tool to improve worker performance.

How should a company adopt TQM?

Before TQM is even contemplated

TQM will force change in culture, processes and practice. These changes will be more easily facilitated and sustained if there is a formal management system in place. Such a system will provide many of the facts on which to base change and will also enable changes to be implemented more systematically and permanently.

The first steps

In order to focus all efforts in any TQM initiative and to yield permanent benefits, a company must answer some fundamental questions:

what is its purpose as a business?
what is its vision for the business?
what is its mission?
what are the factors upon which achievement of its mission depends?
what are its values?
what are its objectives?

A good way to accomplish this is to take top management off site for a day or two for a brainstorming session. Until management shares the same answers to these questions and has communicated them to the workforce there can be no guarantee that the changes made will propel the organisation in the right direction.

Methodology

There are a number of approaches to take towards adopting the TQM philosophy. The teachings of Deming, Juran, Taguchi, Ishikawa, Imai, Oakland etc can all help an organisation realign itself and embrace the TQM philosophy. However, there is no single methodology, only a bundle of tools and techniques.

Examples of tools include:

flowcharting
statistical process control (SPC)
Pareto analysis
cause and effect diagrams
employee and customer surveys

Examples of techniques include:

benchmarking
cost of quality
quality function deployment
failure mode effects analysis
design of experiments

Measurements

After using the tools and techniques an organisation needs to establish the degree of improvement. Any number of techniques can be used for this including self-assessment, audits and SPC.

Pitfalls

TQM initiatives have been prone to failure because of common mistakes. These include:

allowing external forces and events to drive a TQM initiative
an overwhelming desire for quality awards and certificates
organising and perceiving TQM activities as separate from day-to-day work responsibilities
treating TQM as an add-on with little attention given to the required changes in organisation and culture
senior management underestimating the necessary commitment to TQM

CQI Members

Please log in to access your CQI member services, update your details and pay subscriptions.

Related Essays
- Total Quality Management - Total quality management or TQM is defined as a form of management that ensures that every element of the business is contributing to the overall total effort of a business of achieving the highest qu...[ view ]
- Total Quality Management - Total Quality Management Total Quality Management Total Quality Management is a strategic system involving teamwork, which is essential to the success of all businesses. This process has been devel...[ view ]

Total Quality Management

Top of Form
Rate This Paper:
1
2
3
4
5

Bottom of Form
Length: 1090 words (3.1 double-spaced pages)
Rating: Red (FREE)
------
Total Quality Management
Introduced in the 1950s and made more popular in the 1980s Total Quality Management is a very radical management style. A strong Total Quality Management plan relies on internal as well as external team building. A mistake to avoid before the implementation of a Total Quality Management strategy is an inaccurate analysis of the precondition and current state of an organization. Leadership styles and the organizations culture need to work well together. If they do not, this process should be delayed until an accurate assessment and favorable conditions exist. This paper defines Total Quality Management and examines the impact of globalization on quality. In addition, traditional management styles and quality focused management styles are compared and contrasted. Finally, how Federated Department Stores applies Total Quality Management is explained.
Total Quality Management Defined
Total Quality Management is the techniques an organization uses to improve the quality and production level. This technique involves teamwork and is used horizontally across an organization. Internally all departments and employees are included. Externally all suppliers and clients/customers are included. The most important objective of Total Quality Management is to implement effective quality and productivity plans that will raise profits and give an organization a competitive boost. According to Hashmi (2006), "Total Quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the company's operations, with processes being done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations" (Paragraph 2). To be effective Quality Management must be continuously improved upon by management and employees. Companies that have initiated the Total Quality Management process include; Ford Motor Company, Phillips Semiconductor, SGL Carbon, Motorola and Toyota Motor Company (Hashmi, 2006). Currently a broad range of organizations use Quality Management; originally designed for manufacturing and for many years only used in that area. Today, Quality Management is considered an extremely adjustable strategy and has become a basic management tool in service and public organizations.
Traditional Management vs. Quality Management
Traditional management styles place an emphasis on the internal work environment. If an organization has done the best job possible to produce a product or service it is assumed to be of good quality. Total Quality Management looks at the end user to determine the quality. The important decider is the customer; quality management focuses on the customer. A strong Total Quality Management plan must be built into the system; quality is assured instead of checked.
If a product or service is a bad quality, traditional management believes the employees are not doing the job correctly. The big difference with Quality Management is the responsibility goes to middle management in operations area (Lean Manufacturing, 2006). Teamwork is the main building block in Quality Management; if the company is not unified Total Quality Management will not work. Lean Manufacturing states (2006), that "Unlike in traditional management style, total quality management makes decisions on facts and figures. Therefore, problems are identified correctly. Therefore solutions are well planned" (Paragraph 6).
Continuous thinking and improvements are a piece of the Total Quality Management plan. Constant improvements are necessary but should be small and stable. Many differences exist between traditional and Total Quality Management. Total Quality Management has changed the culture and the way organizations think.
Total Quality Management and Globalization
Expanding globalization means stiff competition in the international markets. Some of the reasons for this competition include developing and former communist countries entering the marketplace, the introduction of new products and procedures, old material being efficiently used and innovations in technology. These are some of the reasons that have shifted markets that were once considered reliable. The global economy demands more innovation, higher quality and increased productivity.
Japan was the first to lead the quality initiative in the 1950s, during this time American organizations were producing mass quantities the traditional way. America thrived on the war damaged European countries. By the 1970s Asian competitors began to surpass America; the American industries were considered inferior. As globalization increase the U.S. manufacturing industry-decreased because of more competitors, especially Japan. By the late 1980s the U.S. market scrambled to retrieve some of the market back from Japan. They began to adopt quality and productivity procedures to restore their competitiveness. In the 1990s the U.S. manufacturing industry began to retrieve gains in quality and productivity.
Total Quality Management and Federated Department Stores
Total Quality Management at Federated is applies to the logistics and Operations department. The most important responsibility of Logistics and Operations is the efficient and timely flow of new receipts to the sells floor; the right merchandise must be delivered to the right locations at the right time. Other responsibilities of this division include small-ticket and large-ticket distribution centers, coordinating transportation and shuttle deliveries, handling vendor returns, merchandise liquidation, delivering merchandise, primarily furniture and other large-ticket items, to customers' homes, and fulfill Internet and catalog orders (Federated Department Stores, 2006). To support all of the above functions Logistics and Operations aggressively implement new systems and up to date technology. They also diligently work with vendors to preserve the high standards of Federates supply chain. Management's objective is to constantly improve people, procedures, and technology; this enables the organization to advance service, speed and accuracy. With this in place, supply chain and logistic cost should decrease.
In 2001, Federated was one of the first retailers to assume the Six Sigma quality improvement techniques to create and drive a focused culture, expand operating capabilities and improve processes (Federated Department Stores, 2006). The organization was a leader in the EDI (electronic data interchange) this system sends purchase orders over the web instead of by fax. Federated distribution centers employs state of the art material handling systems and is a leader in RFID (radio frequency identification) to help speed the flow of merchandise through the distribution centers.
TQM promotes involvement between all workers and management. A strong Total Quality Management plan relies on internal as well as external team building. The most important objectives of Quality Management are planned and continuous improvement. A successful TQM plans needs a combinations of quality systems as well as a strong culture between management and employees. If these conditions are not met the process should be delayed until the proper circumstances exist.
References
Federated Department Stores, (2006). Logistics at Federated. Store Operations instruction manual, 2006.
Hashmi, Khurram, (2006). Introduction and Implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM). Retrieved on March 24, 2007, from
Lean Manufacturing, (2006). Quality Management. Retrieved on March 25, 2007, from

How to Cite this Page

MLA Citation:
"Total Quality Management." 123HelpMe.com. 11 Sep 2014
< /