Total Quality Management TQM and it's Characteristics
Characteristics of "Total Quality Management"
“Total Quality Management (TQM) is the integration of all functions and processes within an organization in order to achieve continuous improvement of the quality of goods and services. The goal is customer satisfaction.”(Omachonu, Ross, Swift; 3.) TQM has become the basic practice in businesses though-out the world.
“Implementation of TQM in these organizations has been driven by the desire to in crease profits in the highly competitive business world. Total Quality Management techniques are designed to improve performance,”(Raibon, Payne; 963.) and inevitably resulting in increased profits.
Introduction
During the early 1980’s companies started to adopt the process of TQM. The customers were not satisfied with the quality of the products. Many believed that Total Quality Management was a solution for the company’s problems. Most companies adopted the rules but didn’t apply them; they had lost sight of the larger concerns, for customer value and satisfaction. “As a result many TQM programs begun in the 1980’s failed causing backlash against TQM.” (Kotler, Armstong; 681.) But the principles stayed the same, and the companies knew that these functions were needed for success.
Implementation
To fully utilize TQM the brainpower of each and every employee must be used. “It is the systematic elimination of waste and rework created by imperfect processes’... ‘It is an understanding that all an organizations efforts are part of a system, and that you cannot change one part of the system without affecting the other part.” (Schultz, Vollum; ix.) In implementing a Total Quality Management system there are many different beliefs, The Fourteen Point way formulated by Dr. Deming is just one of many but it is believed that these fundamental points should not be ignored.
1.) “Create constancy of purpose toward the improvement of product and service,
with the aim to become competitive, stay in business, and provide jobs.
2.) Adopt the philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, learn its responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
3.) Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for mass inspection by building quality into the product in the first place.
4.) End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long term relationship of loyalty and trust.
5.) Improve constantly and...