FOUNDATION OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

RESEARCHERS:

Casil, Kristine Cyra De la Cruz, Rona Joy Elles, Darrel M. Olimon, Irene M. Salvador, Geraldine Sogy, Amanpreet Vales, Veronica

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF

TQM

IN THE 1980S TO THE 1990S, A NEW PHASE OF QUALITY CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT BEGAN. THIS BECAME KNOWN AS TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM). HAVING OBSERVED JAPAN’S SUCCESS OF EMPLOYING QUALITY ISSUES, WESTERN COMPANIES STARTED TO INTRODUCE THEIR OWN QUALITY INITIATIVES.

TQM, DEVELOPED AS A CATCHALL PHRASE FOR THE BROAD SPECTRUM OF QUALITY-FOCUSED STRATEGIES, PROGRAMMES AND TECHNIQUES DURING THIS PERIOD, BECAME THE CENTRE OF FOCUS FOR THE WESTERN QUALITY MOVEMENT.

A TYPICAL DEFINITION OF TQM INCLUDES PHRASES SUCH AS: CUSTOMER FOCUS, THE INVOLVEMENT OF ALL EMPLOYEES, CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND THE INTEGRATION OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT INTO THE TOTAL ORGANISATION

ALTHOUGH THE DEFINITIONS WERE ALL SIMILAR, THERE WAS CONFUSION. IT WAS NOT CLEAR WHAT SORT OF PRACTICES, POLICIES, AND ACTIVITIES NEEDED TO BE IMPLEMENTED TO FIT THE TQM DEFINITION. 

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

is a comprehensive and structured approach to organizational management that seeks to improve the quality of products and services through ongoing refinements in response to continuous feedback.

QUALITY

Quality itself has been defined as fundamentally relational:  'Quality is the ongoing process of building and sustaining relationships by assessing, anticipating, and fulfilling stated and implied needs.

Quality is the customers' perception of the value of the suppliers' work output. 

QUALITY WHEN BUILT INTO A PRODUCT, GENERATES EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS WITHIN THOSE WHO HAVE TAKEN PART IN IT'S CREATION.  WHEN YOU HAVE MADE SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE PROUD OF, WHEN YOU HAVE PRODUCED A PRODUCT THAT  BRINGS SMILES TO YOUR CUSTOMERS, THEN YOU HAVE ACHIEVED QUALITY.  YOU'LL KNOW IT, THEY'LL KNOW IT, AND EACH OF YOU WILL PROSPER FROM IT. 

THE DEMING PHILOSOPHY

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 in their work, 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 to accomplish the transformation.

DEMING'S BELIEVED PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVES AS VARIABILITY DECREASES, AND YOU MUST USE STATISTICAL METHODS TO CONTROL QUALITY. HE ADVOCATED THE USE OF STATISTICS TO MEASURE PERFORMANCE IN ALL AREAS, NOT JUST CONFORMANCE TO PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS.

FURTHERMORE, HE ARGUED THAT IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO MEET SPECIFICATIONS, YOU MUST KEEP WORKING TO REDUCE THE VARIATIONS AS WELL. DEMING WAS EXTREMELY CRITICAL OF THE U.S. APPROACH TO BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND WAS A LEADER OF PHILOSOPHY OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT.