TQM stands for Total Quality Management, which is a cooperative form of doing business that relies on the talents and capabilities of both labor and management to continually improve quality and productivity using teams. (Joseph R. Jablonski Implementing TQM) The origin of TQM was derived during the 1980s by Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Dr. Joseph Juran.
Both developed TQM in Japan to revitalize their crumbling economy at the time prior to the end of World War II. Japan began to flourish when Dr.Deming and Dr. Juran introduced Statistical Quality Control (S. Q. C. ) which was a concept of management using statistical theory. Some of TQMs concepts were evident early on in the Penny Idea of 1913 developed by J.C. Penny. The Penny Idea consisted of these seven components: (1) To serve the public, as nearly as we can, to its complete satisfaction; (2) To expect for the service we render a fair remuneration and not all the profit the traffic will bear;(3)
To do all in our power to pack the customers dollar full of value, quality, and satisfaction;(4) To continue to train ourselves and our associates so that the services we give will be more and more intelligently performed;(5) To improve constantly the human factor in our business; (6)To reward men and women in our organization through participation in what the business produces; (7) To test every policy, method, and act in this way: Does it square with what is just and right? The Penny Idea exercises customer satisfaction, fairness, quality, value, associate training, and rewards for performance. TQM contains three ingredients necessary for a company to flourish:(1) participative management;(2) continuous process improvement; and(3) the use of teams. Participative management is developed from TQM practice.
It is the process of preparing employees with the skills and support to better understand how they do business, make improvements, and make change happen to allow participative management to flourish. Participative management is not immediate. Its momentum builds gradually with trust and feedback. Continuous process improvement (CPI) means accepting small, incremental gains as a step in the right direction toward Total Quality. Continuous process improvement reinforces long term focus in the company. The third ingredient necessary for a company to flourish is the use of teams.
Teams are designed into cross-functional types with the individual employees aligned with the corporations goals for improvement. With these three ingredients together, successful Total Quality Management can be achieved. There are six main principles of Total Quality Management. These include:(1) Customer Focus; (2) A Focus on Process as Well as the Results;(3) Prevention versus Inspection;(4) Mobilize Expertise of Workforce;(5) Fact-Based Decision Making; (6) Feedback. Customer Focus emphasizes on making improvements so that the customer is completely satisfied.
In large organizations, employees are usually surprised to be asked to contribute knowledge and ideas. By getting different employee perspectives, the company can use many different techniques to achieve customer satisfaction. A Focus on Process as Well as the Results is the second TQM principle. This principle is based on the fact of exceeding customer expectations and needs. Prevention versus Inspection is the third principle of TQM. Here a structured approach to problem solving is applied along with making the necessary investments to understand the process and sources of process variation.
The fourth principle is Mobilizing Expertise of the Workforce. Employees like to be appreciated and monetary rewards arent enough to keep one completely satisfied. Therefore other incentives must exist in the workplace such as social needs and comfortable atmospheres. Fact-Based Decision Making involves understanding the process employees work in and around everyday, understanding the cause of their problems, and gathering information, data on which they can base decisions for improving that process. The last principle, Feedback, allows the other principles to succeed. It is the most important because day to day innovation can be achieved.
Another important factor in achieving TQM is Process. Process is a series of operations linked together to provide a result that has increased value. Employees, customer influence, and resources come together to process company outputs. Company resources include people, equipment, material, money, and time. The results of the inputs are feedback to the employees so they can improve upon work habits. More efficient methods are .
