Team Reflection Essay

TQM the process for managing quality must be a continuous way of life, a philosophy of perpetual improvement in everything that companies do. TQM is an integrated organizational

In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in improving processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work” (ASQ, 2016). TQM can be used based off eight (8) key elements that most if not all companies use. The key elements are customer-focused, total employee involvement, process-centered, integrated system, strategic and systematic approach, fact-based decision making and lastly communication. The first element of TQM is the most important element, which is the customer.

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).

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.

First of all, the ineffective TQM model, Total quality management are having problems both theoretically and practically (Mosadeghrad, 2013). Some complementary management theories must be integrated with TQM to refine and develop it further to achieve competitive advantage. An intensive knowledge of sociology, psychology and change management helps introduce, institutionalize and manage the TQM change successfully. There is a need for an empirically sound and comprehensive model of TQM to assist managers

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,

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.

There are two board approaches of TQM, which are hard approach and soft approach (Hill, 1991). The hard approach used the statistical methods to emphasize continuous improvement and get better result of productivity and profits whereas soft approach is to create strong organization culture and meet customers’ demand by focusing on leadership, employee involvement and culture change (Fotopoulos & Psomas, 2009). So, there are three TQM fundamental pillars according to most TQM approaches, which are top management commitment, continuous improvement and employee involvement (Slack, Chambers & Johnston, 2007). Top managers can improve the performance and effectively change the culture of an organization (Kaynak, 2013) in ensuring the successful implementation of TQM (Coulson-Thomas, 1991; Doyle, 1992). Xerox’s top management used the benchmarking strategy which is a “ standard or point of reference in measuring or judging quality, value, etc ” (Webster, 1979) to incorporate ideas into own operation by identifying and learning the best perform critical business functions of other organizations. For examples, Xerox studied the ideas from Cummins Engine Company to improve production scheduling and ideas from L.L.Bean for improving the distribution system (Camp, 1992). Besides, top managers of Xerox were required to promote and ensure their employees stay on track with the new quality strategy in their routine

Organizations all over the world have to use different techniques for quality improvement. TQM is one of the competitive strategies that are widely used within organizations for improving quality and achieving success. The concept of TQM was developed in the late of 1940s and 1960s in Japan after the Second World War by Freigenbum, Juran and Deming. Top management commitment is one of the core principles in TQM which assumed to have a vital and important role in creating an organizational climate that empower staff (Ramesh and Ravi, 2013).

Introduction In order to stay competitive, businesses have to be the best at what they do. Company 's must be efficient and presise in all aspects of the job. (Metcalfe 1). ISO 9000 is made up of management 's responsibility, the producers involved in the Quality Management System, the contract review, the design control, document and data control, purchasing, process control, inspection and testing, control of non-conforming product, corrective action, handling, storage, packaging and delivery, internal quality audits, training, servicing and statistical techniques (Prasanna 1). Quality control and quality assurance is very important there are certain requirements that take time and money to be met but in the end there are benefits. Types

Successful implementation of TQM means that all the elements of the organization should be committed to quality. That TQM is a new and different way of thinking about organizations. Its primary goal is to meet and satisfy the end-users' requirements - quality product or service. It believes in continuous improvement.

If an organization has a track record of effective responsiveness to the environment, and if it has been able to successfully change the way it operates when needed, TQM will be easier to implement. If an organization has been historically reactive and has no skill at improving its operating systems, there will be both employee skepticism and a lack of skilled change agents. If this condition prevails, a comprehensive program of management and leadership development may be instituted. A management audit is a good assessment tool to identify current levels of organizational functioning and areas in need of change. An organization should be basically healthy before beginning TQM. If it has significant problems such as a very unstable funding base, weak administrative systems, lack of managerial skill, or poor employee morale, TQM would not be appropriate.5

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.

Global competitiveness had increased the need to invest more into the efficiency of management and importance of having and understanding globalized standards (Aba and Badar 42). The ISO 9000 was created in 1987 and is a series of quality management standards. The ISO 9000 standards is so malleable that they are updated and changed roughly every three years since their endorsement (Aba and Badar 42). Because the ISO is versatile, certified companies are guaranteed exemplar standards being implemented regularly. Quazi and Padibjo (1998) stated that certified companies saw an improvement in their quality and an increase in their sales and market share (as cited in Aba and Badar 45). A benefit of ISO 9000 is that it highlights an effective system of quality that is an abetment in eliminating errors which in turn saves money (Aba and Badar 43-44). On reviews of a financial and scale efficiency, it was revealed that ISO certified businesses are more efficient than businesses that are not certified (Aba and Badar 45). The ISO set the foundation for company standards and established fundamental properties for further research in developing prosperous quality assurance programs.

The fact that globalization has expanded the market for organizations means that TQM is more important than ever before. Customer demands are higher and if a company does not create products and services that meet their expectations they can easily access the same or similar products and services from another company. If managers do not implement TQM into their company procedure then they will fail to meet the high standards of customers all over the world and eventually lose their business. When it comes to implementing TQM, it’s the mangers responsibility to create an environment where people can work together to improve their work processes. If the ownership or senior management does not buy into this concept you will never succeed. Many people in leadership roles are either too set in their ways or closed minded to the necessary change needed to really improve the way things get done. You have to buy into the concept that there is always a better way to do something. By tapping into all the knowledge and experience your employees possess, you develop solutions that not only improve your execution, you provide everyone with a sense of accomplishment.. These "process improvement teams" give employees a chance to help steer the future direction