QUALITY
their workplace.
- Is defined as conformance to requirement, not
as ‘goodness’ or ‘elegance’ - Crosby’s Principle
- Quality is an essential term for all products:
goods and services. Total Quality Management
abbreviated as TQM is the set of principles that
is responsible for balancing the link between
the customers and employees. Let’s take a look
at some primary details regarding total quality
management and its importance for the
customers.
What is Total Quality Management?
- Abbreviated word TQM comprises three terms
Total, Quality and Management. Let us expand
each term separately,
• Total: including all.
• Quality: refers to excellence.
• Management: art of maintaining and
completing the tasks like Planning,
Organizing, Staffing, Provisioning, Leading,
and Control.
Total Quality Management is facilitated through a clear
understanding of the term ‘Quality Control’:
 Q – Quality first
 U – User is the king
 A – Avoid defects
 L – Long-term vision
 I – Innovation error proofing
 T – Training for all
 Y – Yearning for facts
 C – Cost consciousness
 O – Optimal tolerance
 N – Nip the vital few
 T – Team work
 R – Respect humanity
 O – Operator in state of self-control
 L – Leadership from top
In simple words, total quality management or TQM is
defined as a management approach to deliver long term
product success and success satisfaction. In TQM all
members of the organization work together to improve
the processes, products, services and the culture of
Thus, in scientific terms Total Quality
Management is defined as a customer-oriented process.
Total quality management aims at the regular
enhancement of the business. TQM ensures that all
components of the industry work together with a united
goal to improve the quality of its services and products
As defined by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO): “TQM is a management approach
for 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
all members of the organization and to society.” ISO
8402:1994
In Japan, TQM comprises four (4) process steps, namely:
 Kaizen – Focuses on “Continuous Process
Improvement”, to make processes visible,
repeatable and measurable.
 Atarimae Hinshitsu – The idea that “things will
work as they are supposed to” (for example, a
pen will write).
 Kansei – Examining the way the user applies the
product leads to improvement in the product
itself.
 Miryokuteki Hinshitsu – The idea that “things
should have an aesthetic quality” (for example,
a pen will write in a way that is pleasing to the
writer).
History of Total Quality Management
- This concept of Total Quality Management
(TQM) was first given by W. Edwards Deming,
A.V. Feigenbaum, and Joseph Juran. It was
developed for the manufacturing section only,
but nowadays, TQM is utilized by all sectors of
the industry, including its employees too. TQM
is beneficial for both organization as well as
customers.
- Even when the term TQM was officially coined
and its foundations were set, TQM has been
utilized in the different stages of an
organization. Operations of TQM in an
 organization can be identified by different
processes such as Inspection, Quality Control,
and Quality Assurance.
Philosophy of Total Quality Management
Different quality control and quality assurance leaders
have defined TQM in many ways. Common points
between the two are as follows:
1. Policing or inspection is never the right answer
to quality improvement.
2. Quality always comes before the schedules.
3. For the commitment of quality, it is essential to
involve the top management team and quality
leaders.
4. A quality program requires organization-wide
efforts and long-term commitment along with
proper investment.
5. Quality management is a cheaper thing to
implement on the very first instance.
6. Performance measurement is calculated in the
cost of quality.
7. Quality is considered as an inherent
characteristic of a product and not an added
extra.
8. The performance standard while implementing
quality management should be zero defects.
9. Prevention is always better than cure.
10. Good leader always implement better quality
standards
Characteristics of Total Quality Management
One process of total quality management is
characterized by some rigid features. The key identical
elements of Total Quality Management are as follows:
- Total Quality Management focuses on customer
satisfaction and needs. Customers are the first
priority for the TQM process.
- One ideal Total Quality Management process
involves 100% employee focus and dedication
towards the organization.
- An ideal TQM is a never-ending process.
- Total Quality Management continuously works
for the improvement of performances, speed,
and features of the intermediate process of an
organization.
COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS
Primary Components of Total Quality Management
- Total Quality Management is summarized as a
customer-oriented management system. A
system that employs strategies, data, discipline,
and effective communication just to improve
the growth of an organization in a continual
approach.
1. Customer Focused
- It is ultimately the customer who defines the
worth of an organization. The benchmark of a
brand is ultimately set up by customers. All
efforts of the employee and organization are
governed and validated by customers only.
Hence, it is important for the organization to
identify its variety of customers and their needs.
2. Total Employee Involvement
- For any successful company’s growth, it is
essential for employees to be faithful and
dedicated towards the company’s and its name.
all employees of the organization should work
with a common approach and goal.
- Total employee commitment and dedication
can be obtained only when an organization
provides them with a proper culture and
healthy work environment.
3. Process-Centered
- Total quality management is a process centered
process. It involves technical thinking. A TQM
process is a series of steps. It takes inputs from
suppliers and transforms them into outputs that
are delivered to its customers.
- A TQM process needs to be well-defined. The
performance measures of the process need to
be continuously monitored to avoid unexpected
variation.
4. Integrated System
- TQM is an integrated work approach. An
organization consists of different departments
and functional units. These units are usually
- Total quality management executes the role in
an integrated way. It combines up all the small
and large processes. Integrated system helps
the organization to achieve excellence in its
products.
5. Strategic and Systematic Approach
- Systemic approach is a critical part of the
management quality. A strategic and systematic
approach helps the organization to achieve
excellence and deliver its target. Strategic
development helps in achieving the vision,
missions, and goals of the industry. It helps in
developing quality as the core component of
the process.
6. Continuous Improvement
- Continuous improvement is the core element of
total quality management. Quality is a never-
ending process. It builds the organization in
both analytics and strategic management.
Continuous improvement brings
competitiveness in the market and helps in
meeting expectations of the stakeholders and
customers.
7. Fact-based Decision Making
- Total quality management helps the
organization to participate in logical and
technical decision making. Logical decision
making further assists the organization to take
accurate performance measures against the
data and process. It helps in improving the
accuracy and precision in targets.
8. Lag-free Communications
- To facilitate total quality management, lag-free
communication between the different
components and departments of industry is
essential. Communication plays a large role in
maintaining effective communication, bringing
timeliness in the project delivery and motivating
employees at all levels.
Though the chief function of TQM has emphasis on
quality, its works is multidirectional.
Some Common Functions of Total Quality
Management are:
 Quality Policy and its Communication
 Team Work and Participation
 Problem Solving Tools and Techniques
 Standardization
 Quality System
 Quality Costs and Management
 Process Control
 Customer-supplier Integration
 Education and Training
 Quality Audit and Review.
Total Quality Management is an integrated
organizational approach for quality improvement. TQM
is a system approach to quality management. It refers
to complete commitment to quality in all spheres of
organization. Total in TQM stands for an overall
integrated approach to all aspects of quality, all
domains of the system, including, organization, people,
resources, time, hardware and software, even top
management commitments.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is the
organization-wide management of quality.
Management consists of planning, organizing, directing,
control, and assurance. Total quality is called total
because it consists of two qualities – quality of return to
satisfy the needs of the shareholders, or quality of
products.
Total Quality Management is a business
management strategy aimed at embedding awareness
of quality in all organizational processes. TQM has been
widely used in manufacturing, education, hospitals, call
centers, government, and service industries, as well as
NASA space and science programmes.
ELEMENTS, CORE CONCEPTS, AND FOCUS
Eight (8) Most Important Elements of Total Quality
Management - Note that it is not just products, process
and customers and employees but it is the entire gamut
of organizational activities which is involved in it.
Following are those elements of TQM:
Element # 1. Commitment to Quality
- First element of total quality management is the
full commitment of top management to quality.
It should not only encourage quality processes
but should also provide sufficient funds for this
cause.
Element # 2. Customer Satisfaction
- TQM is supposed to meet the requirements and
expectations of customers. In an open economy
as is practiced at present, consumer is the king.
Existence of every organization depends upon
customers. Customer should be given a priority
in every scheme of quality improvement. That
is, his likings and disliking should be given due
weightage while planning TQM.
Element # 3. Measurement of Quality
- Since quality is measurable entity, one should
understand the current quality levels. The
current quality levels should be compared with
the required quality standard and efforts should
be made to improve them. So quality standard
is an important element of total quality
management.
Element # 4. Prevention rather than Detection
- TQM revolves around the process of quality
improvement. It means that the system should
be so devised where defects should be
prevented. The approach is on preventing
defects rather than detecting them. Techniques
to use include statistical process control,
continuous process improvement, and problem
solving emphasizing prevention of defects
rather than detection.
Element # 5. Proper Training
- TQM can be achieved when staff engaged in
production is properly trained for the work.
Employees have to be provided with continuous
quality improvement training.
Element # 6. Continuous Improvement
- TQM is a process of continuous improvement.
Persons, suppliers, equipment, materials,
procedures related to TQM are improved
continuously for achieving higher quality
standards. Systems are improved so that better
results are achieved and products acceptability
is better than former.
Element # 7. Reasons for Problems Solved
- Bad or lower quality may be the result of certain
defective systems or certain drawbacks
somewhere. TQM will aim to find out the root
cause of the problem and find out the solutions.
Once the problem areas are tackled,
improvements will automatically come.
Element # 8. Benchmarking
- Benchmarks are the standards against which a
firm can measure its performance. Benchmarks
are the best practices or better standards which
should be achieved in order to make
improvements. Benchmarks do not only help in
finding out the comparative performance but
also in finding out the deficiencies and taking
correcting measures. This aids a firm to learn
and incorporate best practices in its own
operations.
Total Quality Management emphasizes on the
following CORE CONCEPTS:
1. Satisfy the Customer – Focus here is on
external customer. Satisfy the customer means
to take due care of the customer’s overall
satisfaction, i.e., quality, cost, service etc.
Making the continuous changes to satisfy the
customer is an integral part of TQM
 2. Management by Fact – Management should
know the quality of the product or service that
the customer is presently using. This quality
level is used as benchmark for further
improvement. For this purpose, the
management gathers the related facts about
the present level and pass on the information to
employees of the firm at all levels facilitating
take appropriate decisions based on the facts.
These facts are an essential aspect of
continuous improvement.
3. Management Based on Human Resources –
here, the management should emphasize their
employees understand what to do, how to do
the job, get the feedback about their
performance. Human resources should be
encouraged to take more responsibility for the
quality of their work. People can be more
committed to make the customers more
satisfied and this is possible through their more
involvement. That quality is heavily influenced
by continuous involvement of people rather
than by the systems, standards and techniques.
4. Total Quality Management is a Continuous
Journey – TQM is a management and
continuous long-term journey. TQM is not a
short-term journey based on goals or targets or
a project. TQM is a long-term improvement
programme founded on the incremental
change.
5. Internal Customers are Vital – Internal
customers are more important in comparison to
external customers because they are most
crucial and complex variables and continuously
influence the maintenance of quality. They also
influence speed, efficiency, perfectness and
value-addition. All work is a business process
and is a combination of methods, materials,
manpower and machineries that taken together
produce a product or service.
What is the main focus of TQM?
- Total Quality Management aims to assist
organizations in understanding that quality
assurance is everybody’s responsibility and is
not limited to any one segment. Its main aim is
to develop quality products and services, retain
customers in competitive market, increase sales
revenue, and boost profitability
PRINCIPLES AND BENEFITS
Principles of Total Quality Management
#1 – Customer Focus
- Every organization strives to serve only one
purpose, i.e., customer satisfaction through
quality products and services. Hence, the first
among the total quality management principles
is customer focus. It means the end product
must meet the demands and needs of the
customers.
#2 – Employee Involvement
- When implementing TQM, organizations need
to create an environment where their
employees will feel empowered. They, along
with management, become responsible for
assessing the quality of products and services at
their levels. Here, organizational
communication plays a vital role in boosting
employee morale
#3 – Integrated System
- Having an integrated system is a must for an
organization to implement a TQM strategy
across its business processes. Therefore,
incorporating quality standards like ISO 9000
standards helps produce quality products:
goods and services. It leads to meeting or
exceeding consumer expectations as well.
#4 – Process-Centric Approach
- A product or service reaches the market after
passing through different processes. It means it
is monitored and assessed at each production
level and not only at the final stage. Process-led
thinking is a sign of effective Total Quality
Management.
#5 – Systematic Flow
- TQM is all about strategic planning to achieve
quality excellence and business objectives.
Thus, considering a systemic flow would ensure
the products and services are passing through
every stage in the quality production process.
#6 – Continual Efforts
- Quality improvement should be a continuous
process. Once done and then left would only
mean gradual deterioration in the
manufacturing standards. For the TQM
approach to prove effective, people at every
level need to be alert in being regular with
quality checking.
#7 – Factual Decision-Making
- Organizations must make fact-based decisions
because every employee is participating in
quality evaluation processes. Analyzing
organizational performance using performance
data, such as sales, profit, and customer
retention could result in more accurate
decision-making.
#8 – Relationship Management
- A well-maintained relation with stakeholders
like customers and employees ensures proper
quality control procedures and honest
feedback. With total quality mangement,
organizations can establish effective
communication with all of them and implement
result-oriented changes.
What are the Benefits of TQM?
- Adopting a Total Quality Management comes
with many benefits. But the main one is
improved customer satisfaction as a result of
fewer defective products and fewer service
errors.
- Following are some of the benefits of adopting
TQM as management strategy.
Reduction in Production Cost
- Whenever a TQM strategy is implemented, it
makes processes more efficient and effective.
Efficiency shaves off excess cost in the aspect of
field warranty, field service, and rework.
- Reduction of cost can help companies optimize
revenue because these reduced costs flow
directly into net profit.
- Finally, TQM places a strong emphasis on
quality improvement, reducing the need to
employ or hire an expensive team of quality
assurance personnel to detect errors.
Higher or Increased Productivity
- Why?
- Improved systems are one of the benefits of
TQM. Workers don’t have to spend time
detecting and correcting errors. They can
instead focus on their jobs which improves their
overall output.
- In addition, one of TQM’s core principles
focuses on improving systems, which could
include providing conducive working
environments. Doing this will boost workers’
morale. Their job performance will go up and
turnover rates will drop too.
Improved Customer Satisfaction and Retention
- If you offer a good product to your customers
and it satisfies their needs, they will come back
to buy again and again.
- Also, a high level of customer satisfaction can
lead to an increased market share, as existing
customers do free advertising for the company
by doing word-of-mouth marketing.
Customer satisfaction makes it easier to: Retain
Customers
- Increase your customers’ lifetime value, and
ultimately
- Boost your company’s bottom line in the long
run
 - Besides, your company’s insistence on creating
error-free products leads to fewer customer
complaints and refunds. This means you get to
save resources that would have been spent on
customer service.
High Employee Morale and Higher Employee
Engagement
Improved Social Responsibility
- The proven success of TQM, especially the
contribution of workers to that success, can
motivate them to do more.
- And since the focus of TQM is to engage every
employee, workers feel more like they belong
and that they are a part of something bigger.
This can be very satisfying for many employees.
More efficient information and process management
- Monitoring performance metrics such as quality
data defect rates, scrap rates, error rates,
defects, and rework rates helps a company
predict what will be spent on production and
how much they’re losing to errors.
- Monitoring performance metrics also helps to
create error-proof systems that minimize future
errors.
- Better services and products will up your
company’s sales volumes and net profits.
Customer complaints and bad reviews will be
reduced.
- Conversely, company sales, customer retention,
return on assets, and market share especially
will increase too.
- Another aspect that improves when you
implement TQM is the environment.
Implementing TQM strategies can result in a
significant reduction of gas emissions, pollution,
and noise levels from machinery.
- Leveraging social responsibility can also lead to
increased brand equity since some customer
segments may want to identify with socially
responsible businesses.

Better Training

- Having a practical knowledge base where

employees can learn about quality concepts and
techniques can help them implement quality
management measures the right way.
- It also helps managers to monitor and analyze
workers’ progress so that their performance can
be improved and their productivity optimized.

More fruitful supplier relationships

- Working closely with your company’s suppliers

and involving them in product development
helps in making sure they deliver high-quality
materials.
- This is because the principal insists on quality
and not cheaper prices when looking to work
with suppliers.

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