Total quality management (TQM) refers to management approaches and initiatives aimed at improving the level of quality of business output. TQM targets all business activities including directing, organizing, controlling, and staffing functionalities to achieve customer satisfaction in the provision of goods and services. The concept of TQM has developed over a long period to streamline its functionalities for the effective delivery of services and enhancement of culture within organizations.
Some of the leading TQM gurus like W. Deming, V. Feigenbaum, Kaoru Ishikawa, and J. Tuan have influenced the concept of TQM and the values derived from it. Through the adoption of TQM, an organization conveniently and suitably adjusts its culture to promote productivity. In any organization, TQM focuses on executive management, employees, processes, culture, and methodology of production (Wheelen et al., 158). To ensure its proper conduct about quality, multiple values must be inculcated within organizations.
The urge to achieve the highest level of TQM in an organization requires the organization to inculcate virtues such as ethics, integrity, trust, training, teamwork, leadership, recognition, and communication. These crucial elements initiate with the founding components that drive the need for quality in management such as ethics, integrity, and trust. In this case, business ethics entail the codes of conduct that distinguish what is right from what is wrong in the business operations.
Similarly, integrity refers to honesty, impartiality, and morals that customers expect the business to demonstrate in delivering its services. Trust guarantees the development of TQM since it enhances integrity and ethics within the organization. As a result, these elements become the building block of TQM since they facilitate a suitable environment attributed to equity among all participants.
Once the essential virtues like ethics, integrity, and trust are integrated into the workforce in an organization, it is mandatory to improve their capabilities through training. In this case, training facilitates employees to improve their level of productivity. Therefore, it implies that employees should be imparted with additional skills and knowledge through coaching, apprentice training, or development by level. As a result, the employees boost their level of interpersonal skills, decision-making approaches, and problem-solving. In this regard, the employees’ capabilities and productivity improve concerning quality. Also, time and resource wastage within the organization decline considerably (Foong 1).
Since the organization instills good virtues into its employees, the adopted leadership approach should be ideal for all individuals. This implies that the leaders should be able to stir vision, strategize for the organization, and inculcate appropriate virtues among the subordinates. Through the adoption of appropriate communication within an organization, the company’s culture and methodology of processes improve. As a result, there would be appreciation and recognition of employees at the expertise level leading to increased morale and productivity.
Despite the importance of TQM, there are crucial components of management that an organization could adopt to enhance its effectiveness. These alternatives include total quality control (TQC), the theory of constraints (TOC), six sigma, and lean production. Initially, TQC involves the production processes that enhance the consideration of quality in every perspective of the organization. From the production system, the concept illustrates the need to enhance the reduction of defective products and time wastage.
This implies that the workforce should be well equipped with skills and knowledge that promote their level of productivity. Also, employees should have essential tools that enable them to deliver appropriately from the available resources. Concerning the seniors, they have to provide employees with appropriate methodologies that guide them in the production process about the quality of products and schedules designed. Therefore, through this process, the management enhances the quality and controls it within the acceptable standards of the organization.
The theory of constraints (TOC) entails a conceptual methodology of delivering the best output from scarce resources. In this regard, employees are constrained with the need of delivering quality products. This element assists employees to define the most appropriate procedures as per the minimal resources and avoid the production of defective products (Bono and Heller 1). Therefore, through this concept, the management can instill sensitivity and productivity in its employees boosting its performance.
Another crucial element of quality management within the organization is the six-sigma, which elaborates business strategies for the management. The approach outlines how the quality of methods can be enhanced in the production process through the elimination of defective products and variability in products’ quality. This method adopts statistical approaches to control the quality of production. Some of the designs use the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) process. In this case, the organization adopts the business strategy when there is a need to improve the quality of existing products.
On the other hand, the organization uses the Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verity (DMADV) approach when dealing with businesses that are new in the industry to enhance quality and marketability (Longenecker 48). Since these two methods use statistical approaches and management techniques, they enhance productivity and employees’ effectiveness as well as the instruments or machines used in production. As a result, it is one of the best alternatives for industrial organizations when dealing with matters of quality. Also, it enhances the growth and expansion of the company leading to increased market share.
Another element of the quality management approach is lean production. This quality management approach focuses on the expenditure of resources for the utilization of value creation in consumer goods thus reducing the level of wastage. In this case, the business will stretch in its bid to reduce defective products as well as the resources used for production. Through this initiative, the business will be able to provide its consumers with quality goods and services.
The alternatives to total quality management are similar to TQM as they emphasize products’ quality. The adoption of these approaches for differentiation in the market will benefit the firm based on the industry of the business. Since the approaches are crucial for the improvement of the quality of production and service delivery, companies should enforce them within their businesses to ensure effective service delivery.
On the other hand, the employees’ productivity would improve since they would be able to adjust to the business demands based on the motivation given to them. The business pursuit of quality will enhance its relationship with consumers who are the main influential factor in the market.
Works Cited
Bono, Edward, and Robert Heller. “Total Quality Management | Thinking Managers.” Business management, development & leadership @ Thinking Managers. N.p., 2006. Web.
Foong, LM. “How To Measure TQM Success.” Total Quality Management(TQM)Implementation articles and case studies. N.p., 2001. Web.
Longenecker, Justin Goodell. Small business management: launching and growing entrepreneurial ventures.. 14th ed. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western, 2008. Print.
Wheelen, Thomas L., and J. David Hunger. Strategic management and business policy: concepts and cases. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.