The Realization of the Goals and Objectives of TQM - Essay Example

TQM in Qatar Petroleum Qatar Petroleum is company based in Qatar, which engages in the production of petroleum products for both the domestic and the international markets. The company enjoys availability of vast petroleum resources in its base area. Qatar Petroleum engages in the processing of crude oil and extraction of oil products. Qatar in general is among the Middle East countries rich in oil fields. Its establishment has benefited the entire Qatar state through its mission, vision and corporate social responsibility. The company supplies the domestic market with quality energy products that meets international standards. Qatar Petroleum aims at maximizing the benefit of the state from its operations, product and service offering. It directly gets involved in all domestic activities that are tailored towards adding value to the entire petroleum resources found in Qatar. In this regard, the product and service base of the company is grounded on diversity and dynamism in the line of business interests. Reliability of cash flow in and out of Qatar as well as maximization of customer value drives the company’s innovativeness and creativity in business. International recognition of this company has not only placed the company at a better position in business, but it has also enhanced the global competitiveness of the firm, given the technical expertise and technology that this company has embraced. The company has therefore managed to not only capture the domestic market share, but the international market share as well. Increased employment opportunities have also been realized in line with the operations of this company. Qatar nationals and the international community has benefited from the proliferation of business activities undertaken by the company. Working as a single integrated team has earned the company goodwill in the international arena (Melnyk & Swink 28). This has made the company be in a position to diversify its product and service base to meet the demand of the international markets. Qatar’s market share, in regard to its products and services is not limited to the local market. It has penetrated the global market, significantly making an impact in terms of efficient provision of products and services. Total Quality management (TQM) is an important aspect of any given company’s welfare in business. It involves growth and development oriented business functions. The specific function must be identified, formulated, implemented and managed (Manley 457-484). Product and service quality is accounted for by the TQM department within the firm. A company which has hit the global arena like Qatar Petroleum needs to have critical and operational TQM measures and mechanisms that always place the company’s at the fore front in terms of business operations and performance. TQM functionality integrates traditional management styles into the contemporary management styles, thereby accounting for product and service quality, based on quality-focused styles of management. The organizational functioning of the firm determines what part of TQM to explore. Qatar Petroleum has successfully implemented and sustained product and service quality based on the organizational culture of the company. The sole goal and objective of the company has been to satisfy the domestic and international energy sectors by providing quality products and services that are energy-based. In this regard, customer needs and efficient production processes are the key drivers of the company’s TQM procedures. Maximizing customer satisfaction through meeting customer needs is a fundamental activity that the company takes a stronghold in. Qatar Petroleum has successfully managed to put in place efficient production processes. Customer satisfaction in terms of product and service offering, affordability and uncompromised product-service quality constitutes a quality culture for the company. Unlike many other oil producing companies, Qatar Petroleum has managed to make an overhaul transformation of its operations both locally and internationally. Other related companies that compete with Qatar Petroleum have been observed to carry out superficial changes (Tan & Tan 315-321). Qatar Petroleum has managed to diversify its quality concepts, organizational culture and philosophy. The company’s leadership has played a central role in the realization of this factor. Management teams in collaboration with all the employees has exemplified the oil products quality by making an input of employee buy-in. This has not been achieved without prior planning. Strategies were formulated and implemented that tailored the realization of the goals and objectives of TQM. National culture in pursuit of globalization has been realized from economic integration processes. The continuous conversion of the world markets into a global village has impacted positively on the company’s market share, given the company’s employed TQM strategy that involves product organization. The company has identified potential markets that have not been entered before. Offering quality products in the most efficient way has made the company lure many other companies’ potential to enter untouched markets. Undisputed TQM programs employed by the company are relevant points of production that the firm has built its strengths on. The international market for oil products is characterized by turbulences that result from business cyclical movements. These movements are caused by changes in demand and supply of oil products, thereby affecting other closely related sectors of the economy. Oil constitutes a great percentage of energy sources in the world. A small shift in the level of products and services supplied in the oil market causes a significant reaction in the entire world market. A firm does not aim at promoting TQM activities that further improve product and service quality without pursuing a profit motive in the process. A universally successful TQM procedure implementation cannot be guaranteed. However, integrating complex negotiations at every stage of product organization is a positive move through which the TQM action of product organization can be achieved globally. The idea here is to capture international interest in relation to the offered product or service so that the competition level is raised beyond that of the rival firms. Firms that successfully outdo the competitors dominate the market. Qatar petroleum is one of the oligopoly firms that dominate the oil industry in the Middle East. Its global recognition and market penetration has earned the company significant export destinations, constituting a better share of the international oil market share. Qatar Petroleum enjoys a large financial portfolio and thus its organizational structure allows for diversity that bests suits TQM activities. Consumer behavior should be observed over time in order to determine the trends that characterize the firm’s consumer base. The product organization should integrate client and consumer satisfaction as the monitoring tools of how well the TQM initiative meets its purpose and enhances the overall performance of the entire company. This way, product quality dispute or short supply issues are not likely to occur. Market share is therefore set to grow and develop specifically tailored towards the specific goals and objectives of the firm. Product organization initiative brings together all the counterparties in the firm, building up morale of work and service delivery. Engagement of both the employees and the served consumers (market) strengthens TQM initiatives adopted by the company. This not only empowers the entire functionality of the firm, but also mobilizes the entire market domestically and internationally. Total Quality Management’s fundamental role in the operation and performance of the firm cannot be refuted. TQM constitutes a core business function (Anwar & Jabnoun 279). Thorough integration of TQM initiatives in the organizational structure and product /service delivery is a positive step towards a successful organization. Qatar Petroleum has taken advantage of this fact, capturing the domestic and international energy sectors. The energy industry is complex one, whose over time performance is based on uncertainty. The important thing for a firm to do is to assess the sources of risks of failure and further lay out strategies that counter such risks. Qatar Petroleum is global example of just how much TQM initiatives can reap benefits in both local and international markets. The company’s product organization fits both domestic and export markets. In this regard, as much Qatar has benefited from the operations of this company, the global oil market has had a share of the pie. Exploiting petroleum resources and capturing the international energy sector has been the stronghold of Qatar Petroleum. The level of commitment of this company to consumer satisfaction in regard to timely provision petroleum products and related services as well as upholding an undisputed product quality has led to the realization of successful TQM initiatives that this company has employed in local and international trade. Product organization of the company fits its long-term goal of maximized nation wealth, safe, efficient and environmentally acceptable exploitation of Qatars hydrocarbon reserves and through related activities (Burrill & Ledolter 26-54). Works Cited Anwar, Simon. & Jabnoun, Newton. The development of a contingency model relating national culture to total quality management. International Journal of Management, 23(2), 272-280, 2006. Burrill, Winston. & Ledolter, Jolly. History of the quality movement. In Achieving Quality Through Continual Improvement (pp. 26-54). New York, NY: Wiley, 1999. Manley, Jose. Negotiating quality: Total quality management and the complexities of transforming professional organizations. Sociological Forum, 15(3), 457-484, 2000. Melnyk, Alexandra. & Swink, Melvin. Total quality management: Frameworks, measures, and standards. In Value-Driven Operations Management: An Integrated Modular Approach (pp. 1-31). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2005. Tan, Liu. & Tan, Jiang. Cellular structure for total quality management in a globalized economy. Total Quality Management, 13(3), 315-321, 2002. Read More