A Study On Total Quality Management Management Essay

TQM is a group of management practices in an organization, aims to make sure that the organization constantly meets the requirements of customers. TQM lays powerful focus on process measurement and controls as methods of permanent improvement. In deed, the main function of Total Quality Management is to create value control over the duties of all employees in an organization and also controls the quality of services, products and operations. Through Total Quality Management, it is possible to catch the occurred problems early so that reducing costs. In deed, TQM enables and facilitates the organizations to provide and supply quality Information Technology services and products to customers. TQM is established to be the fundamental technique for developing and increasing the competence and efficiency of the organizations.(1)

Total Quality Management has three major principles, customer focus, continuous improvement and teamwork. The philosophy of TQM aims to satisfy and meet with the expectations of customers. In order to accomplish this aims, organizations should improving and motivate the abilities of all their employees. In deed, the soul of TQM is nonstop development and improvement. Important issues like team working, supporting, leading, stimulating, understanding, consulting, planning, delegating could improve TQM systems.(1)

In fact, TQM has paid much attention due to its importance. Deming, Juran and Baldrige are some of the researches who focused on TQM and created models.  Each model of those researchers has distinctive characteristics. Each one of them defines Quality in his own way.  The following is an investigation of each model of these researchers.

W Edwards Deming:

W Edwards Deming (1900-1994) is an American statistician. He is considered the father of modern quality movement. The W Edwards Deming Institute gives prizes for persons and organizations that hold Total Quality Management and drive quality management advance. Deming’s work is a philosophy of management that concentrates on quality and permanent improvement. Deming’s was interested in systematic problem solving. The Deming’s ideas on quality lie in his identification to the significance of variation. Deming stated” The central problem in management and in leadership … is failure to understand the information in variation”. Deming believes that all systems, the equipment, process and people, have variation but it is necessary for managers to differentiate between special and general reasons of variation. Deming improved a theory of variation. This theory implies that special reasons of variation are typically simply attributable to promptly familiar factors, for example changes of procedure, change of shift and so on, but that general reasons will stay as soon as special reasons have been abolished because of design, process or system. The general reasons are regularly distinguished by employees, but just managers are able to change them in order to keep away from frequent problems. Deming said that management is in charge for further than 85% of the variation`s reasons.(2)

Deming believe that Quality should be at needs of the customer present and future. Deming developed 14 points which have reconditioned widely. These 14 points are fundamental to the quality movement.

These 14 points are providing a framework to develop understanding in the place of work and direct long-standing business plans and objectives. These points are a philosophical code for management. According to Deming, the 14 points are:”

Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim of becoming competitive, staying in business and providing jobs.

Adopt the new philosophy. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities and take on leadership for change.

Cease dependence on mass inspection. Build quality into the product from the start.

End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any item, based on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.

Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service to improve quality and reduce waste.

Institute training and re-training.

Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to lead and help people to do a better job.

Drive out fear so that everyone may work effectively for the company.

Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales and production must work as a team, to foresee and solve problems of production.

Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets for the workforce as they do not necessarily achieve their aims.

Eliminate numerical quotas in order to take account of quality and methods, rather than just numbers.

Remove barriers to pride of workmanship.

Institute a vigorous program of education and re-training for both the management and the workforce.

Take action to accomplish the transformation. Management and workforce must work together.” (Encyclopedia of Management)

In fact, these fourteen principles contribute to a great extent to general management application.

The Deming Cycle

The Deming cycle” PDSA cycle”, is a permanent quality improvement model that is containing a logical chain of four cyclic steps for permanent improvement and learning. This model created in the 1920s with the well-known statistics specialist Mr. Walter A. Shewhart, who created the conception of Plan, Do and See. (Total Quality Management, chapter5)

According to Deming: These four steps are:”

1. Conduct consumer research and use it in planning the product (PLAN).

2. Execute the plan and produce the product (DO).

3. Check and study the product to make sure it was produced in attendance with the plan (CHECK).

4. Market the product and improve the process (ACT).” (Total Quality Management, chapter5)

The benefits of the Deming cycle are:

This cycle is on a daily basis routine management for the individual and the team

It is a process for problem solving

It is a project management

It is a permanent development

It helps in a vendor development

It helps in a human resources development

It helps in new product development, and

Process trials.

In addition, Deming identified the seven deadly diseases as the following:”

Lack of constancy of purpose to plan product and service that will have a market and keep the company in business and provide jobs.

Emphasis on short-term profits: short term thinking, fed by fear of unfriendly takeover and by plush from bankers and owners, for dividends.

Personal review system, or evaluation of performance, merit rating, annual review, or annual appraisal, by whatever name, for people in management, the effects of which are devastating. Management by fear would be better, than management by objective without a method for accomplishment.

Mobility of management: job hopping.

Use of visible figures only for management, with little or no consideration of figures that are unknown or unknowable.

Excessive medical costs.

Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers that work contingency fees.” (Encyclopedia of Management)

Deming defined quality as “meeting and exceeding the customer’s need and expectations and then continuing to improve”. The performance standards are eliminating management by numbers, numerical goals and substitute leadership. The improvement foundations are to urge everybody in the company to work in order to achieve the renovation as the renovation is the job of every body, and also to continual use PDSA cycle. Deming urges that management is supposed to break down barriers among divisions. Each division is supposed to see other division as domestic customer, as soon as this is accomplished the barriers started to go down and collapse. Deming argues that companies are supposed to look at the whole cost of product or service offered by others, and not merely the pay for price. Accepting the lowest offer does not assure the lowest whole cost. Deming believes that training is supposed to be given on the job. Every employee is supposed to be trained in fundamental statistical methods. Training improves self-confidence for the reason that it gives employees with a better sense of safety and assessment and a lesser stress level. (Quality Times. co. in)

Juran

Juran initiated the management dimensions of planning, organizing, and controlling and concentrated on the responsibility of management to accomplish quality and the need for establishing objectives. Juran defines quality as “fitness for use in terms of design, conformance, availability, safety, and field use”. As a result, the concept of Juran is more directly integrates the perspective of customer. His concept is able to assess everything and depends on systems and problem-solving methods. Juran is not like Deming since he concentrates on top-down management and technical methods more willingly than employee self-importance and satisfaction. (Encyclopedia of Management)

Juran’s identified 10 steps to quality improvement as the following:”

Build awareness of opportunity to improve.

Set-goals for improvement.

Organize to reach goals.

Provide training

Carryout projects to solve problems.

Report progress.

Give recognition.

Communicate results.

Keep score.

Maintain momentum by making annual improvement part of the regular systems and processes of the company”. (Encyclopedia of Management)

Juran developed the well known concept “Managing Business Process Quality”, which is a method for management cross-functional quality improvement. Juran contribution is greater than Deming’s for the reason that Juran has broader concept, whereas Deming’s concentrating on statistical process control is further technical.

Juran Trilogy

Dr. Juran’s trilogy described the three management processes that are necessitate by all organization in order to improve. These three processes are Quality control, quality improvement and quality planning. This Trilogy describes the way an organization can develop all its aspects by superior recognizing of the association between processes that plan, control and improve quality in addition to business outcomes. According to Juran, the quality planning aims to offer operators that are able to generate goods and services that can meet the needs of customers and satisfying them. During the quality planning stage, an organization is supposed to find out and indentify its customers are their needs in order to develop the product or service characteristics that meet the needs of customers, and also in order to develop processes have the ability to deliver those products and services, and in addition to convey the plans to the functioning forces. In case the quality planning is incomplete, a chronic waste takes place. (Encyclopedia of Management)

Quality control aims to put a stop to things from getting worse. It is the examination part of the Quality Trilogy where operators evaluate real performance with plans and determine the dissimilarities. The third factor of the Trilogy is chronic waste which is supposed to be regarded as a chance for quality improvement. Quality improvement includes improvement of fitness-for-use and error decrease, looks for an innovative level of performance that is better from any preceding level, and is accomplished by implementing advance thinking. (Encyclopedia of Management)

Juran argues that the quality mission of the company is “fitness for use” as supposed by customers. The mission of personal divisions is to work in accordance with conditions intended to accomplish suitability for use. The greater part of quality difficulties are the responsibility of poor management more willingly than poor workmanship. Juran belives that quality improvement is not flames struggle or eliminating an irregular point, rather than quality improvement moves up quality performance to exceptional or advance levels. The entire quality improvement goes on project next to project. Juran defined Cost Of Poor Quality (COPQ) as “the sum of all costs that would disappear if there were no quality problems”. According to Juran, operative mistakes are able to be decreased by fool proofing , keeping people paying special attention , training , changing technology , developing communication , creating accountability , getting rid of the error-prone individual and inspiration. (Quality Times. co. in)

Baldrige

The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence is a group of guidelines used as a measure to review if an organization is capable of meet a business excellence quality level. This is the model following the US Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, an award process ruled by the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and administered by the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST). The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence is a framework that is used as the starting point for more than 70 further national Business Excellence/Quality awards all around the world. (Total Quality Management, chapter5)

The Baldrige Criteria consists of seven categories as the following:”

Leadership

Strategic Planning

Customer and Market Focus

Information and Data Analysis

Human Resource Management and Development

Process Management

Business Results” (Total Quality Management, chapter5)

The Baldrige Criteria are built on a group of eleven values and concepts:”

Visionary Leadership

Customer-Driven Excellence

Organizational and Personal Learning

Valuing Employees and Partners

Agility

Focus on the Future

Managing for Innovation

Management by Fact

Public Responsibility and Citizenship

Focus on Results and Creating Value

Systems Perspective” (Total Quality Management, chapter5)

Quality Awards:

Internationally, lots of Quality Awards have been established in order to recognize and promote quality. A number of reconditioned ones comprise the British Quality Award in United Kingdom, the European Quality Award in Europe (1994) and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the United States of America (1999). In fact, the purposes of the majority of these awards can be summarized as the following:

Improve TQM consciousness.

Supply organizations criterion in order to assess themselves in opposition to a group of definite standards and improve market consciousness at the same time as.

Promote organizations to efficiently exchange information of productively applied quality strategies and the advantages are caused by implementing these strategies.

Improve the level of recognizing of outstanding quality standards.

Distinguish and promote permanent improvement process in organizations. (NATURE AND CONTEXT OF TQM)

As a result, all quality awards offer a helpful assessment structure and assists organizations to evaluate their TQM operation strategy for permanent improvement viewpoints. These awards not only concentrate on quality of the end product, rather on components like management activities, behavior, and process that influence the quality of the end product. (NATURE AND CONTEXT OF TQM)

For example, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established in 1987, it is yearly award that is based in the United States. It aims to promote American organizations to improve quality, satisfy customers, and develop the whole performance of the organization. The award evaluates features such as leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management, and business results. Some Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winners are Federal Express, Marlow Industries, Motorola, Ritz Carlton Hotel Co., Xerox, Ames Rubber Corp, and Wallace Co. (Total Quality Management and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award)

Conclusion

To conclude, Total Quality management is very important issue nowadays. Currently, successful companies concern to great extent about TQM in order to improve their performance and satisfy the needs of their customers. Many models relating to TQM have been created by many researchers such as Deming, Juran and Baldrige. Each of these models has its own characteristics. These researchers defined quality in different ways. In my point of view, Juran contribution is greater than Deming, Baldrige and other researches since Juran has developed broader concept and create a model that is suitable for most of all situations, while Deming just concentrated on statistical process control and Baldrige built his model using others contributions. However, the model of Baldrige is used widely in the United States. in fact, many Awards have been created in US, Europe and other counties. These Awards have many objectives such as improving the TQM consciousness and supplying organizations with criteria with the intention of assess themselves.

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