Total Quality Management and Strategic Management

The Total Quality Management ( TQM) can be defined as the holistic approach for the long term success which can be visible in the ongoing development in every aspect of the organization process. The overall transformation of the organization can go through various changes in different systems, structures, practices and the attitudes.

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.

Customer focus is a great way of expanding and making your business or organisation successful. It’s absolutely crucial that you

I am a respiratory therapist at Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC). The hospital is very proud of the respected reputation which has been earned by the high quality of care provided. In one aspect, the quality management is similar to traditional management styles, with regards to each employee is responsible for delivering high quality care. A deeper look will reveal a TQM approach by the administrators and management at all levels.

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.

Implementation of TQM is not an easy task as it requires a total change in organizational culture, shifting of responsibility to management, and continuous participation of all in the quality improvement process (Lakhe & Mohanty, 1993: p.19).

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,

TQM is an approach for continuously improving the quality of goods and services delivered through the participation of all levels and functions of the organization. TQM aims to do things right the first time, rather fix problems after they emerge or fester. It is a combination of quality and management tools aimed at increasing business and reducing losses due to wasteful practices.

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.

This created great pressures on organizations and made them willing to create and innovate so that they can gain competitive advantage over their rivals in the world markets. Adding quality to the final products may be one element that attracts and satisfies the customers. However, elements there have been numerous elements or factors that started to occur in the management and organizational domains. These included TQM or Total quality Management and COQ or Cost Of Quality. These concepts and more became dominant aspects that required concentration from companies. TQM is not only a strategy to be applied; it is an approach of management that must prevail all over the whole organization. The practices of the TQM are essential to exist in the

TQM encourages a strategic approach to management at the operational level through involving multiple departments in systematic innovation and cross-functional improvements. It allows companies enable managing operations as cross-functional process which gives an advantage to develop and fit an orientation toward inter-company collaboration and strategic alliances through establishment of culture collaboration among different departments. It also helps a company able to work well for services and manufacturing sectors then provides a high profits through improving efficiency (Yoshiki Kurata,

The TQM theory was elaborated by W. Edwards Deming to better the management of industrial units (Militaru et al, 2013). Contributors to the concept of TQM are people such as Deming (Anvari et al, 2011). Dr Deming considered quality and process improvement activities as the catalyst necessary to start an economic chain reaction. Improving quality leads to decreased costs, fewer mistakes, fewer delays, and better use of resources, which in turn leads to improved productivity, which enables a company to

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.

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.