Overview of Total Quality Management (TQM)

In the modern management concept, companies must compete on the global market
for customers who expect nothing less than perfection. The Total Quality Management (TQM)
helps the quality of products and services to achieve maximum customer satisfaction. The
concept of TQM is most applicable to companies and organizations that are heavily
department-focused. In such organizations, the inter-department struggles negatively affect
how customers’ needs and wants are met. With TQM, everyone in the company or organization
is responsible for quality assurance and problem prevention. This management concept was
originally applied solely to manufacturing, but it has since been successfully implemented by a
number of businesses across many industries. TQM uses business strategy, data and
communication across different business units to build quality into the culture and processes of
the organization. TQM proponents view organizations as living organisms that rely on a
constant flow of information. Effective communication boosts employee morale, increases
productivity, and is a key component of quality assurance