Case Study: "Solution" Eurasia International: Total Quality Management in the Shipping Industry

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a complete and structured approach to organizational management that seeks to make better the quality of products and services through ongoing refinements in answer to continuous feedback. The importance and value of TQM was stressed by European Foundation of Quality Management to reach total customer satisfaction. TQM necessities may be defined separately for a organization or may be in adherence to established standards, such as the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 series. Total Quality Management can define aims for the continuous improvement in all levels and functions of the organization. The continuous improvement suggests that quality management system should be a circle.

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

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 total quality management (TQM) incorporates quality into all the activities of the organization through an ongoing process. This control makes sure that there is a continuous improvement in all the activities and there will not be any chances for defects. TQM ensures safety and helps improve customer satisfaction (Daft, 2014).

In this argument, I will exhibit the process of the total quality management within the Fox Car Rental, Inc. and the Apple, Inc. Firstly, I will provide a history of both companies and the industries of which they are involved. Secondly, I will provide a meaning of the term total quality management, and argue how this system is integrated into both the Fox Car Rental, Inc., and the Apple, Inc. I will also describe the total quality management process that is implemented in these organizations, and the effects of this systematic management process of both companies. The Fox Car Rental, Inc. and the Apple, Inc. will also be compared against the principles of the ISO 9000:2000 quality management process, and among each other. I will also provide recommendations for the development of the Fox Car Rental, Inc.; an organization of which I was recently an employee.

First, it is essential to decompose the concept “Total Quality Management” to clearly understand its goal: “Total” goes for the fact that quality involves everyone and all activities in the company, “Quality” means conformance to Requirements “ Meeting Customer Requirements” and “Management” because Quality can and must be managed. 2 The TQM model is based on the hypothesis that a company’s survival is only possible if a competitive level is achieved and maintained for each of the so called «6 dimensions of quality»: • • • • • • Product & service quality On-time delivery Fair price Employees satisfaction Product & process safety Environment conservation.

TQM is a way of life for a company. It has to be introduced and led by top management. This is a key point. Attempts to implement TQM often fail because top management doesn't lead and get committed - instead it delegates and pays lip service. Commitment and personal involvement is required from top management in creating and deploying clear quality values and goals consistent with the objectives of the company, and in creating and deploying well defined systems, methods and performance measures for achieving those goals. These systems and methods guide all quality activities and encourage participation by all employees. The development and use of performance indicators is linked, directly or indirectly, to customer requirements and satisfaction,

It is unpromising to comprehend the total quality management phenomenon, emerging in the twentieth century, and to acknowledge its competitive advantages and obstacles, unless the underlying philosophy of quality is examined.

Total Quality Management (TQM) involves developing quality and execution of product and service of a company. Customer relish is the main purpose which generates customer attention and satisfies customer expectation. So, it can be said that concentrating on customer fulfillment, total quality management manages peoples and business processes. In other words, Total Quality Management includes performance, appearance, easy accessibility, delivery and maintenance or after sales service, cost efficiency and value. Total Quality Management takes consider each and every measures taken at all levels and involving the entire company workforce. According to Ahire et al.,

Shipping industry is a huge field that widely expand all over the world. “Almost all international trade in goods is transported by sea. Ocean shipping plays a central and essential role in the world economy and in world trade. In recent years, international trade has become a dominant factor in economic growth for most industrialized countries. Many newly industrialized countries have become so through major trade growth.” (Fearnleys, 1982) However, without our noticed, the increase the technology, the larger the business, the more the problems will arise. As we know, sometimes there is an article about damaged cargoes, ships on fire, the ship was attacked by pirates and etc. When refer back to the main issues in the case study, there are

The team of the organization that the TQM is implementing tries to take part in improving processes, products, services as well as the culture which they work. This approach is inspired by quality leaders such as Philip B Crosby, W. Edwards Deming, Kaonru Ishikawa and Joshep M. Juran.

In 1980, the character of quality in business strategy has taken two significant steps. Firstly, many businesses have recognized a strategy driven by quality can lead to substantial market advantages. Secondly, the lines between quality strategy and generic business strategies have become blurred to the point where TQM principles are integrated into most businesses' normal business planning. Nowadays, integration of TQM into strategic business planning is the result of a natural evolution for most businesses. Total Quality Management, is a way by which management and employees can involve in the continuous improvement of the production of goods and services. It is also a combination of quality and management tools aimed at increasing business and reducing losses due to wasteful

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an improvement tool that is widely used in many companies. It consists of many aspects including Managing people as well as business processes in order to maintain customer satisfaction. With TQM, Businesses starts to do the right thing from the start and to ensure zero error. Therefore, it is important to learn the principle of TQM and how it acts in organizations with its advantages and disadvantages.

TQM is a management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational functions, it starts with identifying who are our customers and what are their requirements.

Introduction - Total quality management (TQM) has been defined as ‘continuous improvement of every production output whether it be a product or a service, by removing inefficient variations and by improving the backbone of the work process’. International managers like their domestic counterparts have found that incorporating the notion of total quality management into their management process and style can give the competitive advantage.