Concepts of Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management (TQM) describes a management approach to long-term success through
customer satisfaction. In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in improving processes,
products, services, and the culture in which they work.

Total Quality Management Principles: The 8 Primary Elements of TQM

1. Customer-focused
The customer ultimately determines the level of quality. No matter what an organization does to foster
quality improvement—training employees, integrating quality into the design process, upgrading computers or
software, or buying new measuring tools—the customer determines whether the efforts were worthwhile.

2. Total employee involvement

All employees participate in working toward common goals. Total employee commitment can only be
obtained after fear has been driven from the workplace, when empowerment has occurred, and management has
provided the proper environment. High-performance work systems integrate continuous improvement efforts with
normal business operations. Self-managed work teams are one form of empowerment.

3. Process-centered
A fundamental part of TQM is a focus on process thinking. A process is a series of steps that take inputs
from suppliers (internal or external) and transforms them into outputs that are delivered to customers (again,
either internal or external). The steps required to carry out the process are defined, and performance measures
are continuously monitored in order to detect unexpected variation.

4. Integrated system
Although an organization may consist of many different functional specialties often organized into
vertically structured departments, it is the horizontal processes interconnecting these functions that are the focus
of TQM.
 Micro-processes add up to larger processes, and all processes aggregate into the business
processes required for defining and implementing strategy. Everyone must understand the vision, mission, and
guiding principles as well as the quality policies, objectives, and critical processes of the organization. Business
performance must be monitored and communicated continuously.
 An integrated business system may be modeled after the Baldrige National Quality
Program criteria and/or incorporate the ISO 9000 standards. Every organization has a unique work culture, and it
is virtually impossible to achieve excellence in its products and services unless a good quality culture has been
fostered. Thus, an integrated system connects business improvement elements in an attempt to continually
improve and exceed the expectations of customers, employees, and other stakeholders.

5. Strategic and systematic approach

A critical part of the management of quality is the strategic and systematic approach to achieving an
organization’s vision, mission, and goals. This process, called strategic planning or strategic management,
includes the formulation of a strategic plan that integrates quality as a core component.

6. Continual improvement
A major thrust of TQM is continual process improvement. Continual improvement drives an organization
to be both analytical and creative in finding ways to become more competitive and more effective at meeting
stakeholder expectations.

7. Fact-based decision making

In order to know how well an organization is performing, data on performance measures are necessary.
TQM requires that an organization continually collect and analyze data in order to improve decision making
accuracy, achieve consensus, and allow prediction based on past history.

8. Communications
During times of organizational change, as well as part of day-to-day operation, effective communications
plays a large part in maintaining morale and in motivating employees at all levels. Communications involve
strategies, method, and timeliness.
 Total Quality Management - Meaning and Important Concepts
Quality refers to a parameter which decides the superiority or inferiority of a product or service. Quality
can be defined as an attribute which differentiates a product or service from its competitors. Quality plays an
essential role in every business. Business marketers need to emphasize on quality of their brands over quantity to
survive the cut throat competition.
Total Quality management is defined as a continuous effort by the management as well as employees of
a particular organization to ensure long term customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. Remember, one happy
and satisfied customer brings ten new customers along with him whereas one disappointed individual will spread
bad word of mouth and spoil several of your existing as well as potential customers.
You need to give something extra to your customers to expect loyalty in return. Quality can be measured
in terms of durability, reliability, usage and so on. Total quality management is a structured effort by employees to
continuously improve the quality of their products and services through proper feedbacks and research. Ensuring
superior quality of a product or service is not the responsibility of a single member.
Every individual who receives his/her paycheck from the organization has to contribute equally to design
foolproof processes and systems which would eventually ensure superior quality of products and services. Total
Quality management is indeed a joint effort of management, staff members, workforce, suppliers in order to meet
and exceed customer satisfaction level. You can’t just blame one person for not adhering to quality measures.
The responsibility lies on the shoulder of everyone who is even remotely associated with the organization.

4 Categories:
 Plan
 Do
 Check
 Act

Planning Phase
Planning is the most crucial phase of total quality management. In this phase employees have to come up
with their problems and queries which need to be addressed. They need to come up with the various challenges
they face in their day to day operations and also analyze the problem’s root cause. Employees are required to do
necessary research and collect relevant data which would help them find solutions to all the problems.

Doing Phase
In the doing phase, employees develop a solution for the problems defined in planning phase. Strategies
are devised and implemented to overcome the challenges faced by employees. The effectiveness of solutions
and strategies is also measured in this stage.

Checking Phase
Checking phase is the stage where people actually do a comparison analysis of before and after data to
confirm the effectiveness of the processes and measure the results.

Acting Phase
In this phase employees document their results and prepare themselves to address other problems.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an enhancement to the traditional way of doing business. It is a
proven technique to guarantee survival in world-class competition. Only by changing the actions of management
will the culture and actions of an entire organization be transformed. TQM is for the most part common sense.
Total    -           Made up of the whole
Quality-           Degree of excellence a product or service provides.
Management-  Act, art, or manner of handling, controlling, directing, etc

Therefore, TQM is the art of managing the whole to achieve excellence. The Golden Rule is a simple but
effective way to explain it: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Basic Concepts  of TQM

While there are significant differences among the theorists and their approaches to implementation, they share
basic concepts that are the foundation of TQM.
Continuous Improvement of Quality:
Fundamental to all TQM systems is improving the quality of the products and services provided by an
organization. Such quality improvement results in greater productivity and enhances the ability of an organization
to remain vital, employ people, and serve customers. A focus on continuous quality improvement helps an
organization do things right.

Central Focus on the Customer:

Also central to all TQM is a focus on the customer, the internal and external recipients of an
organization’s products. Their needs and desires define quality for the producer whose job it is to meet or exceed
the customer’s needs and expectations. A focus on customers helps an organization to do the right things.

Systematic Improvement of Operations:
All work occurs in processes that begin and end somewhere. These work processes account for 80- 85
percent of the quality of work and productivity of employees. Management is responsible for systems within an
organization; therefore, managers, not employees, must shoulder blame when something goes wrong with the
system.
TQM calls for studying work processes quantitatively, using individuals or teams, to find places that
breakdowns or unnecessary complexities occur in processes, and then to identify solutions that prevent them in
the future. Study of work processes helps to reduce costs while ensuring that quality is built into a service or
product since quality cannot be inspected into it at the end of the processes.

Open Work Environments:

Continuous quality improvement requires an atmosphere for innovation where suggestions for
improvement are solicited and respected and where supervisors and managers are open to disagreement,
conflict, and challenge. Activities for the improvement of work processes, especially when teams are involved,
help to break down barriers that occur between departments or between supervisors and those supervised.

 Long- Term Thinking:

TQM is also characterized by long- term thinking which helps mold the future by understanding the
consequences of current actions. Such thinking requires decision making that is based on data, both hard and
soft, and related to real problems, not symptoms. It requires time. It shies away from quick fixes arrived at by
discussion and intuition. Long- term thinking works best in organizations where managers plan to stay, and thus
have a stake in the consequences of their decisions.

Development of Human Resources:
Organizations that follow TQM principles are organized to help people do their jobs; they are seriously
committed to employee learning and development. Such development begins with a thorough orientation to the
organization, including its mission, values, and information about where the job fits into the organization. It
involves educating people to perform to the quality standards of a specific job before requiring them to work
independently.
TQM expects managers to respect the ability of well trained employees to know the work they do better
than anyone, and therefore, to be the best at improving it. Human resource development includes providing the
training to learn the communication, quantitative, and team- participation skills required in an open, quality
improvement work environment. Development programs provide extensive education to help individuals keep up-
to- date on their jobs and to prepare themselves for new responsibilities.

Management Responsibility for TQM Leadership:

Managers need to lead the transformation of the organization to the new culture of continuous quality
improvement. They must accept personal responsibility for continuous quality improvement and be dedicated to
empowering others in the organization to accept personal responsibility for it, too. This approach taps the
collective genius of the organization to identify and solve problems. The leader’s focus is on policy, structure, and
systems to sustain continuous quality improvement. Within this context, quality is the first among equals of the
organization’s functions. Quality is at the top of the agenda for every meeting, every communication. The leader’s
goal is to help people, things, and machines do a better job; the leader’s role is that of facilitator, catalyst, and
coach.
 As previously stated, TQM requires a cultural change.  The TQM state for typical quality elements. This
change is substantial and will not be accomplished in a short period of time. Small organizations will be able to
make the transformation much faster than large organizations.