Introduction
There are many researches showing that total quality management is the predominant factor to remain business organizations’ sustainable competitiveness and generate the best result (e.g., Easton & Jarrell, 1998; Hendricks & Singhal, 1997; Lemak et al., 1997; Samson & Terziovski, 1999; Shetty, 1993). What is quality? How could a good total quality management dedicate to organization? Are they the same in any organizations? Understanding the importance of quality, many organizations have appointed a Quality Manager to manage quality operation as a whole. In order to study the contributions of TQM, take a medium-size manufacturing as an example, what should a quality manager do to improve the overall performance? In this article, playing a role of Quality Manager, I will propose my recommendations based on three main points: understand quality and improvement, understand the system and draw up a total quality management strategy.
1. Understand quality and improvement.
There is no common definition of quality, thus there is no common requirement for quality standard. Each service or product has its own specific features, consequently customer will requires differently over those products or services to satisfy their needs. Building on that point, Juran said: quality is often used to signify ‘excellence’ of a product or service. It then is simply meeting the customer requirement. In other words, Feigenbaum suggested: ‘the total composite product and service characteristics of marketing, engineering, manufacture and maintenance through which the product and service in use will meet the expectation by the customer’.
Total quality management (TQM) involves the application of quality management principles to all aspects of the business. TQM requires that the principles of quality management be applied in every branch and at every level in an organization. Typical of an organization going through a total quality process would be a clear vision, few inter-departmental barriers, employee training, excellent customer relations, and the realization that quality is not just product quality but also the quality of the whole organization to include those functions that do not directly interact with the customer or the production of goods and services. In this paper, the TQM approaches of BAE Systems Information Technology (BAE-IT), and Philips Semiconductor will be compared and contrasted for style and process. First, the paper will look at the organizational vision and mission of BAE-IT.
Total Quality Management has everything to do with decision making in management. It is my opinion that there exists many dimensions and aspects to TQM and in the new global environment where environmental issues are one of the more prominent ...
Total quality management is a management system of organization that involves all employees in continual improvement and is oriented on customers. This approach was developed by such quality leaders as Philip B. Crosby, W. Edwards Deming, Armand V. Feigenbaum, Kaoru Ishikawa, and Joseph M. Juran. TQM uses next principles (Westcott 2013):
TQM is a comprehensive, organization-wide effort to improve the quality of products and services, appropriateapplicable to all organizations. Also we can define the total quality management is a master plan which it has to be developed after finalizing different stages. Customer needs can be identified by the organizations and design the products and services for them.
Total quality management is a management philosophy aimed at continuous growth in quality improvement of products, processes and services to achieve and surpass quality standards. It consists of strategic planning, organizing and implementing each process activity and of removing all the wasted effort and energy that is routinely spent. It is a methodology of strategic overview of quality and focus on prevention not detection of problems.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, previously unchallenged American industries lost substantial market share in both US and world markets. To regain the competitive edge, companies began to adopt productivity improvement programs which had proven themselves particularly successful in Japan. One of these improvement programs was the total quality management (TQM) (Kaynak, 2003).
There is no specific meaning of quality, because it means different things to different people and "its content varies according to the situational and substance factors" (Vuori, 1982, p. 42), and different definitions are suitable under different situation. The quality can be Defined as “the best equation achievable between inputs and outputs” (Gleeson, 2001, p 193). A quality management system is "a system for effectively and efficiently managing the processes that deliver products (goods and services) to customers" (Ryall and Kruithof, 2001). According to the definition of the organization of International Standards Organization (ISO, 9001:2000), Quality management system means "Everything that is demanded and agreed upon must meet the approval of the worker and the producer resulting in a higher quality production at a reasonable cost". The manner concept of quality management system depends on the understandable composition, at which the organization looks to; for instance, processes like hospital care, medical interventions.
The word quality management comes into our mind means managing quality not only improving product quality. While making a product, the needs and demands of the customers must be kept in mind and the product should be up to people’s expectations. (Simons, 2000) says Total quality management is a very popular approach as it signifies the calibration and rationalization of operating procedures to guarantee high quality and low rates. The success of this approach depends upon the evaluation of manager’s performance. (Abernethy, 2003). A concept tells that conferring to consumer’s perception, quality is, satisfying his or her needs which includes its exterior, its working capability and its dependability.
Customers are becoming increasingly aware of rising standards, having access to wide range of products and services to choose from. There is an ever-increasing demand for quality product and/or services and this global revolution had forced organizations to invest substantial resources in adopting and implementing total quality management strategies.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is the art of managing the whole to achieve excellence. It is a continuous effort of management along with the employees of an organization to improve the quality of products and services. It holds the belief that all employees should collaborate with each other to produce high quality products and services in order to meet customers' demands and satisfaction. Everyone within an organization plays an essential role in achieving overall customer satisfaction. A successful business should provide high quality products and services to the customers. It can be achieve by focusing on continuous improvements in every aspect of an organization (e.g. processes, systems, people, suppliers, partners, products
Quality, according to Joseph Juran (1904- 2008) , means that a product meets customer needs leading to customer satisfaction, and quality also means all the activities in which a business engages in to ensure that the product meets customer need.
According to Russell and Taylor (2011) the American society for quality (ASQ) has defined quality as an individual term where each person has his or her own definition. In practical usage, quality can have two meanings;1) The characteristics of a product or service that stand on its capability to please stated or implied needs and,2) A product or service free of deficiencies.
Quality is a word which has been used for a very long time, lots of books have been written about it, and many of the world scientists have defined it in many different ways. In this research paper, I will emphasis on the Quality Management System, why is it important? What is it used for? What is the importance of having a Quality Management System? Many people think implementing QMS costs a lot and all the benefit is a piece of a paper which say that your company is certified in having QMS so you can only hang this picture or certificate on the wall and tell your smart customer that you have it. In fact, no blames on them, they have not used this system yet, they do not know that this system save a lot and a lot of money for companies. They do not know that this system create a dynamic motion within the companies so everyone know what he/she is doing, everybody understands his/her role, and everyone can feel being an important part of the process then everybody can work towards a clear and unified target. However, having a lot of benefits requires a reasonable cost and in the same time it worth. There are several organization which are concerned and involved in this issue, those organizations have produced a unified standards and those standards have its requirements. The International Standardization Organization which located in Switzerland which have a contribution of 157 countries have produced a standard which is concerned about the QMS.
“While Total Quality Management has proven to be an effective process for improving organizational functioning, its value can only be assured through a comprehensive and well thought out implementation process” (Packard, 1995). Implementing TQM requires large scale change. Change can be difficult in a culture where patterns have been ingrained. However, the survival of the company is dependent upon the change. Change is not just focused on the customer but also on the entire culture of the organization, its belief systems and decision making processes. Changes done according to a plan are usually successful.
TQM is essential to be used by all the companies especially the manufacturing companies who have the responsibility to ensure about the quality of the product. TQM is being viewed as the boon and it is an approach for improving the quality and customer satisfaction in the long run and also reduces the amount of waste (www.businessknowledgesource.com). There are various components which have to be addressed in implementing the TQM they are Ethics, integrity, training, trust, teamwork, communication and recognition (www.businessknowledgesource.com).