Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management is a name like any other name and the purpose of a
name is to identify the contents. The names: “Total Quality Management,”
“Continuous Improvement,” “The Learning Organization,” and “Process
Management” all have a flaw in them. The flaw is that when such programs are
implemented, management typically has an expectation of instant success.
Scriptural management principles have existed since the formation of scripture
itself.

This statement is so true, it seems ridiculous to even state it here. It is this folly that
provokes me to mention it at the beginning of this text. Occasionally, man stumbles
across a scriptural principle and is amazed at the success brought by living and
working right. This text presents a multitude of management principles based on
scriptural foundation which men have proven to be useful in the running of
organizations.

The primary management thinker quoted in this text is Dr. W. E. Deming. Dr.
Deming focused his life on trying to get management to understand their
responsibility and live up to their requirements. I will restrain from commenting
more on Dr. Deming here and save my comments for the section devoted to him.
This text centers management themes around the theories of systems, agency,
Human Behavior School of Thought, statistical variation, statistical process control
and the ever present belief that God created each of us -- employees and
managers, to think and know what is right. God created in us a sense of joy in
working for Him in all we do, of recognizing authority and fearing no one except
Him.

Some managers think of TQM as a fad rather than a revolution. Revolutions are
always seen as passing fancies or whims by those who have yet to see and
understand the change in the world around them. Assumptions of the past do not
work today.

They did not work all that well in the past either, it is just that everyone accepted
them. As an example, read this quote from the opening paragraph of an article
examining TQM as a revolution or fad that shows management’s actions masking
the problem rather than removing it:

"A department head we know decided to purchase a $26.45 bulletin board for her
office. Petty cash could not be used for anything over, $25.00, so she had to submit
a formal purchase order. The purchase order required five signatures. To save time,
she decided to hand- carry the purchase order around campus and get the
signatures herself. When she came to the last office to get the fifth signature, she
was frustrated to find eight people standing in line before her. She finally went into
the office and complained rather forcefully about having to stand in line so long.
The next day, five chairs were placed in the hall outside that office."
The TQM philosophy evolved from the earlier concepts of quality control (QC), which
applies statistical methods to monitor specific service outcomes; and quality
assurance (QA), which provides a framework for establishing quality standards.
Basically, TQM is concerned with establishing a quality management system that
brings quality into work processes, (preventing mistakes rather than detecting
them), involves everyone, (internal and external customers), values staff training
and puts special emphasis on service-user satisfaction. TQM is a comprehensive,
top-down and continuous approach to quality management.

Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management in government is organizational transformation strategy and a method of

process improvement by which quality and productivity goals can be achieved without additional

resources.

Based on internal regulations and workers self management, TQM stresses:

•
Customer satisfaction
•
Examines relationship between existing management processes
•
Improves internal communication
•
Responds to valid demand of customers.
•
Encourages total commitment and Team work
It is based on the theory that:
The greater the involvement an employee has in determining the organizational
goals, the more committed he or she will be to achieving them.2
 Total Quality Management is management approaches that originated in the 1950'sand has

steadily become more popular since the early 1980's. Total Quality is 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; especially the processes being done right the first time.

The simple objective of TQM is:

"Do the right things, right the first time, every time".

TQM: - “A QUALITY ORIENTED APPROACH”

Total Quality Management (TQM) is one of quality-oriented approaches that

many organizations adopt. It is generally acknowledged that manufacturing
companies need to be quality oriented in conducting their business to survive the
business world. TQM is an integrated management philosophy and a set of
practices that emphasize top management commitment, customer focus, supplier
relationship, benchmarking, quality-oriented training, employee focus, zero-
defects, process improvement, and quality measurement. This paper investigates
the structural linkages between TQM, product quality performance and business
performance in the electronics industry in Malaysia. Given the nature of this
study, the statistical analysis technique called Structural Equation Modeling was
used. This preliminary result suggests that there is insufficient statistical
evidence to conclude significant simple relationships between TQM, product
quality performance, and business performance. This implies that the electronics
industry cannot assume direct causal linkages between these three constructs,
which might also suggest that there is a more complex relationship between
TQM, product quality performance, and business performance. However, the
results reveal that top management commitment, supplier relations and training in
particular appear to be of primary importance for TQM practices in Malaysian
electronics companies.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TQM:

The characteristics of TQM, as revealed from above definition are as follows:

1. TQM is customer oriented.

2. TQM requires a long term commitment for continuous improvement of all

processes.
3. The success of TQM demands the leadership of top management and
continuous involvement.

4. Responsibility for establishments and improvement of systems lies with the

management of an organization.

5. TQM is a strategy for continuously improving performance at all levels and in all
areas of responsibility.

 POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF TQM:

The advantages of adopting TQM system compared to conventional quality

system are numerous and are outlined below.

1. TQM helps to focus clearly on the needs of the market.

The traditional approach of quality control focuses on the technical details of a

product so as to satisfy the customer. However, the customer longs for
different satisfaction perspectives which are generally overlooked in the
traditional approach. The needs change from person to person and also from
place to place. As TQM focuses on the concept of university, it tries to abstract the
satisfaction perceptions of the market and thus helps the organization to
identify and meet the requirements of the market in a better way.

2. TQM facilitates to aspire for a top quality performer in every sphere of

activity. It is a well accepted fact that the negative attitudes of employees and non-
participative culture of the organization pose the greatest hurdle to organization’s
success, growth and prosperity. TQM emphasis, on bringing about attitudinal and
cultural change through promotion of participative work culture and
effective team-work. This serves to satisfy the higher human needs of
recognition and self-development and enhances employee’s interest in the job. The
employee’s performance, thus, is not restricted to the product or service areas
but reflects in other spheres as well.

3. It channelizes the procedures necessary to achieve quality performance.

Quality in its true sense cannot be achieved instantly. It requires a systematic and
a long-term planning and strategic approach. By focusing on defining the quality
policies, goals and objectives, and communicating these properly to one and all in
the organization, adopting SQC and SPC techniques and developing and using a
system of evaluation , the organization can channelize their efforts to achieve the
desired and objectivities quality performance.
4. It helps examine critically and continuously all processes to remove non-
productive activities and waste. The organizations always aim at improving
productivity as it leads to reduction in cost resulting in increase in profitability.
The efforts in this direction are contributed because of the formation of quality
improvement teams which meet regularly and through a systematic approach
which tries to remove non-productive activity. A continuous effort to identify the
problems and resolve them helps to reduce the waste. The culture of well being
thus improves housekeeping, cost-effectiveness and safety.

5. It gears organizations to fully understand the competition and develop an

effective combating strategy.

The dynamic changes in the global market and the open market policies
adopted by a large number of organizations have resulted in increased
competition and for many organizations the survival has become a key issue. For
this cause it is essential for the organist ions to understand the competition and
develop and adopt suitable strategies to meet the challenges. As TQM helps to
understand the pulse of customer and thus the market, it gives an edge to the
organizations of variable nature to meet the competition.

6. It helps to develop good procedures for communication and acknowledging good work. Improper
procedures and inadequate communication are yet another bane of many organizations, which result
in misunderstanding, confusion, low productivity, duplication of efforts, poor quality, low morale and
so on. TQM brings together members of various related sections, departments and different
levels of management thereby providing an effective vehicle of communication and interaction.

7. It helps to review the process needed to develop the strategy of never ending
improvement. Quality improvement efforts cannot be restricted to any time period.
They need to be continuous to meet the dynamic challenges. TQM emphasizes on a
continuous and periodic review so as to make the required changes.

The benefits derived by the organizations, therefore, are many and multi-faceted.
Many of these can be measured in quantitative terms. However, the intangible
benefits, which include enrichment of the quality of the work life and many more
are not quantifiable. At the same time, it has to be established whether
they do occur or not in order to prove or disapprove the efficacy of the concept.
This can be assessed by a well-planned research project or by carrying out an
opinion survey periodically. The tangible and intangible benefits of TQM are variable
in nature.

Total Quality in Government

 By Total Quality in government we mean lean, decentralized and innovative government

where people are flexible, adaptive, and quick to learn new ways when conditions change. They

use customer choice and competition to get things done as creatively and effectively as possible.

So when we talk about quality management in Federal Government, we too must rely on market

based incentives with less focus on conventional new programs.

The concept of Total Quality Government goes beyond cost cutting in government. Its adopted

to apply the principles and tools of TQM. Many organizations have been successful with their

TQM initiatives and derived such benefits as reducing costs, increasing productivity and

customer satisfaction.

Avenues of TQM
By adopting TQM we will be able to provide the philosophy, mindset, tools and
Methodologies to “Transform” effectively. The use of TQM which refers to:
•
Performance measurement of organizations
•
Customer management
•
Process control
•
Continuous improvement programs
•
Best management practices

This has proved to be an effective strategy for improving the performance of not only
Government organizations but also public administrations

TQM in Perspective

Total quality management (TQM) is the management process used to make continuous

improvements to all functions. These improvements result in increased satisfaction and delight
for both internal and external customer. The keywords to note in this definition are

“continuous” and “process”. TQM represents an ongoing, continuous commitment to

Improvement because the quest for continuous improvements has no end. It only indicates the
new direction on which to proceed

TQM is seen as the most comprehensive approach to Quality thinkable for an

enterprise. The pillars of Total Quality Management are T Q M:
•

T stands for Total. It is the Integration of the Staff, Suppliers, Customers and

other Stakeholders. Away from Party-specific Thinking to a more holistic

approach.
•
Q stands for Quality. It is the Quality of the work and the process of the
Enterprise leading to Quality of Products.
•

M for Management. It stresses the leadership task "Quality" and the Quality of leadership. From

the enterprises point of view TQM can be seen as a Leadership Model.

There is no single theoretical formalization of total quality, but philosophers provide
the core assumptions, as:

"Discipline and philosophy of management which institutionalizes planned and continuous

improvement .It assumes that quality is the outcome of all activities that take place within an
organization; that all functions and all employees have to participate in the improvement process;
that organizations need both quality systems and a quality culture."

TQM Systems and Tools

 Systems and tools systematically inculcate and reinforce the TQ culture within an

organization. The philosophy initiates from top management but all levels of employees need to

develop commitment and ownership to sustain it. Enormous coaching, modeling and

reinforcement are required to achieve it. These tools may relate to teamwork, leadership, human

resources, process management, or collecting customer focus information, to name just a few.

It is not necessary that all the tools will be relevant for everybody. Some tools may be very

effective for one organization where as they may completely fail in another. It is also possible

that a tool may work for a while and then lose its effectiveness. Therefore tools are replaceable

and at time interchangeable over a period, but the core philosophy of TQM never changes and

always remains the same. Typically when one tool loses its effectiveness another tool is selected

to support and reinforce the TQM philosophy. Therefore failure of a tool should not be

interpreted as a failure of TQM initiative but rather it’s a signal to use another tool.

TQM starts with philosophical base-systems and tools are relevant after the philosophy is

established. Most of the TQM efforts fail because organizations try to implement TQM

techniques (Tools and Systems) without adopting the TQM philosophy. They start the journey

from the wrong point. Instead of starting with the philosophy they try to first use the tools and

the systems without ensuring that at the very minimum, the philosophy is absorbed by the top

management.

The Concept of Continuous Improvement by TQM

TQM is mainly concerned with continuous improvement in all work, from high level strategic

planning and decision-making, to detailed execution of work elements on the shop floor. It

stems from the belief that mistakes can be avoided and defects can be prevented. It leads to

continuously improving results, in all aspects of work, as a result of continuously improving

capabilities, people, processes, and technology and machine capabilities.

Continuous improvement must deal not only with improving results, but more importantly

with improving capabilities to produce better results in the future. A central principle of TQM is
that mistakes may be made by people, but most of them are caused, or at least permitted, by

faulty systems and processes. This means that the root cause of such mistakes can be identified

and eliminated, and repetition can be prevented by changing the process.

There are three major mechanisms of prevention:

•Preventing mistakes from occurring.

•Where mistakes can't be absolutely prevented, detecting them early to prevent

them being passed down the value added chain.

•Where mistakes recur, stopping production until the process can be corrected

Experience of Other countries

Under the cover of TQM, US business and political leaders turned to quality to stay

competitive on world market or to reclaim their host markets. Meanwhile like many other

agencies, the US defense organizations faced, budget cutbacks and reduced staff. Using Quality

management, however these organizations streamlined producers in man areas, increasing

morale and saved an impressive amount of money.8

The Government of India should try to adopt the process of Total Quality management as the

core of its management style to solve its problem and re-structure. Such a strategy is being used

in the entire European Union, USA, Japan and other developed countries for sustaining their

economic growth.