Total Quality Management
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach that originated in the 1950s and has steadily become more popular since the early 1980s. Total Quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs.
Pronunciation
Total Quality Management is pronounced as /ˈtoʊtəl ˈkwɒlɪti mænɪdʒmənt/
Etymology
The term "Total Quality Management" was first used by the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command in 1984 to describe its Japanese-style management approach to quality improvement. The term has since been used to describe a comprehensive, organization-wide approach to improving the quality of all processes, products, and services.
Related Terms
- Quality Control
- Quality Assurance
- Quality Management System
- Continuous Improvement
- Process Improvement
- Six Sigma
- Lean Manufacturing
Description
Total Quality Management involves a process of continuous improvement that includes all employees, from high-level management to frontline workers. The focus of the process is to improve customer satisfaction and reduce waste in the business. TQM tools and techniques can be applied to any type of organization; they are appropriate in manufacturing, service, government, and non-profit organizations. TQM is a way of managing to improve the effectiveness, flexibility, and competitiveness of a business as a whole.
Principles
The key principles of TQM are as follows:
- Customer-focused: The customer ultimately determines the level of quality. No matter what an organization does to foster quality improvement—training employees, integrating quality into the design process, or upgrading computers or software—the customer determines whether the efforts were worthwhile.
- Total employee involvement: All employees participate in working toward common goals. Total employee commitment can only be obtained after fear has been driven from the workplace.
- Process-centered: A fundamental part of TQM is a focus on process thinking. A process is a series of steps that take inputs from suppliers (internal or external) and transforms them into outputs that are delivered to customers (internal or external).
- Integrated system: All employees must understand the corporate mission, vision, policies, processes, and procedures. These need to be communicated and understood at all levels of the organization.
See Also
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