Different between Traditional approach & TQM

1) Importance of people:

• Traditional management views management as a commodity and are passive

contributors with little autonomy,
• whereas in TQM practice, people are active contributors and are recognised for their
creativity and intelligence.

2) Importance of customers:

• Under traditional approach, customers are always considered as outsiders to the

organisation and are the concern of market and sales.
• TQM focuses essentially on customers rather than any other source. It focuses its
attention on change in organisational culture for the satisfaction of the customers.
3) Role of management:

• Management is always to change and tries to maintain status-by resisting change under
traditional set-up.
• Under TQM, management provides for continuous improvement and innovation in
processes and systems, products and services.

4) Management-Union relations

• Under traditional management, relations between management and unions are

usually not cordial. Traditional issues like wages, bonus, health and safety measures
are negotiated whereas issues like quality.
• In TQM approach, union becomes equal partner in the success of an organisation.
Union plays an active role management in employees’ education, training and
development programmes etc., cost and productivity are not considered on
preferential basis.
5) Team work:

• There is functional hierarchy due to hierarchical organisation structure. It tends

to create competition, conflict and adverse relations between various functions
under traditional set up.
• However, under TQM, formal and informal mechanisms encourage and facilitate
team work and team development throughout the entire organisation.

6) Profits v/s quality:

• Traditional management aims at maximisation of profits. It aims at increase in

sales, return on investments and profits. Quality is not preferred under
traditional set up,
• whereas, under TQM, quality is of paramount consideration.
• The company might lose a customer permanently on account of poor quality of a
product. The dissatisfied customer is a gain to competitor and thus reduces the
profit.
7) Motivation:

• Everyone is motivated to contribute his maximum and TQM creates goal-

oriented actions among customers, managers and workers. It aims at
encouraging participative management. Under traditional management,
motivation is achieved by control. People are motivated to work to avoid failure
and punishment.