Assignment about management & strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Assignment about management & strategy - Essay Example TQM has been adopted by many organisations worldwide and has been defined in multiple ways that suited their businesses. A generalized definition is that of Evans and Dean, which states, ‘TQM is a comprehensive, organisation-wide effort to improve the quality of products and services’ (as qtd in Cooney & Sohal, 34, ch.3). The British Railways Board (1989) defined TQM as ‘the process which seeks to meet and satisfy customer requirements throughout the whole chain of internal and external customers and suppliers’ (Pike and Barnes, 25). The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) defines TQM as a management approach for an organisation, centered on quality, based on participation of all its members and aiming at long-term success through customer satisfaction, and benefits to all members of the organisation and to society (Gupta, 113). Emergence of TQM may be traced back to period before the World War II and with American influence on quality assur ance principles. Although first put forth by Edwards Deming, who was known as the ‘father of the quality movement,’ TQM principles did not receive much attention at the time. These principles are said to have gained great significance after they were adopted in Japanese management theories, which modified the principles to suit their industries. TQM concepts have reinforced the Japanese management and businesses greatly and have helped the Japanese products enter the world markets. The United States recognized Japanese progress during 1980s and 1990s, and realized the significance of TQM concepts. Since then, the US industries have embraced TQM and re-emerged as global competitors (Daft & Marcic, 33). Deming’s contribution to the elaboration and development of TQM has been profound after advancing Stewhart’s statistical studies through the PDCA cycle (plan, do, check, act), which provided the base for continuous improvement. These statistical methods devel oped by Stewhart and Deming came to be known as the Statistical Process Control (SPC). The SPC in combination with Elton Mayo’s human relations movement eventually became the theoretical base for TQM (Sallis, 7). From these studies it is clear that TQM is a quality concept that must be applied to every aspect of the business and should be measured and controlled statistically. This means it would also require involvement from all members associated with the business. In short, TQM needs to be applied to the organisational systems, structure, and culture; it would require commitment from management and staff at all levels; it should involve all stakeholders including the external suppliers and vendors. With this concept coming in, quality is seen as a strategic issue and can play a major role in saving huge costs for the company. It involves everyone associated with the organisation. It focuses on continuous improvements, maintaining zero defects, build quality and enhance cus tomer satisfaction. All these achievements become benchmarks for others and help the organisation in sustaining their competitive position in the market and with their customers. TQM has been applied by many organisations with different names, like Leadership Through Quality (Xerox); Quality the ICL Way (ICL); Quality Service Programme (Nat West); Total Quality Culture (Texas Instruments); Total