A Brief Note On Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management
OPS/571
March 31, 2014

Introduction

TQM & ISO Total quality management (TQM) was developed by William Deming, a management consultant whose work had great impact on Japanese manufacturing. While TQM shared much in common with the Six Sigma improvement process, it is not the same as Six Sigma. While is focuses on ensuring that internal guidelines and process standards reduce errors, Six Sigma looks to reduce defects (Investopedia, 2014). The continuous process of reducing or eliminating errors in manufacturing, streamlining supply chain management, improving the customer experience and ensuring the employees are up-to-speed with their training. Total quality management aims to hold all parties involved in production process as accountable for the overall quality of the final product or service (Investopedia, 2014). ISO is the international standards for quality management and assurance. The standards are designed to help companies document that they are maintaining an efficient quality system. The standards were originally published in 1987 by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), a specialized international agency recognized by affiliates in more than 160 countries (Jacobs & Chase p. 298). The ISO 9000 standards are based on eight quality management principles that are defined in the ISO 9000:2000 document. These principles focus on business processes related to the following areas in the firm: (1) customer focus, (2) leadership, (3) involvement of people, (4) process approach, (5) system approach to management, (6) continual improvement, (7) factual approach to decision making, and (8) mutually beneficial supplier relationships. The ISO document provide detailed requirements for meeting the standard and describe standards tools that are used for improving quality in the firm (Jacobs & Chase p.298). The ISO 14000 family of standards on environmental management addresses the need to be environmentally responsible. The standards define a three-pronged approach for dealing with environmental challenges. The first is the definition of more than 350 international standards for monitoring the quality of air, water, and soil. The second part of ISO 14000 is a strategic approach defining the requirements of an environmental management system that can be implemented using the monitoring tools. Finally, the environmental standard encourages the inclusion of environment aspects in product design and encourages the development of profitable environment-friendly products and services (Jacobs & Chase p. 299).
How TQM and ISO can improve an Organization
The quality of a product and or service is an essential aspect of running any business. TQM contains two fundamentals: the design of the product or service and the assurance that the company can continuously produce quality products and services. By offering to the customer base a higher quality standard, more products and services can be made more appealing to customers. Teamwork is an important part of running a business. Employees are very important to making a product or service because their jobs are what make a product better. Having a management system also motivates organizations to be more creative with their products and services. This can help the company produce more goods and increase revenue. Both ISO and TQM were designed to improve an organization. It sets principles that need to be followed in order to create a higher quality product or service which translate into a lasting company. Quality can become very subjective. If the customer(s) like the product the company will be able to sell more of it.

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