Principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) - Essay Example

Before going into the discussion regarding three major principles of total quality management, let us get a better understanding of what total quality management actually is. Total quality management is an approach towards improving the performance and quality of products and services so that they meet the expectations of the consumers. Quality is of integral importance for a company to achieve success in a competitive market. A company can achieve success only if it integrates all aspects of quality in its business activities and processes.

The focus of the total quality management is the customers and products of a company. Total quality management requires continuous improvement in all departments of a company related to manufacturing of the products, such as, quality design and development, quality control, and quality assurance. There are a number of key principles related to total quality management. Three of those principles include customer focus, continuous improvement, and employee involvement. Let us discuss all of these in some detail.

Customer Focus Customer focus is one of the primary principles of TQM. A company needs to focus the needs and demands of the customers while developing the products. Customers are the main drivers that ensure success of a company. Without customers, no company can achieve success or gain market domination in any market. Customers always opt for such companies, which provide them with excellent quality and reliability in all products and services.. If a company neglects the integration of quality aspects in a single phase of a product development process, it affects the overall quality of the product resulting in development of a compromising quality product.

Therefore, a company needs to work towards continuous improvement in manufacturing and quality procedures in order to bring a high quality product in the market. Employee Involvement This principle of TQM requires continuous involvement and motivation of the top management of a company. Top management needs to motivate the employees towards ensuring quality in all aspects of their job responsibilities. “Employees should be encouraged to be pro-active in identifying and addressing quality related problems” (Murray).

TQM is not just related to the integration of quality in the products and services of a company, rather it also includes all business functions and activities. The involvement of employees is of integral importance in ensuring the implementation of total quality management system in a company. Therefore, companies need to encourage their employees to bring improvement in their job related activities in order to ensure success of the company. Performance Measurement Performance measurement means to evaluate performance of the employees and the business processes in order to bring improvement in the organizational effectiveness and productivity.

The basic aim of performance measurement is not just to evaluate the employees’ performance; rather it also focuses on increasing the organizational productivity by improving performance of the employees. Performance measurement or evaluation makes the managers of a company know where the company actually stands and what they need to do in