An Introduction to Total Quality Management

Berry, L. L. (2000). Cultivating service brand equity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28(1), 128-137. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1177/0092070300281012

For Andrei Octavian PARASCHIVESCU and Florin Mihai CAPRIOARA, organizations that desire to implement a strategic quality management approach should consider both the strategic dimension of quality and the management strategy (2014, p 19). In fact, both writers stipulate ”Quality Management” aims to advance quality to meet patron’s requirements by controlling processes (Paraschivescu & Caprioara, 2014, p 21). Likewise, their ideas confirm that the production approach demands a strict input from workers. In doing so, quality improvement teams can measure and spot

Senior leadership must determine and direct the level of quality that is acceptable within the organization. Leadership should prioritize areas of quality and use data based on benchmarks from other facilities. (Dlugacz, 2006). In addition the author states there are some important areas that must be monitored for quality. Compliance must be followed by leaders and all

Juran 's perspective on quality was based on five general measures, the measures being the cost of poor quality, defects, product/process features, customer needs, and customer behavior. Deming 's measurements were based on the Kaizen approach, which involved the evaluation of each operation

Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa developed a simple method of graphically displaying the causes of any given quality problem. His ideas were synthesized into 11 points that made up his quality philosophy. Most firms that pursue quality improvement use his tools. By democratizing statistics, he allowed for the complete involvement of the workforce in improving quality and performance.

At the very outset , it is important to state that there is no so called best or correct structure for quality improvement. More importantly is the institutionalization of Quality improvement with clear delineation of oversight roles and responsibilities as well as accountability for undertaking various Quality Improvement (QI) activities. Different environments calls upon different types of structures, for example what operates in centralised organizations may not work or equally effective in case of decentralized organizations. Awareness about quality aspects needs to be for the entire organization cutting across the levels and departments. To the extend possible there should be quality objectives for each and every activity and or operations

Yasin and Alavi (1999) conducted a quantitative study to determine if Total Quality Management (TQM) can produce quality improvement

Quality of conformance includes technology, manpower and management while availability focuses on reliability, maintainability and logistics support. Juran emphasized that good service quality composed of promptness, competence and integrity. Like Deming, Juran advocated a never-ending spiral of activities that includes market research, product development, design, production process control and inspection and testing, followed by customer feedback. In his view, senior management may play an active and enthusiastic leadership role in the quality management process.

The President Ralph Larsen has realized that Wengart has some major problems with the quality however he is focusing on the profitability instead of the longevity of the company. He needs to have the team focus on improving the quality problem or the company’s profits will continue to decrease. Larsen in the effort to improve the quality has decided to seek out help from an OD practitioner who suggests to Ralph to implement Top Quality Management (TQM). Larsen feels that this should be easy to implement and hands it off to Kent Kelly the Vice President. He feels that the TQM program was a matter of common sense (Brown, 2011, p. 365).

The fourth element - quality circles. This is one of the fundamental elements of kaizen. It’s necessary to organize the work of quality circles. The composition of these circles should include workers at different levels. In the circles of quality employees have the opportunity to share ideas, skills, technology and other important collaborative resources. Exchange of information and cooperation within the framework of quality circles allow employees to assess the effectiveness of their work on the basis of a comparison with the work of others, and thus try to improve their performance.

W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran, at times are considered the Dream Team of quality management in the workplace. “Along with Edward Deming and Joseph Juran, Crosby forms the troika of management gurus who made quality the buzzword in corporate USA, Europe and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s.” MANAGEMENT: Beyond zero-defects. (1998) W. Edward Deming, Joseph Juran and Philip Crosby at one time or another have been described by the Japanese as being among their greatest teachers in the quality control movement. “As with any specialty, the TQM field is populated by hundreds of experts, self-proclaimed and otherwise, whose publicists refer to them as "internationally known consultants." For the bluffer 's purposes, however, there are only five names worth committing to memory: Deming, Juran, Feigenbaum, Philip B. Crosby and Kaoru Ishikawa.” Zemke, R. (1993)

Joseph Juran’s first edition of the Quality Control Handbook answered a few questions of the defensive character of traditional quality control. The main focus on getting a grasp of the concept is understanding where the quality movement currently is in comparison to where it was. The 1951 book, which

Along with Deming , Joseph Juran was another well known TQM philosopher and has been called the "Father of quality". ( Feo, n.d) In 1937 he conceptualize the Pareto principle that stated that the over 80% of quality defects are caused by factors controllable by management. (Lewis, Goodman, Fandt, & Michlitsch, 2007). Juran 's philosophy revolved around the customer 's perspective, believing that ; higher quality means a greater number of features that meet the customers need, and higher quality consist of fewer defects. Juran is responsible for the management principle of "Quality Trilogy". This management ideas identifies three quality principles; quality planning, quality Improvements and quality control (Skymark, 2007)

Juran’s definition of quality focuses 100% of the customer’s satisfaction of the product. He stresses a balance between product features and products free from deficiencies and believes a quality product is free from deficiencies (Suarez, 1992, p.4). In order to achieve this

Quality is never an accident it is always the results of high intention, sincere efforts, intelligent directions and skillful execution, it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.