Defining Total Quality Management

The concept of Total Quality Management

The philosophy behind Total Quality Management
Leading lights and their ideas
Principles of Total Quality Management

The core principles in achieving Total Quality Management

Prevention not correction
Customer focus
Techniques used in Total Quality Management

Process improvement
Benchmarking
Cause and effect
Measurement
Cost of quality
Implementing Total Quality Management

Principles into Leadership

Commitment and involvement
Organisational culture
Benefits of Total Quality Management

To the customer improved quality

To employees increased satisfaction

To the organisation better performance

Total quality management (TQM)

Total quality management is a management approach centred on quality, based on
the participation of an organisation's people and aiming at long term success (ISO
8402:1994). This is achieved through customer satisfaction and benefits all
members of the organisation and society.

In other words, TQM is a philosophy for managing an organisation in a way which

enables it to meet stakeholder needs and expectations efficiently and effectively,
without compromising ethical values.

TQM is a way of thinking about goals, organisations, processes and people to ensure
that the right things are done right first time. This thought process can change
attitudes, behaviour and hence results for the better.

What TQM is not

TQM is not a system, a tool or even a process. Systems, tools and processes are
employed to achieve the various principles of TQM.

What does TQM cover?

The total in TQM applies to the whole organisation. Therefore, unlike an ISO 9000
initiative which may be limited to the processes producing deliverable products,
TQM applies to every activity in the organisation. Also, unlike ISO 9000, TQM covers
the soft issues such as ethics, attitude and culture.

What is the TQM philosophy?

There are several ways of expressing this philosophy. There are also several gurus
whose influence on management thought in this area has been considerable, for
example Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa and Imai. The wisdom of
these gurus has been distilled into eight principles defined in ISO 9000:2000.

The principles of quality management:

There are eight principles of quality management:

customer-focused organisation - organisations depend on their customers and

therefore should understand current and future customer needs, meet customer
requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations
leadership - leaders establish unity of purpose, direction and the internal
environment of the organisation. They create the environment in which people can
become fully involved in achieving the organisation's objectives
involvement of people - people at all levels are the essence of an organisation and
their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organisation's benefit
process approach - a desired result is achieved more efficiently when related
resources and activities are managed as a process
system approach to management - identifying, understanding and managing a
system of interrelated processes for a given objective contributes to the
effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation
continual improvement - continual improvement is a permanent objective of an
organisation
factual approach to decision making - effective decisions are based on the logical
and intuitive analysis of data and information
mutually beneficial supplier relationships - mutually beneficial relationships between
the organisation and its suppliers enhance the ability of both organisations to create
value
How does TQM differ from the EQA model?

The European Quality Award model is used to assess business excellence. Business
excellence is the result of adopting a TQM philosophy and realigning the

organisation towards satisfying all stakeholders (customers, owners, shareholders,

suppliers, employees and society). The quality award criteria offers measures of
performance rather than a methodology.

Why should a company adopt TQM?

Adopting the TQM philosophy will:

make an organisation more competitive

establish a new culture which will enable growth and longevity
provide a working environment in which everyone can succeed
reduce stress, waste and friction
build teams, partnerships and co-operation
When should a company adopt TQM?

TQM can be adopted at any time after executive management has seen the error of
its ways, opened its mind and embraced the philosophy. It cannot be attempted if
management perceives it as a quick fix, or a tool to improve worker performance.

How should a company adopt TQM?

Before TQM is even contemplated

TQM will force change in culture, processes and practice. These changes will be
more easily facilitated and sustained if there is a formal management system in
place. Such a system will provide many of the facts on which to base change and
will also enable changes to be implemented more systematically and permanently.

The first steps

In order to focus all efforts in any TQM initiative and to yield permanent benefits, a
company must answer some fundamental questions:

what is its purpose as a business?

what is its vision for the business?
what is its mission?
what are the factors upon which achievement of its mission depends?
what are its values?
what are its objectives?
A good way to accomplish this is to take top management off site for a day or two
for a brainstorming session. Until management shares the same answers to these
questions and has communicated them to the workforce there can be no guarantee
that the changes made will propel the organisation in the right direction.

Methodology

There are a number of approaches to take towards adopting the TQM philosophy.
The teachings of Deming, Juran, Taguchi, Ishikawa, Imai, Oakland etc can all help an
organisation realign itself and embrace the TQM philosophy. However, there is no
single methodology, only a bundle of tools and techniques.

Examples of tools include:

flowcharting
statistical process control (SPC)
Pareto analysis
cause and effect diagrams
employee and customer surveys

Examples of techniques include:

benchmarking
cost of quality
quality function deployment
failure mode effects analysis
design of experiments
Measurements

After using the tools and techniques an organisation needs to establish the degree
of improvement. Any number of techniques can be used for this including selfassessment, audits and SPC.

Pitfalls

TQM initiatives have been prone to failure because of common mistakes. These
include:

allowing external forces and events to drive a TQM initiative

an overwhelming desire for quality awards and certificates
organising and perceiving TQM activities as separate from day-to-day work
responsibilities
treating TQM as an add-on with little attention given to the required changes in
organisation and culture
senior management underestimating the necessary commitment to TQM

Demings 14 Points on Total Quality

Management
Knowledge Center > Learn About Quality >TQM > Deming's 14 Points
Demings 14 Points on Quality Management, a core concept on implementing total quality management, is a set of
management practices to help companies increase their quality and productivity.
1.

Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services.

2.

Adopt the new philosophy.

3.

Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.

4.

End the practice of awarding business on price alone; instead, minimize total cost by
working with a single supplier.

5.

Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production and service.

6.

Institute training on the job.

7.

Adopt and institute leadership.

8.

Drive out fear.

9.

Break down barriers between staff areas.

10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets for the workforce.

11. Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for management.
12. Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship, and eliminate the annual rating
or merit system.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone.
14. Put everybody in the company to work accomplishing the transformation.

TQM - Total Quality Management

The origins of TQM are subject to debate but most research shows that Walter Shewhart
came up with the management ideology in the 1920's.
Further advances came from Armand Feigenbaum and the big four:

W. Edwards Deming

Joseph Juran

Philip B. Crosby

Kaoru Ishikawa
Edward Deming was a student under the instruction of Walter Shewart. He refined TQM
and got a chance in Japan to try these approaches to management in mid 1950's. As
Japan's quality and performance levels surpassed previously dominated fields of work
controlled by the U.S., the U.S. companies took notice and adopted the TQM philosophy.
While many failed to properly implement, some did succeed and awards such as the
Deming Prize, Shingo Prize, and Malcolm Baldridge Award recognizes a few of them.
Total - Encompasses the entire organization, supply chain, human resources, IT,
processes, and product development. Everyone is involved, practicing what is preached,
and regular communication of the purpose driven goal.
Quality - defined by the beholder and can take on many forms but in the case it is the
perception of the customer(s). The emphasis is on things being done right the first time.
Management - continuous management with cycle such as PDCA cycle, Plan, Do,
Check, Act also known as the Shewhart Cycle or Deming Cycle.
TQM is a structured system much like a Six Sigma program. When all of its elements are
implemented properly, TQM is like a well-built house. It's solid, strong, and exploits the
value of synergy. The sum of the collective efforts of everyone in the organization is
greater than the sums that each individual can contribute.
Total Quality Management strives to maximize the competitiveness of an organization
through the continual improvement of the quality of its products, services, people,
processes, and environment.
TQM is not a flavor of the month, and when it is implemented in such a way it earns a
poor reputation for all the wrong root causes and the same applies for some Six Sigma
programs. Many companies strive for awards and decorations to bragging rights, public
relations, and customer appeal and sometimes this works. Quality requires a never

ending pursuit of improvement and significant breakthroughs that are sustainable often
require a lot of time, education, and effort along with difficult choices.
The methodolgy includes everyone from managerial to hourly workforce. It does not
necessarily mean that zero defects or absolute perfection must be acheived as this can
be more costly and unpractical than making balanced sustained gains.
TQM requires cross functional cooperation and the elimination of corporate and
departmental silos. However, it does not demand radical organizational realignment. It
needs the liberation of people from stifling control systems and the tyranny of
functionalism which precludes teamwork. Public rewards whould be provided (not
necesssary money) for long term success and remove praise for short term and
uncontrolled changes.

Dr. Deming included 14 points in his book "Out of the Crisis" that he believed a
company's leaders shall adhere in order to have successful total quality management.
1) Change is constant. Constantly improve the system of operations and service.
Management and employees are obligated to continually look for ways to reduce waste
and improve quality.
2) Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service. Management
must change from a short term focus to delivering on the long term and creating
stability. This requires dedication to innovation in all areas to best meet the needs of
citizens or clients.
3) Cease dependence on mass inspection. Create mistake proof processes and focus on
proactive rather than being reactive. Inspection is equivalent to planning for defects; it
comes too late, and it is ineffective and costly.
4) End the practice of awarding contracts on the basis of price tag. This is often a
contradiction to the typical paradigm on modern supply chain management. Frequently,
this leads to supplies or services of low quality. Instead, they should seek the best
quality and work to achieve it with a single supplier for any one item in a long-term
relationship.
5) Adopt the new philosophy in which mistakes and negativism is unacceptable.
Confront poor performance and take the courage to deal with distracting conflict.
6) Institute modern methods of training on the job. Too often, employees learn their jobs
from other employees who were never trained properly. They may be prone to follow
non-standard instructions and learn bad habits.

7) Institute modern methods of leadership. Lower-level managers must be empowered

to inform upper management about conditions that need correction; once informed,
management must take action. Barriers (such as reserved parking places for top
management) that prevent employees from doing their jobs with pride must be
removed.
8) Drive out fear. Employees need to feel secure if they make a mistake or offer
suggestions on sensitive topics or positions. They can not be afraid to ask questions to
understand or promote change. People will continue to do things the wrong way or to
not do them at all, the top performers will eventually leave. It is necessary for better
quality and productivity that people feel secure and have pride to workmanship.
9) Break down barriers between staff areas. Ensure that department or area goals do
not suboptimize another's goals or an important customer satisfier. Each discipline must
work together as a team for the company as a collective group to acheive the ideal
balanced scorecard.
10) Eliminate slogans, exhortations, numerical goals and targets for the work force. Let
people put up their own slogans. Although workers should not be given numerical goals,
the organization itself must have a goal: continuous improvement.
11) Eliminate work standards and quotas. Quotas focus on quantity not quality. They are
usually a guarantee of inefficiency and high cost. To hold a job, a person meets quotas
at any cost, without regard to damage to the organization.
12) Allow innovation and experimentation, some will succeed and more will not but the
barriers to pride of workmanship should be eliminated. People want to do a good job
and are demoralized when they cannot or not allowed. Too often, lack of proper training,
misguided managers, unrealistic goals, faulty equipment, and defective material stand
in the way.
13) Institute a vigorous program of education and training. Promote cross training and
advanced training in specific work fields. Because quality and productivity
improvements change the number of people needed in some areas and the jobs
required, people must be continually trained and retrained. All training must include
basic statistical techniques.
14) Create a structure in upper management that will continually reinforce and lead be
example on the 13 points shown above. everybody in the company should strivbe to
accomplish and embrace the transformation.

Guiding Principles to TQM

1) Successful TQM requires both behavioral and cultural changes.

2) Successful TQM aligns itself with organizational management systems and human
resource management systems.
3) Successful TQM becomes a system within itself by default or choice.
4) Successful TQM system brings two other management systems together with a
behavioral and cultural commitment to customer quality.
TQM is infinitely adaptable so each impementation is unique and needs to suit
the company. There can be some downfalls that are mitigated by first
understanding them.
TQM focuses people's attention on internal processes rather than on external results. An
asset of TQM is that it gets managers to attend to internal processes. It avoids being
number bound and too data driven, or the complete reliance on performance evaluation
and measurement, and losing touch with the voice of the customer and the shifting
preferences of new, lost, and potential customers.
TQM focuses on minimum standards. Zero defects and no rework demands distract
people from adding value and the price for perfection may not be economical or
practical.
TQM does not demand entirely new relationships with outside partners. Working with
suppliers is essential as marketing converts to relationship based strategies and
partnering with expertise.

Deming's 7 Deadly Diseases

Deming suggested that U.S. companies generally were affected with seven deadly
diseases and their rivals have a competitive advantage until they are understood and
eliminated.
1) Failure to provide adequate time, human and financial resources to support the
purpose of quality improvement.
2) Excessive health-care costs. A fixed cost that many continue to struggle with
providing at affordable rate.
3) Excessive legal costs. These are unpredictable but significant cost that places burden
on shareholder success.
4) Emphasis on short-term profits and shareholder value. Compensation and bonuses (if
any) should be based on short and long term performance (>1 year).
5) Annual performance evaluations based on observations or judgments. Evaluations
should be frequent, real-time, and based on correct facts and data that provide
equitable justice.

6) The lack of management continuity either from turnover or change in direction. It is

difficult for the loyalists of a company to trust the leadership when steering in new
directions and never seeming to finish and stabilize before beginning another.
7) Management's use of easily available data, without regards to what is needed to
improve the process. Use of data but lack of understanding the root causes.
Examples:Pareto charts of defects but not what causes the defects.