Total Quality Management (TQM) is a popular management strategy to improve the delivery of quality products and services in the industry. It enhances customer satisfaction, lessens errors, and engages all employees in order to achieve such goals, and has been embraced in many industries because of its improvement on efficiency in terms of better results. As with any management approach adopted, TQM differs with respect to merits and demerits.Thus, this course brings out what Total Quality Management is all about in business, including its advantages and disadvantages, and cites examples of Total Quality Management for better understanding.
For a better understanding of total quality management, it is best to enroll in an Quality Management course offered by the British Academy for Training and Development.
This is nothing but a management approach that is based on integrating quality in every aspect of a company. Every department thus becomes contributive towards the production of a product or service that meets customer needs and expectations. TQM is not ensuring inspection of developed products with defects but creating such a culture or environment where continued improvement occurs.
Such a business activity is aligned with the Total Quality Management principles:
The customer meets all the needs and expectations.
Engaging employees to participate at every level of the hierarchy towards quality improvement.
To pursue improvements in current processes, products, and services.
To attain maximum efficiency and uniformity in business operations.
Rely on facts and statistics to determine strategies.
For example, in the automotive industry, Total Quality Management examples among companies like Toyota and Honda. These companies believe that each vehicle they manufacture should adhere to and be subjected to TQM standards of being reliable, safe, and highly satisfying for customers.
TQM has a lot of advantages for such organisations as they have really been able to adopt and implement it properly.
The following are some of the key advantages of Total Quality Management:
Total Quality Management is the biggest boon because it talks about the customer. Businesses can surpass expectations by giving consistently high quality in products or services. Customers will return; they will refer business and, over time, remain loyal.
For example, a restaurant implementing TQM would set meal quality standards such that every meal is prepared to that standard. Such customers will expect the same with every meal and therefore will always be dining there. This will also draw in positive reviews.
Total quality management promotes an active employee involvement for the improvement of quality. Employees participate in the decision-making and problem-solving processes, and that may turn up their morale and motivation for work. Employees feel this value and are likely to take pride in what they do and contribute to the success of the company.
Although TQM involves an initial expenditure, it pays off in thousands of savings in the time to follow. Production costs reduce: it minimizes mistakes and waste, increases efficiency, etc. For example, fewer defective goods result in less return means less reworking, which saves time and resources while producing the former product.
TQM businesses usually get one or the other competitive advantage in their respective industries. They differentiate themselves simply through superior quality from the rest. Customers tend toward a brand that is perceived to be quality, even if such comes at a steeper price.
Through TQM, a company cultivates a culture of continuous improvement to which individuals in the organization - employees and managers alike constantly seek out ways to improve processes, products, and services. It is this flexibility that makes companies remain relevant in a fast-changing market environment.
For instance, in the airline industry, TQM's use by companies in improving customer service, streamlining their operations, and sustaining ticket pricing can be exemplified by Southwest Airlines.
TQM is data-driven. This means that, through analyzing performance metrics and customer feedback, a business can make informed decisions about where to target its improvement efforts.
An example would be a company where surveys conducted among customers could show that they are not satisfied with the delivery time. Such information could provide reliable data for the company to streamline its supply chain in order to remedy this and improve customer experience.
Total Quality Management has several benefits for companies, but it also has its challenges. Some of the major disadvantages include:
The high initial costs incurred during implementation are arguably the worst disadvantages of Total Quality Management. Organisations require money to train personnel, purchase new technology, and redesign processes to incorporate the TQM principles. For small budgets of companies, these costs may become prohibitive.
It is quite common for the employees of an organization, along with the managers, to be resistant to all the changes that TQM brings in. It comes into effect when old and established routines have to be broken. In overcoming resistance to change, any or many of the following aspects require communication, good leadership, and even sometimes additional training.
TQM is not something which, one day, you can implement and then forget about forever. It is essentially time-consuming and a way of doing business that necessitates commitment over time and effort. Thus, the results will not be visible for several months or even years, which is enough to dishearten those who are looking for speedier results in the improvements.
TQM stands thus as a phenomenal strategy which brings quality into account by making customer satisfaction and employee involvement rich and fertile while ensuring an ever-increasing environment around. For a good implementational put into practice, TQM will need time, resources, and dedication. It lasts much longer because businesses, using TQM, would have to continue weighing the costs and benefits to ascertain the presence of almost congruence to achieve their purposes.
The British Academy for Training and Development offers courses in Total Quality Management to help organisations implement these principles effectively.