1. “Total quality management”
SRIBATSA
PATTANAYAK
M.B.A. ABA, BALASORE
INTRODUCTION
With the increased competition at the global level, more & more organizations are becoming
conscious & have started focusing on various aspects , such as :
BETTER QUALITY.
ZERO DEFECT.
NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT.
ELIMINATION OF WASTAGE.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT , ETC.
A very high emphasis on quality both for products & services has generated a new concept
known as: TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT. This system is a primary example of a LEAN SYSTEM
, i.e, a operation system which includes a total systems prospective, such as: operations
strategies, processes, technology, quality, capacity, layout, inventory & resource planning etc.
TQM OWES ITS ORIGIN TO TWO AMERICANS: W.EDWARDS DEMING & J.M.JURAN WHO
LAUNCHED IT FIRST IN JAPAN, WHICH WAS ON THE PROCESS OF REBUILDING ITS ECONOMY
DEVASTATED BY WORLD WAR- IIND.
DEFINITIONS
International organization for standardization (ISO) defines TQM as follows:
“TQM is a management approach for an organization centered on quality based on the
participation of all its members & aiming at long term success through customer satisfaction, &
benefits to all members of the organization & to society.”
MEANING OF TQM
TQM, is composed of 3 paradigms:
Total: Involving the entire organization.
Quality: Involves superiority, Excellency& value of the organization.
Management: The system of managing an organization with steps like planning, organizing,
controlling, staffing, provisioning & the like.

2. TQM justifies its name as it is all about giving total customer satisfaction by maintaining all
dimensions of quality. TQM emphasizes on total customer satisfaction, total function, total
range of products & services offered by an organization, satisfaction of internal & external
customers & addressing the total organizational issue of retaining customers & improving
profits as well as generating new business for the future.
Thus, TQM is not just about quality in the traditional sense, it is about organizational
excellence. It is like Midas touch, where every thing that is touched turns to gold. TQM is about
turning all products, all services, all processes & all people in to gold.
PRICIPLES & CORE CONCEPTS OF TQM:
The TQM is based on 4 fold principles & eight core concepts:
4 FOLD PRINCIPLES:
DELIGHT THE CUSTOMER:
Delight means being best at what really is important to the customer. Making continuous
changes to satisfy the customer is an integral part of TQM.
MANAGEMENT BY FACT:
Management gathers the facts about the present level & provides this information to the
employees at all levels to make the decisions based on the facts. These facts are essential part
of continuous improvement.
PEOPLE BASED MANAGEMENT:
The management should make the employees understand what to do, how to do it & get the
feed back about their performance. The employees should also be encouraged for the quality
of their work, because if they will be involved more they can b e more committed to customer
satisfaction. The quality is heavily influenced by the continuous involvement of the people
rather than by the systems, standards & technology.
TQM IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS:
TQM should be a philosophy of management & a long term process. Continuous improvement
of all operations and activities is at the heart of TQM. Once it is recognized that customer
satisfaction can only be obtained by providing a high-quality product, continuous improvement
of the quality of the product is seen as the only way to maintain a high level of customer
satisfaction.
Elimination of waste is a major component of the continuous improvement approach. There is
also a strong emphasis on prevention rather than detection, and an emphasis on quality at the
design stage. The customer-driven approach helps to prevent errors and achieve defect-free
production. When problems do occur within the product development process, they are
generally discovered and resolved before they can get to the next internal customer.

3. 8 CORE CONCEPTS:
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:
Companies should understand the importance of external customer as they are the main
source of income. Companies should identify their changing needs time to time & find out the
satisfying factors. Companies should enhance the satisfying factors & reduce the factors those
cause grief.
INTERNAL CUSTOMERS ARE REAL:
Internal customers are as important as external customers as they continuously influence the
quality maintenance. They also influence speed, efficiency, perfectness & cost.
ALL WORK IS A BUSINESS PROCESS:
Business process is a combination of methods, materials, manpower & machines that taken
together to produce a product or service.
MEASUREMENT:
Measurement of present level of quality is more important in order to determine the future
quality level.
TEAM WORK:
People work together in terms to accomplish the most difficult goals. People work in teams to
maintain & improve the quality.
PEOPLE MAKE QUALITY:
Mostly organizational efforts influence the quality. Organizational efforts influence the
individuals & teams in the organization to commit to the quality.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT CYCLE:
Identifying the present level of quality standards, establishing the customer needs, establishing
the ways & means to produce the product or service to meet the customer needs, measuring
the success & improving the quality continuously are the parts of the continuous improvement
cycle.
PREVENTION:
Preventing the failures to occur is the central system of TQM. Foreseeing the possible failures &
taking adverse steps to prevent them from occur is important. This process helps for the
creation of the culture for continuous improvement.

4. A TQM CULTURE :
It's not easy to introduce TQM. An open, cooperative culture has to be created by
management. Employees have to be made to feel that they are responsible for customer
satisfaction. They are not going to feel this if they are excluded from the development of
visions, strategies, and plans. It's important they participate in these activities. They are unlikely
to behave in a responsible way if they see management behaving irresponsibly - saying one
thing and doing the opposite.
Product development in a TQM environment :
Product development in a TQM environment is very different to product development in a non-
TQM environment. Without a TQM approach, product development is usually carried on in a
conflictual atmosphere where each department acts independently. Short-term results drive
behavior so scrap, changes, work-arounds, waste, and rework are normal practice.
Management focuses on supervising individuals, and fire-fighting is necessary and rewarded.
Product development in a TQM environment is customer-driven and focused on quality. Teams
are process-oriented, and interact with their internal customers to deliver the required results.
Management's focus is on controlling the overall process, and rewarding teamwork.
Awards for Quality achievement :
The Deming Prize has been awarded annually since 1951 by the Japanese Union of Scientists
and Engineers in recognition of outstanding achievement in quality strategy, management and
execution. Since 1988 a similar award (the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award) has been
awarded in the US. Early winners of the Baldrige Award include AT&T (1992), IBM (1990),
Milliken (1989), Motorola (1988), Texas Instruments (1992) and Xerox (1989.
CONCLUSION:
There are various factors that contribute to the success of quality management practices
but human factor is very important in the implementation of any process or principle. If it is
missing then there will be reduction in efficiency in implementation. At last it can be
concluded that Quality is a Journey, not a destination .