Question

What is the primary focus of Total Quality Management?

Answer 1

The term Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to a management practice or an approach that an organization takes which involve improvement in products, processes, services, functions, people and culture so that zero-defect performance is achieved. TQM was an older concept famous especially in the 1990’s and now, modern theories such as six sigma, lean manufacturing, International Standards Organization (ISO) and so on are widely being accepted and implemented. The concept of TQM, though old, still finds its application in all the organization types including defense services, production units, service industry, information technology industry, educational institutions and financial institutions. Though there is no generally accepted definition of TQM, but several companies and organizations have made an attempt in the past to define TQM in their own way.

The primary focus here is highest level of achievement of customer satisfaction which can be achieved by only those organizations which are customer-focused. This is usually done by involving all the employees of an organization and ensuring their full involvement in the processes so that customer satisfaction is guaranteed by the organizations. For any task the employee takes up, customer satisfaction remains his prime focus. Usually the employees are vertically oriented in their respective departments, however TQM focuses on horizontal orientation i.e. interaction between different departments so that there is seamless communication and work is carried out smoothly. The organizations usually have a mission, vision and goals. TQM ensures that the systems are aligned to achieve these in a systematic and strategic way to achieve sustainable success in the long term.

TQM further focuses on continuous improvement in products, processes, systems so that an organization remains competitive all the time and it meets the expectations of all the people including shareholders and stakeholders of the organization. Another important aspect in TQM is communication, which ensures that all the sections of the organization are continuously informed about the changes that take place in an organization towards the achievement of TQM.