The Total Quality Management Philosophy - Assignment Example

 The Total Quality Management Philosophy The philosophy of Total Quality Management put emphasis on lowering costs, increasing customer satisfaction, and teamwork. It is a customer oriented strategy whose implementation focuses on improving customer care and achieving the objectives of the organization be it a non-profit or organization. Organizations that implement Total Quality Management encourage employees and managers to participate and collaborate within and across all departments and functions. Such organizations also encourage both the suppliers and customers to identify improvement areas and inform the organization’s administration not matter how small. Through Total Quality Management, employee teams are empowered and trained in such away to make sound decisions that can aid the organization in achieving high quality standards in their services and products. This technique also encourages a shift of responsibilities of controlling quality of services and products to all the employees from the specialized departments. Hence, Total Quality Management is a shift from the organizational bureaucratic approach to a decentralized approach to quality control. This paper therefore seeks to evaluate Total Quality Management in action and outline how Spencer Company has introduced and developed a holistic system of Total Quality Management. The paper will also document the origin and development of Total Quality Management. It will also show how Spencer Company uses techniques of Total Quality Management in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of their business outcome. Finally, the paper will discuss various principles and approaches of implementing Total Quality Management system and improving customer care implementation as well as the contribution they make in accomplishing the company goals and objectives (Bemowski, 2007). As a large scale company, Spencer improves customer care implementation through implementing the principles of Total Quality Management as follows: the company produces quality products and services the first time they are produced or offered; Spencer puts much emphasis and focus on the customer; the company encourages teamwork and mutual respect among its employees and customers; it continually improves the quality of its products and services; and the company has a strategic approach and mechanism of quality improvement. Spencer Company uses Total Quality Management in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of their business outcome, this is done through ensuring that Total Quality Management is supported at all the departmental levels in the company right from the highest executive level to the lowest casual employee (Bark, 2007). Total Quality Management as a technique is used, by Spencer, in extending the description of quality to all the company functional areas including: marketing, production, information systems, and finances of the services and products of the company. Spencer Company does this process right from listening to its customer needs and wants, and then makes deliveries of the goods and services in a way to fulfill the desires of the customers. In a holistic view of the Total Quality Management system, Spencer uses the technique in defining its customers as any particular individual outside or inside the company to whom the company employees passes his or her own work. This aspect of Total Quality Management encourages each employee within the company to stay focused on achievement of quality and stay completely aware of his or her work contribution and responsibility to the achievement of product and service quality of the company (Cullen, 2007). In evaluating Total Quality Management in action, it is evident from Spencer results and business outcomes that implementing an effective Total Quality Management has numerous benefits to the company. Total Quality Management has ensured financial benefits such as: high returns on investments and sales, low costs, and company ability to not only charge competitive prices but higher prices leading to a high profit margin. Other benefits accrued from an effective use of Total Quality Management include: an improved global market access, minimal time for developing new innovations, high levels of customer retention, a company image and reputation as a quality oriented company. However, implementing an effective Total Quality Management program requires much time, money, effort, and patience, which is why many other companies have failed to implement the technique. To Spencer’s advantage, the company has gained a competitive advantage in its industry through implementing the Total Quality Management technique and approaches (Feigen, 2009). Further evaluation of Total Quality Management in action reveals that it is a management system for the companies that are customer oriented and that intends to involve all their employees in this quality continual improvement. Total Quality Management uses data, strategy, and effective communication in order to integrate quality discipline into the activities and culture of the organization. As a company, Spencer has introduced and developed a holistic system of Total Quality Management in managing its product quality through implementing the identified primary elements of the Total Quality Management techniques. These elements that have ensured development and introduction of a holistic Total Quality Management system include: Spencer has focused on its customers, it has remained a process centered company, it has involved its employees totally in the continual improvement, Spencer has integrated its systems, it has emphasized on the continual improvement of quality of its services and products, it has remained in applying a systematic and strategic approach in quality management, Spencer has improved its communication systems with its customers and welcomes feedbacks, and has also remained and encouraged decision making processes based on facts (Lawrence, 2009). As a holistic system, Total Quality Management is an integrative management philosophy for continuous improvement of quality of the services, processes and products. Holistically, Total Quality Management functions on the foundation that quality of processes, products, and services is a responsibility of anyone involved in the consumption or creation of those services, products or processes offered by the company. In other words, in a holistic approach of Total Quality Management, it requires the involvement of workforce, management, customers, and suppliers, so as to exceed if not meet the expectations of a customer. Spencer Company looks forward to implementing customer care and support. In order to do this, Spencer uses various principles and approaches of implementing Total Quality Management system so as to effectively improve customer care implementation and ensure that their contribution help in accomplishing the company goals and objectives. Spencer does this through implementing the following Total Quality Management practices: quality management of processes involved in the product production and service delivery, cross functional design of the products, involving customers in quality management, involving suppliers in quality management, committed to industry leadership, disseminating information to customers and welcoming feedback, strategic planning of company quality targets, involving employees in implementing quality, and establishing a cross functional training. Through this Spencer will strive to provide products and services that satisfy the need and expectation of their customers (Gevirtz, 2008). Customer care implementation demands a culture of quality in all the aspects of the operations of the company which include services and processes being carried out right at first attempt and the wastes and defects eradicated from the operations. In order to ensure this customer care implementation, Spencer Company has ensured its employees concentrate fully to Total Quality Management elements such as: ethics, trust, integrity, teamwork, training, leadership, communication, and recognition. These elements seek to improve performance and quality which will obviously exceed or at minimum meet the expectations of the customer. Spencer also implements customer care through integrating all functions that are related to quality as well as process throughout the company. It also focuses on the overall measures of quality including quality maintenance and control, quality development and design, quality assurance, and quality improvement. Through considering and taking into account all measures of quality involving all the employees of the company at all levels will ensure that customer care implementation is successful (Leach, 2007). The origin and development of Total Quality Management can be traced far much after the First World War. The Total Quality Management evolved from the methods of quality assurance that were initially developed during the period of the First World War. The efforts resulted into a large scale effort of manufacturing that often had poor quality produced. In order to correct this poor quality, inspectors of quality were introduces in the line of production so as to ensure effective minimization of the levels of failures resulting from poor quality. After the First World War, inspection of quality became a more common place within the environments of manufacturing, this brought about the introduction of the Statistical Quality Control (SQC), which was developed by Dr. Deming Edwards. This theory of quality method offered a statistical quality method that was based on sampling. In cases where inspecting all the items was not possible, a sample of the items was selected and tested for quality. This Statistical Quality Control (SQC) theory was founded on the notion that any variation in the process of production would lead to a significant variation in the terminal or end product. Therefore if it could be possible to remove the variation within the process, then it would result into a higher end product quality level. After the Second World War, the Japan’s industrial manufacturers were still producing items of poor quality. In responding to this, the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers invited Dr. Edwards Deming in order to train the scientists and engineers on the processes of quality. In 1950’s, the quality control already became an integral part of manufacturers in Japan and was eventually adopted by workers within organizations at all levels. In 1970’s, the perception of total quality was being addressed. This was discussed as a company-wide control of quality involving all employees from the senior management to the casual workers in controlling quality. Within the next decade, more companies began introducing quality management processes and procedures based on the results they witnessed in Japan industries. This new wave of quality was then referred to as the Total Quality Management, that was used in describing the various quality focused techniques and strategies that became the prime focus for the movement of quality (Lawrence, 2009). The Spencer Company uses the principles of Total Quality Management in achieving efficiency and effectiveness of its business operations and in emphasizing on customer care implementation. The company defines Total Quality Management as the management of procedures and initiatives aimed at accomplishing the quality delivery of services and products. The company hence uses a mix of principles in ensuring success of customer care implementation as well as maximizing its efficiency and effectiveness. The company also minimizes variations in its processes using the same Total Quality Management principles which include: executive management acting as the major drivers for Total Quality Management and creating an environment which assures the success of Total Quality Management; Training employees regularly on the concepts and methods of quality; focusing on customers in order to improve their satisfaction with the company’s services and products; basing decision making of quality concerns based on the measurements of quality; using appropriate tools and methodology in ensuring that non conformances are promptly determined, measured and consistently responded to accordingly; ensuring continuous improvement through continuously working towards improving the quality standards and manufacturing procedures; the culture of the company aimed at designing and developing the ability of employees to improve quality and work together towards the same; and involving all employees in improving quality through encouraging them to remain pro-active in determining and responding to quality related problems. Summary, the principle factors that Spencer Company include in its quality improvement procedures and processes include: top management, customer orientation, training needs, employee involvement, continuous improvement, appropriate tools and techniques, and cooperate culture. These principles ensure that Spencer Company has an effective customer care implementation and maximizes its business efficiency and effectiveness. However, Total Quality Management is not free; it is associated with various costs. Many companies have considered the cost of introducing Total Quality Management as much more than the probable benefits it may produce. Research however has it that the indirect and direct costs of problems resulting from poor quality are much greater than any implementation costs of Total Quality Management. Many companies have chosen to pay the price of non-conformance as a result of poor quality. The poor quality prevention costs however are associated with the maintenance, design and implementation of the system and technique of the Total Quality Management. These costs are often planned and even incurred far much before the real operation, and include: product requirements which include setting the specifications for processes, incoming materials, and finished services and goods; quality assurance including the creation as well as the maintenance of the system of quality; quality planning which include creation of quality plans, operational plan, reliability, inspections, and productions; and training which includes the preparation, development, and maintenance procedures and processes. Other costs associated with Total Quality Management are the appraisal costs. These are identified with the customers and vendors evaluations of the materials and services purchased in order to ensure the stated services and materials fall within the stated specifications. These costs can include: verification including inspection of services and materials based on the required specifications; vendor evaluation which includes the approval and assessment of the vendors; and quality audits which includes checking the system of quality to ensure it is functioning well and correctly. Failure costs can also be associated with Total Quality Management; these can be split into internal and external costs of failure depending on the sources. The internal failures may be realized when standards of quality are not reached and detected before the customer accesses the services or products. These costs can be categorized as: wastes which include unnecessary stock or work due to production errors; scrap which includes defective materials and products; rework which entails the correction of errors and defective materials; and failure analysis which establishes the sources of internal failures of the product. On the other hand, costs of external failures are realized when the standards of quality are not reached by the services or products and have not been detected until they are received by the customer. These may include costs associated with: repairs including servicing the products returned; warranty claims including re-performing services or replacing products; complaints including costs and work that are associated with complaints from the customers; and returns including investigation, transportation, and handling the products which have been returned (Cullen, 2007). In summary, Total Quality Management is a technique used by various organizations across the globe. Total Quality Management is a proven technique of improving and implementing the culture of quality conscious across all the horizontal and vertical company layers. Although Total Quality Management is associated with multiple benefits, business organizations should take into account the costs of Total Quality Management when implementing the technique. This is because for the small scale organizations, the cost of implementing Total Quality Management could be somehow higher than the benefits experienced both in their short and midterm operations. References Bemowski, K. (2007). TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT: Flimsy Footing or Firm Foundation? Quality Progress, Vol. 28, No. 7, July, pp. 27-28. Bark, J. (2007). Total Quality Management: Implementing Continuous Improvement, New York: Sterling Publishing Co. Inc., Cullen, J. (2007). Implementing Total Quality, Berlin: Springer-Verlag Feigen, B. (2009). Total Quality Control. London: Prentice Hall Gevirtz, C. (2008). Developing New Products With TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., Lawrence, J. (2009). Math Programming's Potential to Aid TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT Implementation, Quality Progress, January, pp. 76-80. Leach, L. P. (2007). TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, Reengineering, and the Edge of Chaos, Quality Progress. February, pp. 85-90. Read More