TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)

A total approach to quality is the current thinking of today; which is popularly

called total quality management (TQM). The idea behind TQM is to create a
quality culture throughout the organisation.

The credit for pioneering the concept of TQM should be bestowed upon W.
Edward Deming of Japan; who introduced this philosophy in Japan over four
decades ago. Gradually, the concept of TQM caught the attention of
industrialists, all over the world, including India.

Concept and Elements of TQM:

TQM could simply be defined as follows:
TQM is a philosophy that believes in a company-wide responsibility toward
quality via fostering a quality culture throughout the organisation; involving
continuous improvement in the quality of work of all employees with a view
to best meeting the requirements of customers.

Total quality management (TQM) is a general philosophy of gradually

improving the operations of a business. This is done through the
application of rigorous process analysis by every involved employee and
business partner. A continual process of improving and enhancing customer
satisfaction through a comprehensive approach of management by ensuring
the participation of all the employees to deliver superior quality of product or
service for long-term success.

TQM focusses on customer satisfaction and aims at improving the processes,

organizational culture and systems by engaging every single employee to
bring in long-term success. TQM is usually applied at the tactical, front-line
level, where production, clerical, and low-level managers are deeply
involved. There are a number of tools available to assist in a TQM effort,
such as:

 Benchmarking
 Failure analysis
 Plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle
 Process management
 Product design control
 Statistical process control

TQM can be implemented successfully in any part of a business, such as:

 Accounting
 Field servicing
 Finance
 Legal and administration
 Maintenance
 Manufacturing
 Materials management
 Research and development
 Sales and marketing

Elements of TQM: The following are the basic elements of TQM:

(i) Meeting Customers’ Requirements:
Customer satisfaction is the key to the survival and growth of an organisation.
TQM aims at best satisfying the requirements of customers which never
remain constant; but keep changing with changes in environment and needs,
preferences etc. of customers.

(ii) Continuous Improvement:
TQM is a total concept. It involves the integration of all functions and
processes within an organisation, in order to achieve continuous
improvement in the quality of products/services. Moreover, quality is a
dynamic concept.

With advancement in technology, an organisation must adopt new processes

and redesign products to yield continuous improvement in quality to give the
best advantage of technology to customers.

(iii) Involvement of all Employees:

TQM is called people’s success. According to TQM philosophy, quality is not
the responsibility only of production personnel. Rather it is a company-wide
responsibility. TQM can be successful only when the total organisation is
quality-conscious.

Hence the nomenclature of this philosophy as TQM i.e. totals quality

management. TQM calls for improvement in the quality of work of all
employees through popularizing the concept of quality culture. In fact, TQM
should be the concern of all managers and workers, in the organisation.
Deming’s Recommendations for Successful TQM:
W. Edward Deming makes fourteen recommendations to management for
successful TQM.

For sake of simplicity and quick comprehension, these fourteen

recommendations have classified into following four categories:
(I) General Recommendations:
(i) Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product/service; and aim
of continuous improvement should be reflected in all aspects of organisational
strategy.
(ii) Put everyone in the company to work on the transformation. Have
patience to accomplish the transformation.
(iii) Adopt the new technology
(iv) Improve constantly and forever the system of production, quality and
service. Continuous improvement is a competitive imperative.
(v) End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone. Do
not drive price down at the cost of quality.

(II) Recommendations vis-a-vis Directing:

(vi) Adopt and institute leadership. Do not attain control at the expense of
leadership.
(vii) Break down barriers between staff areas. Develop high level of
understanding to mutual problem solving, throughout the organisation.
(viii) Drive out fear. Fear of losing job/punishment produces losses.
(ix) Stop to harangue workers. Eliminate slogans, exhortations for the
workforce; as these are evidence of failure to manage. (To harangue means to
speak loudly and angrily to persuade people to do something).
(III) Recommendations vis-a-vis Staffing:
(x) Institute training a precondition for continuous improvement.
(xi) Institute a vigorous programme of education and self-improvement.
(xii) Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship. Annual
performance and merit rating are the biggest obstacles.

(IV) Recommendations vis-a-vis Controlling:

(xiii)Build quality into product. Cease dependence on mass inspection. In fact,
the greater the number of inspectors; the greater the number of defects.
(xiv)Eliminate numerical controls for workforce. Change system to support
and help people to ensure that targets are met.

Advantages of TQM:
1. Cost Reduction and Increased Profitability: TQM helps in reducing total
quality costs. It is based on the principle of preventing defective
products/services rather than being at an expense of quality failure cost. So
basically, it aims to manufacture zero defect products/services. Consequently,
this brings in cost reduction and thus increased profitability. Many companies
such as Toyota Motors and Motorola have bought in manufacturing cost
reductions by implementing TQM techniques.

2. Facilitates Productivity: Cost reduction is a means of increased

productivity. Productivity implies maximum output with optimum utilization
of resources. Thus, the superior quality of resources and infrastructure, high-
end technology and competent employees enhance productivity.
3. Reduces Redundant Activities: TQM applies a systematic approach by
assigning quality improvement teams so as to reduce unessential tasks, waste
of resources, thus, bringing in efficiency. This also saves time and duplication
of tasks.

4. Promotes Innovation Process: TQM enables the organizations to conduct

research on any undergoing challenges/ problems so as to come up with
solutions for the same. Thus, organizations escalate their research and bring
in innovative marketing decisions. The implemented innovative approach to
the core and peripheral services attracts the customers.

5. Market-Specific Products/Services: Since the main focus of TQM is on

customer satisfaction, it provides a pathway to understand the needs and
demands of the consumer market. Therefore, it enables the organization to
deliver products/services specific to the market.

6. Holistic Approach to Management: Many organizations struggle with

non-engaging and non-participative attitude of the employees. TQM enables to
bring changes in the behavioral pattern of the employees by facilitating good
work culture, team-work, promoting self-development, employee engagement
and thus extracting better performance.

7. Promotes Continual Improvement: The basic fundamental of TQM is of

continually improving for long-term success. Therefore, TQM practices are
designed to bring in continual improvement to the quality standards of a
product/service. This results in a continuous revival of processes.
8. Facilitates Competitive Edge: The increasing competition challenges the
organization to meet the ever-increasing demands of the consumer market.
TQM practices prove useful in understanding the market trends and
competition so as to develop effective strategies to overcome the same.

9. Promotes Good-Will: As TQM focuses on consistent delivery of good

quality product/services, the consumers hold favorable reputation about the
organization. The internal stakeholders (employees and investors) get
lucrative incentives and good returns respectively, while external
stakeholders (customers) get superior quality of goods. This results in a good
brand image and goodwill in the long run.

10. Facilitates Effective Communication and Employee Morale: Often,

improper and ineffective communication are a hindrance to the proper
functioning and development of an organization. This results in improper
understanding, low productivity, inferior quality, waste of time and efforts,
thus contributing to low morale. Whereas, TQM facilitates effective
communication and interaction within members of different departments and
hierarchies of management. This boosts employee morale and team-work.

11. Facilitates Customer Satisfaction: Since TQM is all about delivering

superior quality of products/services to the customers in the long run, the
amount of customer complaints is quite less. Therefore, it signifies less use of
resources and increased customer satisfaction. Thus, the market share also
increases as the existing customers act as the ambassadors to attract new
customers.
Therefore, it is obvious that TQM not only brings in tangible results like
superior product quality, reduction in costs, increased profitability, increased
market share, and productivity. But, also, intangible returns like better
communication, teamwork, employee engagement, customer satisfaction,
goodwill, and increased employee morale. However, TQM also requires
employees to undergo substantial duration of the training period, company-
wide involvement and participation to quality improvement. All levels of the
organizational hierarchy must be involved to make the TQM program
successful. However, with any short-coming in the efforts or improper
utilization of resources, could make the success of TQM program doubtful and
collapse the internal bonding of the company. TQM techniques give the best
results when they are supported strongly by all levels of the management and
employee teams, and if there are persistent efforts on process improvisation
with a negligible margin for errors.

Now, that we know the several benefits of TQM, its needless to say it should
be an integral management technique for every organization.

Limitations of TQM
The philosophy of TQM suffers from the following major limitations:
(i) Waiting for a Long Time: TQM requires significant change in
organisation; consisting of:
1. Change in methods, processes etc. of organisation.
2. Change in attitude, behaviour etc. of people
Launching of TQM and acceptance of the philosophy of TQM requires a long
waiting for the organisation. It is not possible to accept and implement TQM
overnight.
(ii) Problem of Labour Management Relations: Success of TQM depends on
the relationships between labour and management; because participation of
people at all levels is a pre-requisite for TQM programme implementation. In
many organisations, here and abroad, labour-management relations are quite
tense. As such, launching, acceptance and implementation of TQM programme
is nothing more than a dream for such organisations.

The Cycle of ‘TQM’

The cycle of TQM is divided into 4 phases, which are popularly referred to as
the ‘Deming cycle’ or ‘PDCA cycle’. Let’s briefly understand these stages:

1. Planning Stage: The primary stage in TQM requires employees to identify

the undergoing problems, issues or any challenges with the operations of the
organization. Employees have to revise the hypothesis and conduct necessary
research by collecting data so as to test the same and come up with
recommendations for a problem.
2. Doing Stage: In this stage, employees design solutions for identified
problems and implement strategies to overcome the same. The effectiveness
of the results is also measured in this phase.
3. Checking Stage: The comparative analysis of the attained results/data
before and after conducting the research are measured.
4. Acting Stage: The last stage, where derived solutions/recommendations
are implemented.
TQM Tools and Techniques
Here follows a brief description of the basic set of Total Quality Management
tools. They are:

 Pareto Principle
 Scatter Plots
 Control Charts
 Flow Charts
 Cause and Effect , Fishbone, Ishikawa Diagram
 Histogram or Bar Graph
 Check Lists
 Check Sheets

1. Pareto Principle

The Pareto principle suggests 80 percent of issues occur due to 20% reasons.
Over the years, the 80/20 rule applies across many disciplines and areas. So it
was a good idea to identify and focus on that category of defects which covers
the maximum portion. It is a special form of vertical bar chart and used to
identify the first few major sources responsible for the problem. In
quantitative terms: 80% of the problems come from 20% of the causes
(machines, raw materials, operators etc.); 80% of the wealth is owned by 20%
of the people etc. Double (back to back) Pareto charts can be used to compare
'before and after' situations. General use, to decide where to apply initial
effort for maximum effect.
 
2. Scatter Plots

A scatter plot is effectively a line graph with no line - i.e. the point
intersections between the two data sets are plotted but no attempt is made to
physically draw a line. The Y axis is conventionally used for the characteristic
whose behaviour we would like to predict. Use, to define the area of
relationship between two variables.
 
Warning: There may appear to be a relationship on the plot when in reality
there is none, or both variables actually relate independently to a third
variable.
 
3. Control Charts

Control charts are a method of Statistical Process Control, SPC. (Control

system for production processes). They enable the control of distribution of
variation rather than attempting to control each individual variation. Control
charts measure the results of processes over time and display the results in
the form of a graph. By using control charts one can determine whether
process variances are in control or out of control. A control chart is works on
sample variance measurements, from the samples chosen and measured, the
mean and standard deviation are determined. Upper and lower control and
tolerance limits are calculated for a process and sampled measures are
regularly plotted about a central line between the two sets of limits. The
plotted line corresponds to the stability/trend of the process. Action can be
taken based on trend rather than on individual variation. This prevents over-
correction/compensation for random variation, which would lead to many
rejects.
 

4. Flow Charts

Pictures, symbols or text coupled with lines, arrows on lines show direction of
flow. Enables modelling of processes; problems/opportunities and decision
points etc. Develops a common understanding of a process by those involved.
No particular standardisation of symbology, so communication to a different
audience may require considerable time and explanation.

 
5. Cause and Effect , Fishbone, Ishikawa Diagram

The cause-and-effect diagram is a method for analysing process dispersion.

The diagram's purpose is to relate causes and effects. Three basic types:
Dispersion analysis, Process classification and cause enumeration. Effect =
problem to be resolved, opportunity to be grasped, result to be achieved.
Excellent for capturing team brainstorming output and for filling in from the
'wide picture'. Helps organise and relate factors, providing a sequential view.
Deals with time direction but not quantity. Can become very complex. Can be
difficult to identify or demonstrate interrelationships.
 
6. Histogram or Bar Graph
A Histogram is a graphic summary of variation in a set of data. It enables us to
see patterns that are difficult to see in a simple table of numbers. Can be
analysed to draw conclusions about the data set. 
A histogram is a graph in which the continuous variable is clustered into
categories and the value of each cluster is plotted to give a series of bars as
above. The above example reveals the skewed distribution of a set of product
measurements that remain nevertheless within specified limits. Without using
some form of graphic this kind of problem can be difficult to analyse,
recognise or identify.
 
7. Check Sheets
A Check Sheet is a data recording form that has been designed to readily
interpret results from the form itself. It needs to be designed for the specific
data it is to gather. Used for the collection of quantitative or qualitative
repetitive data. Adaptable to different data gathering situations. Minimal
interpretation of results required. Easy and quick to use. No control for
various forms of bias - exclusion, interaction, perception, operational, non-
response, estimation.
 
8. Check Lists
A Checklist contains items that are important or relevant to a specific issue or
situation. Checklists are used under operational conditions to ensure that all
important steps or actions have been taken. Their primary purpose is for
guiding operations, not for collecting data. Generally used to check that all
aspects of a situation have been taken into account before action or decision
making. Simple, effective.