Question

Describe in detail some of the difficulties which arise in the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) and suggest how these may be overcome ( 1 page long)

Answer 1

Total Quality Management (TQM) is the principle of a holistic quality management wherein data driven improvement in quality culture is driven in an organization to improve overall standards of products and services.

Since the philosophy of TQM involves cultural change in the organization and also a data driven mindset in the organization, this involves a drastic change in the overall mindset in the employee's thinking process from the traditional process which focusses on production increases and is more function oriented thinking rather than a holistic organizational mindset.

Thus the most important challenges in a TQM method is:-

1. Improvement in the organizational cultural mindset.

2. Imbibing data driven skills in the organization

3. Development of holistic thinking across different levels of organization

These challenges can be overcome by following a structured training and skill development programme. The culture of continual improvement can happen through continual reinforcement of the process improvement methodology and teaching employees about the advantages of process improvement in organization growth.