TQM: What is it and why does it fail?

"We have learned to live in a world of mistakes an defective products

as if they were necessary to life. It is time to adopt a new
philosophy in America.", Ed Demining. This new philosophy he spoke of
is TQM. TQM or Total Quality Management, what is it? Who uses TQM?
Does it always work, and if not, why not? The following hopefully
shell help clear some of these questions we may all have. Lets look
at the various points and part of TQM. Also take a look at what flaws
and errors may accure in this system.

The first part of TQM we shell approach is the various parts the make
it what it is. We shell briefly outline the history of it. Then we
will try to define it and parts obtained in it. We shell look at the
various approaches to the system of TQM. Finely we will look at it as
a structured system.

Ed Deming was not the founder of TQM. That honor goes to Walter
Shewhart who came up with the management ideology in the 1920's. At
this time none of the United States corporations where willing to
test his ideas due to they felt they where doing fine. Ed Deming came
along a student under Shewhart. Deming tried to refine the ideas of
TQM and got a chance in Japan to try these approaches to management
in 1950's. As Japan began moving in and taking over areas that had be
predominately controlled by the U.S. , only then did these companies
sit up and take notice to this system called TQM and wonder what it
was and why it was working for the Japanese. In the 1980's a flood of
U.S. organizations started trying to implement TQM.

"Managerial Paradigm" is the way people's think and act in conducting

business. It provides a structure -- rules and standards -- as well
as accepted norms of managerial practice, laws, theories,
applications, and instruments. The managerial paradigm that I want to
try to define for you is that of TQM. We must look at the different
parts of the words in Total Quality Management.

It is said that quality is defined only in terms of agent. Where the

employee may have one definition of quality the employer may have a
totally different definition to this word. When pressed to define
pornography, a Supreme Court Justice in the United States once
commented that he couldn't define it but knew it when he saw it. So
is with the word quality. So comes the saying quality is in the eyes
of the beholder. Any definition of quality should include the
following features: 1) Conformance to customer specifications, 2)
conformance to legal or statuary requirements, 3) Meeting or
exceeding the anticipated wishes of the customer, and 4) Something
better than your competitors. The official ISO 8402 definition of
quality is: "The totality of characteristics and an entity that bear
on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs." Quality is not
only products and services but also includes processes, environment,
and people.

Total Quality is an approach to doing business that attempts to

maximize the competitiveness of an organization through the continual
improvement of the quality of its products, services, people,
processes, and environment.

Neither business managers nor academicians can agree completely upon

the definition of TQM or how to put the concept into practice. What
they do agree upon include the following. TQM is not an overnight,
passing fad that can be learned quickly. It cannot be purchased from
a vendor, or selected out of a training catalog. TQM success demands
total commitment from entire organization, and cannot be half --
hearted venture pursued by only part of the organization. TQM
consists of continuous improvement activities involving everyone in
the organization -- managers and workers -- in a totally integrated
effort toward improving performance at every level.

Dr. Deming included 14 points in his book Out of the Crisis that he
believed managers must fallow to be successful with TQM;

1) Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and

service. Management must change from a preoccupation with the short
run to building for the long run. This requires dedication to
innovation in all areas to best meet the needs of citizens or
clients.

2) Adopt the new philosophy. Americans have been too tolerant to poor
performance and sullen service. We need a new philosophy in which
mistakes and negativism is unacceptable.

3) Cease dependence on mass inspection. Inspection is equivalent to

planning for defects; it comes too late, and it is ineffective and
costly. Instead, processes must be improved.

4) End the practice of awarding contracts on the basis of price tag.

Purchasing departments customarily operate on orders to seek the
lowest-priced vendor. Frequently, this leads to supplies or services
of low quality. Instead, they should seek the best quality and work
to achieve it with a single supplier for any one item in a long-term
relationship.

5) Improve constantly and forever the system of operations and

service. Improvement is not a one-time effort. Management and
employees are obligated to continually look for ways to reduce waste
and improve quality.
6) Institute modern methods of training on the job. Too often,
employees learn their jobs from other employees who were never
trained properly. They are forced to follow unintelligible
instructions. They cannot do their jobs because no one tells them
how.

7) Institute modern methods of leadership. Lower-level managers must

be empowered to inform upper management about conditions that need
correction; once informed, management must take action. Barriers
(such as reserved parking places for top management) that prevent
employees from doing their jobs with pride must be removed.

8) Drive out fear. Many employees are afraid to ask questions or to

take a position, even when they do not understand what the job is or
what is right or wrong. People will continue to do things the wrong
way or to not do them at all. The economic loss from fear is
appalling. It is necessary for better quality and productivity that
people feel secure.

9) Break down barriers between staff areas. Often staff areas,

departments, units, and so on are competing with each other or have
goals that conflict. They do not work as a team so they can solve or
foresee problems. Worse, one department's goals may cause trouble for
another. Each discipline must stop optimizing its own work and
instead work together as a team for the company as a whole.
Multidisciplinary quality control circles can help improve design,
service, quality and costs.

10) Eliminate slogans, exhortations, numerical goals and targets for

the work force. These never helped anybody do a good job. Let people
put up their own slogans. Although workers should not be given
numerical goals, the organization itself must have a goal: never
ending improvement.

11) Eliminate work standards and quotas. Quotas focus on quantity not
quality. They are usually a guarantee of inefficiency and high cost.
To hold a job, a person meets quotas at any cost, without regard to
damage to the organization.

12) Remove barriers to pride of workmanship. People are eager to do a

good job and distressed when they cannot. Too often, misguided
managers, faulty equipment, and defective material stand in the way.
These barriers must be removed.

13) Institute a vigorous program of education and training. Because

quality and productivity improvements change the number of people
needed in some areas and the jobs required, people must be
continually trained and retrained. All training must include basic
statistical techniques.
14) Create a structure in top management that will push every day on
the above 13 points.

There are a few guiding principles to TQM. 1) Successful TQM requires

both behavioral and cultural changes. 2) Successful TQM system brings
two other management systems together with a behavioral and cultural
commitment to customer quality. 3) TQM becomes a system within itself
by default or choice. 4) Organizational management system, Human
resource management systems and total quality management must be
aligned in a successful TQM initiative.

There are two basic implementation approaches. The first one is the
Traditional Management Approach: This is the most common. In this
approach TQM never becomes accepted reality by either organizational
or human resource management. It is usually seen as competition, or
something to be tolerated. The TQM system consumes valuable resources
needed by the other systems and rejection begins to occur.

The second approach is the Integrated Management Approach. Whether

both organizational management and human resource management systems
take on a quality management commitment or join a quality management
team is not important. The principles of quality management are
attended to as an important third system that blends, integrates,
aligns, and maximizes the other two systems to beat competition in
world class quality performance.

TQM is a structured system. When all of its elements are implemented

properly, TQM is like a well-built house. It's solid, strong, and
cohesive. If TQM is not planned for and implemented correctly, it
will be structurally weak and will probably fail.

Deming was a realist. He maintained that the U.S. organizations were

afflicted with what he called the seven deadly diseases, and any one
of them could be a hindrance to quality improvement. Some are obvious
negatives to his fourteen points. The first five could be thought as
basic management truths because they are so much a part of most
organizational systems. But, he concluded for TQM to be successful
the seven diseases of an organization must be eradicated. These seven
diseases included:

1) Failure to provide adequate human and financial resources to

support the purpose of quality improvement.

2) Emphasis on short-term profits and shareholder value.

3) Annual performance evaluations based on observations or judgments.

4) The lack of management continuity owing to job hopping.

5) Management's use of easily available data, without regards to what

is needed to improve the process.

6) Excessive health-care costs.

7) Excessive legal costs.

Here are some reasons why TQM programs do not always work.:

TQM focuses people's attention on internal processes rather than on

external results. An asset of TQM is that it gets managers to attend
to internal processes, But taken to an extreme manager can get too
preoccupied with internal issues such as the controversial issue of
the performance evaluation and measurement, and thereby, ignoring the
shifting perceptions and preferences of customers.

TQM focuses on minimum standards. Zero defects and no rework

efficiency distract people from adding value and excitement to
customers' lives.

TQM develops its own cumbersome bureaucracy. Organizational charts

and reporting systems with interlocking committees, councils, and
improvement teams imply a linear and predictable improvement process,
rather than the chaotic and disruptive rebuilding that is often
necessary.

TQM delegates quality to quality czars and 'experts' rather than to

'real' people. Quality should not be delegated, but lived in the
strategy of the company and roles of the managers.

TQM does not demand radical organizational reforms. Real quality

improvement requires structural change and liberation of people from
stifling control systems and the tyranny of functionalism which
precludes teamwork.

TQM does not demand changes in management compensation. If rewarded

on short-term financial gains, managers will not be likely to attend
to quality measures.

TQM does not demand entirely new relationships with outside partners.
This deficiency results from above conditions. Managers will fail to
enact nonlegelistic relationships based on trust and mutual support.

TQM appeals to faddish, egotism, and quick fixism. Although they will
not admit it , many managers have applied for awards, like the
Baldrige, for reasons of personal aggrandizement and corporate public
relations, or for quick and painless profitability. In reality,
quality requires a never ending pursuit of improvement.

TQM draws entrepreneur ship and innovation from corporate culture.

Too much emphasis on standardization and routine precludes the
constant changes and shifting needed to keep up with external
changes.

TQM has no place for love. Though this comment seems to be a bit
precious, it means that the analytical, detached, and sterile
programs put in place to ensure qualities are often devoid of the
human emotion and soul that inspire attachment to the company by
employees and to the products by customers.

It could be said TQM in true form is not for all. Each company my
have different needs and uses of TQM. Hopefully some of the
information I have provided gives some information that would help
interest some organizations to look deeper to see if it may work for
them. With a little history, structure and possible failures it
should be a good start. There is so much more to the subject and a
couple of books to read would be Out of the Crisis and The New
Economics both written by Ed Deming. Also the internet holds many
more resources on the subject.
 References
♦ http://www-caes.mit.edu/products/deming

♦ http://sunflower.singnet.com.sg/~makhdoom

♦ http://tql-navy.org

♦ http://www.skyenet.net/~leg/tqmmodels

♦ http://www.finnevo.fi/TQM.HTM

♦ http://www.iqd.com/tqmdefn.htm