1
Total Quality Management (TQM)
MODULE No. 4
Leadership
Total Quality Management is a way of managing
an organization with the objective of carrying out
right jobs rights – the first time and every time.
In quality management, there is a thumb rule
called 85/15 Rule. It means that the root causes
of 85% of the problems in the organization are
due to faulty systems and 15% are a result of
the behaviour of employee. The top
management is responsible for the faulty
systems.
The leaders, who broke away from the
traditional style and adopted TQM –based style
of management, have been well rewarded. The
TQM based leadership put companies far ahead
of their competitors in terms of sales, profits and
employee morale. Effective leadership for TQM
involves everyone in the organization in value
adding activities.
The most important prerequisite to practice TQM
is that the senior management should firmly
believe that TQM is the only way to do business
and manage the organization and that TQM
would lead the organization to prosperity in the
long run. Unless the top management believes
in TQM, there is no way to implement TQM in an
organization.
In addition, the top management should also
have faith in the following to build quality values
in the organization.
o Customers are the only reason for being
in business and hence they should be
delighted.
o Zero defect is possible to achieve.
o Teamwork results in a win-win situation.
o CEO has to lead the quality movement.
o Proper communication is essential.
o Continuous improvement is needed in
processes.
Definition of TQM
The International Standard, ISO 9000, defines
Total Quality Management as “management
approach of an organization, centered on quality,
based on the participation of all its members and
aiming at long term success through customer
satisfaction and benefits to the members of the
organization and to the society.”
The standard also says that there are so many
other names, which are used essentially to
represent TQM as given below :
o Continuous quality improvement
o Total quality
o Total business management
o Organization wide quality management
o Cost effective quality management
Elements of TQM
TQM is application of a number of activities with
perfect synergy. The various important elements
of TQM are the following :
o Constancy of Purpose/Long-term
Commitment
o Focus on Process
o Training
o Total Employee Involvement /Team
Work
o Quantitative Methods
o Leadership
o Continuous Process Improvement
o Customer Focus
o Supplier Partnership
Deming’s 14 Points for Top Management
Deming is the father figure of Japanese quality
movement.
1.) Create Constancy of Purpose for
Improvement of Products and Services.
The top management must believe that their
business will continue for 100 years. Such a
confidence will motivate them to aim long-term
success. It will infuse a constant quest for
innovation, improvement of processes.
2.) Adapt the New Philosophy
The new philosophy is to practice the Japanese
CWQC, which was renamed as TQM much later.
The new philosophy means elimination of
wastes, delays and radically changing the work
culture. The new philosophy means,
Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing is possible with
zero defects.
3.) Cease Dependence on Mass Inspection
Doing things right and doing it right the first time
would reduce the dependence on inspection, in
fact it would be eliminated. TQM is aimed at
eliminating inspection in the long run through
prevention.
4.) End the Practice of Awarding Business
on the Basis of Price Tag Alone
1

This point addresses supplier partnership. The
supplier should be selected on the basis of the
following 4 parameters.
o Quality
o Price
o Delivery
o Service
5.) Constantly Improve the System of
Production and Services
The processes in the organization need
continuous improvement, Kaizen in Japanese.
TQM is aimed at continuous improvement of
processes so that the quality of products and
services improve continuously. The very
purpose of TQM is the constant improvement of
the system for production and services.
6.) Institute Training
The abilities of employees should be improved
and harnessed only through training. Deming
advocates, “Management needs training to learn
about the organization, all the way from
incoming material to the customer.” Today every
Japanese employee receives six weeks of
training every year. This is the proof of
Deming’s teachings and the adoption of his
concepts by the Japanese.
7.) Adopt and Institute Leadership
Deming urges that the senior employees must
conduct themselves as leaders rather than
managers. The difference the characteristics of
managers and leaders are given below :
Leader and Manager
Leader:
▪ Proactive
▪ Coaches
▪ Understands process
▪ Moves around
▪ Improves process
▪ Communicates frequently
▪ Seeks suggestions
Manager:
▪ Reactive
▪ Finds fault
▪ Doesn’t care to understand
▪ Sits in his chair
▪ Maintains process
2
▪ Communicates rarely
▪ Questions
8.) Drive Out Fear
Employees should be encouraged to suggest
improvements and new ideas, ask questions
about the existing process, etc. If freedom to
express new ideas is curtailed, then the
employees will continue to do what they are
doing. This will stunt improvement. Fear is
detrimental to improvement of processes.
9.) Break Down Barriers Between Staff
Areas
Quite often, the various teams in the
organization stop communicating with each
other. The teams, over the years become
watertight compartments. Every team may
prove that it is the best. But organization as a
whole may be doing poorly due to lack of
communications between the teams. TQM
dictates removal of barriers between the
departments.
10.) Eliminate Slogans, Exhortations and
Targets for the Work Force
The best strategy for improvement is to correct
defects in the system, not slogans or posters.
11.) (a) Eliminate Numerical Quota for the
Work Force
Numeric quota is given assuming that the
worker may idling. That is not the right
approach.
(b) Eliminate Numerical Goals for People in
Management
Setting goals without the necessary wherewithal
does not work.
12.) Remove Barriers that Rob People of
Pride of Workmanship
The organization should establish the right
processes and a proper system for quality
management. This will lead to carrying out jobs
correctly. Any barrier that robs the managers or
workers their pride of workmanship should be
removed.
13.) Encourage Education and
Self-Improvement for Every One
Employees should be encouraged to pursue
higher education and training while in service,
for improving the skills and updating knowledge.
14.) Take Action to Accomplish the
Transformation
2

The top management should understand the
above 13 points and then enable their
employees to understand them. They should
interpret 13 points properly and educate their
employees appropriately.
Ten Strategies for Top Management
1.) Proactive Management – the leaders have
to be proactive. They have to foresee what will
happen in the future and take advance action to
prevent the occurrence of the problems as
prevention is always better than cure.
Proactive Management Needs Proper System –
Proactive management needs a proper system
in the organization. The problem can be
identified before occurring, only if there is a
proper system in the organization.
TQM Calls for Proactive Management – Inspite
of best efforts, if an error has occurred, then
corrective action has to be taken after an
analysis so that such errors are not repeater.
2.) Adventurous and Bold Change
Management
Nobody likes Change – Human beings by their
very nature resist change. Even, if a change is
going to make them much more comfortable,
they may not agree to it straightaway.
Change is Essential - An organization cannot
progress without change. It has to continuously
change for better. There should be an on-going
rethinking and restructuring of the organization,
so that the organization is receptive to the needs
of the customers.
Be Adventurous – Successful people are those
who have taken the challenges and grown
beyond expectations. This calls for adventurous
decision-making and high self-esteem among
the senior management persons.
Be Bold – The other requisites for change
management are boldness, self-confidence or
self-esteem. Boldness is very essential for
making bold decisions for improvement, based
upon the study and analysis of the current
practices and system in the organization.
Role of CEO for Adventurous and Bold Change
Management – Like many other aspects, the
adventurous and the bold change management
depends on the personal qualities of the CEO.
The CEO, in addition to his own bold initiatives,
should support innovative change management
initiated by his employees.
3.) DIRFT – Do It Right First Time
Take Right Decision. In very organization a
number of decisions have to be taken by the
CEOs, managers and supervisors. They are
leaders in the organization. Before making
3
every business decisions, the leaders should
carry out the following sequence of activities.
▪ Plan the decision –weight the pros and
cons
▪ Foresee the impact of the decision on
the organization.
▪ Take opinion of the right people
▪ Involve the concerned
▪ Implement the decision
▪ Persist
Why People don’t Do it Right the First Time ?
This is a time- tested concept and employees
and organizations should adopt DIRFT.
Why Things are Done Wrong ?
▪ The employee does not know what to do
clearly, leave alone how to do?
▪ If he knows how to do, he is not
motivated enough to do it right the first
time.
▪ He may not have the right tools to do a
good job
▪ He does not have the necessary
education or training to know how to
DIRFT
▪ Probably his seniors have trained him to
do the wrong way
▪ He is not proud of the job he is doing
▪ He does not get appreciated when he
does it right.
Problems of not Doing it Right
▪ In some cases, not doing it right the first
time may result in not doing it right ever,
thereafter
▪ Leads to unnecessary expenditure
▪ Increases the failure costs
▪ Demotivates employees
▪ Causes hassles to employees and
customers
▪ Brings down the reputation of the
organization
▪ Leads to schedule slippages
▪ Increases scraps leading to more cost
on account of storage, accounting,
disposal,etc.
3

▪ Forces the organizations to buy
additional components to take care of
defects in the processes.
▪ The productivity gets affected due to
holding up of the process to correct the
defective product shunting from place to
place for fault diagnosis, altercation
between employees s to who or which
machine ceased the defect, wastage of
supervisor’s time and the top
management’s time in resolving
disputes.
Basic Requirements for DIRFT
▪ Right the First Time and Every Time
▪ Set Right Goals
▪ Select Right Personnel
▪ Establish Right Processes
▪ Choose Durable Raw Materials
▪ Choose Right Machinery
4.) Continuous Preventive Action
Corrective Action is a Post-Mortems. What is
corrective action? When a product or service is
delivered , if the customer finds defect or faces
problems. It would only be the post-mortem of
the process.
Prevention is Better than Cure. Being proactive
may be considered to be an in-born quality. But
it can be developed by anybody who is willing to
put in that extra effort.
One Shot Prevention is not Good Enough. Like
other TQM principles and practice, prevention
actions have to be continuous and should cut
across all sections in the organizations.
5.) Care for Little Things and Accumulate
Gains
▪ Caring for Small Things
▪ Communicate with Junior Employees
▪ Keep on Accumulating
6.) Keep Economic Performance
Importance of Economic Performance. If an
organization is implementing TQM correctly,
then the bottom line will improve automatically.
Quality should Increase Productivity Also. The
objective of continuous quality improvements is
to satisfy the customers. Improving quality for
customer satisfaction should definitely lead to
increase in overall productivity.
4
Talk about Success in Economic Performance.
There is no harm in managers in taking about
their achievements and feeling proud of it.
Therefore, the CEO should talk about economic
performance. It will help him to motivate the
employees and customers alike.
Stakeholder will Understand Economics Better.
The motivation of employees depends upon
many factors like their personal development,
happiness, sense of fulfillment, security,
achievement, etc. Motivation goes up, when
they find that the organization is performing well.
7.) Management By Walking Around (MBWA)
What is MBWA? MBWA can be defined as the
unannounced visit of the CEO to the various
work spots for getting direct and first hand
information, from the employees, the customers
and the suppliers.
What is to be Done during MBWA? The three
major activities done together simultaneously
during MBWA are listening, teaching and
facilitating.
Barriers to Practicing MBWA. The problem
occurs mainly because MBWA appears to
violate the chain of command.
8.) Measure for Success.
Measuring for success primarily involves,
looking for , measuring and analyzing the
feedback from customers, either internal or
external.
Measure 3 Ps. The measurement should cut
across 3 Ps i.e. Process, Personnel and
Product as
PDSA for Measurement. PDSA Cycle
popularized by Deming, is an important tool for
any activity. It is more so for measuring
success, since it is a tricky affair and if not
carried out systematically can lead to wrong
conclusions and costly mistakes.
Plan for Measuring Success. It is very difficult to
identify the measures in a service organization.
Some of the common measures for service
industries are :
▪ Planned delivery time and actual
delivery time
▪ Repeat customers
▪ Perception of the customers about
quality
▪ Productivity
▪ Revenue generated per employee
▪ Revenue VS expenditure ratio
4
 5

Requirement For Virtual Enterprise. The

▪ Return on investment
following steps are involved in running a virtual
▪ Customer complaints enterprise :

▪ Rejects in process ▪ Identify the most critical part/s

▪ Rejects at customers site ▪ Identify the other parts
▪ Rework ▪ Develop /identify vendors for the other
▪ Reminders given by customers parts

▪ Errors in invoices ▪ Continuously increase sub-contracting

▪ Under payment/over payment

▪ Result of field survey, etc.

The Do Phase of Measuring. At this stage, the

identified measurement should be carried out on
trial basis with direction form the quality council.

Study Phase of Measurement. The organization

should experiment with the proposed measures
for about two to three months. At the end of
three months, the quality council should meet
again to take stock of the situation, they should
discuss and see whether they need to carry out
changes in the measures, e.g. add new
measures, drop originally identified measures or
modify them.

The Act Phase of Measurement. In this phase

the measures and methods of measurements
are confirmed. The organizations starts making
measurements. Measure of success is a
continuing activity.

9.) Never Rest on Past Laurels, Continue to

Improve.

The Tale of Tortoise and Rabbit. The tortoise

and rabbit teaches us the lesson that one should
never rest on past laurels, but continue to
improve.

The Need to Improve Continuously. Many

organizations have achieved such growth rates.
Such a growth rate is achievable primarily due to
two factors :

▪ Cutting down the costs by doing right

things, right the first time

▪ A higher output of the motivated

employees through extensive training.

10.) Build a Virtual Organization

Vertical Integration. In the first extreme,

everything, from the raw materials to the final
product is manufactured under one roof. The
other extreme is buying everything from others
and putting them together and selling the
assembled product.