Introduction
‘Total Quality Management often abbreviated as ‘TQM’ is the practice introduced by a popular American management consultant, William Deming, who has a great influence on Japanese manufacturing. In this article, we will discuss Total Quality Management Benefits.
“Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of an intelligent effort”.
-John Ruskin
Definition of Total Quality Management
A continual process of improving and enhancing customer satisfaction through a comprehensive approach of management by ensuring the participation of all the employees to deliver superior quality of product or service for long-term success.
Just think, why a customer would buy your product or service if the same is offered by your competitors? The variant happens to be ‘superior quality’. ‘Quality’, a determining factor, which outstands a product or service from its competitor’s, plays a key role in business. Therefore, TQM focusses on customer satisfaction and aims at improving the processes, organizational culture and systems by engaging every single employee to bring in long-term success.
The Cycle of ‘TQM’
The cycle of TQM is divided into 4 phases, which are popularly referred to as the ‘Deming cycle’ or ‘PDCA cycle’. Let’s briefly understand these stages:
- Planning Stage: The primary stage in TQM requires employees to identify the undergoing problems, issues or any challenges with the operations of the organization. Employees have to revise the hypothesis and conduct necessary research by collecting data so as to test the same and come up with recommendations for a problem.
- Doing Stage: In this stage, employees design solutions for identified problems and implement strategies to overcome the same. The effectiveness of the results is also measured in this phase.
- Checking Stage: The comparative analysis of the attained results/data before and after conducting the research are measured.
- Acting Stage: The last stage, where derived solutions/recommendations are implemented.
What are the Benefits of Total Quality Management?
Some of the Benefits of Total Quality Management are:
1. Cost Reduction and Increased Profitability
TQM helps in reducing total quality costs. It is based on the principle of preventing defective products/services rather than being at an expense of quality failure cost. So basically, it aims to manufacture zero defect products/services. Consequently, this brings in cost reduction and thus increased profitability. Many companies such as Toyota Motors and Motorola have bought in manufacturing cost reductions by implementing TQM techniques.
2. Facilitates Productivity
Cost reduction is a means of increased productivity. Productivity implies maximum output with optimum utilization of resources. Thus, the superior quality of resources and infrastructure, high-end technology and competent employees enhance productivity.
3. Reduces Redundant Activities
TQM applies a systematic approach by assigning quality improvement teams so as to reduce unessential tasks, waste of resources, thus, bringing in efficiency. This also saves time and duplication of tasks.
4. Promotes Innovation Process
TQM enables the organizations to conduct research on any undergoing challenges/ problems so as to come up with solutions for the same. Thus, organizations escalate their research and bring in innovative marketing decisions. The implemented innovative approach to the core and peripheral services attracts the customers.
5. Market-Specific Products/Services
Since the main focus of TQM is on customer satisfaction, it provides a pathway to understand the needs and demands of the consumer market. Therefore, it enables the organization to deliver products/services specific to the market.
6. Holistic Approach to Management
Many organizations struggle with non-engaging and non-participative attitude of the employees. TQM enables to bring changes in the behavioral pattern of the employees by facilitating good work culture, team-work, promoting self-development, employee engagement and thus extracting better performance.
7. Promotes Continual Improvement
The basic fundamental of TQM is of continually improving for long-term success. Therefore, TQM practices are designed to bring in continual improvement to the quality standards of a product/service. This results in a continuous revival of processes.
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8. Facilitates Competitive Edge
The increasing competition challenges the organization to meet the ever-increasing demands of the consumer market. TQM practices prove useful in understanding the market trends and competition so as to develop effective strategies to overcome the same.
9. Promotes Good-Will
As TQM focuses on consistent delivery of good quality product/services, the consumers hold favorable reputation about the organization. The internal stakeholders (employees and investors) get lucrative incentives and good returns respectively, while external stakeholders (customers) get superior quality of goods. This results in a good brand image and goodwill in the long run.
10. Facilitates Effective Communication and Employee Morale
Often, improper and ineffective communication are a hindrance to the proper functioning and development of an organization. This results in improper understanding, low productivity, inferior quality, waste of time and efforts, thus contributing to low morale. Whereas, TQM facilitates effective communication and interaction within members of different departments and hierarchies of management. This boosts employee morale and team-work.
11. Facilitates Customer Satisfaction
Since TQM is all about delivering a superior quality of products/services to the customers in the long run, the amount of customer complaints is quite less. Therefore, it signifies less use of resources and increased customer satisfaction. Thus, the market share also increases as the existing customers act as the ambassadors to attract new customers.
Therefore, it is obvious that TQM not only brings in tangible results like superior product quality, reduction in costs, increased profitability, increased market share, and productivity. But, also, intangible returns like better communication, teamwork, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, goodwill, and increased employee morale. However, TQM also requires employees to undergo a substantial duration of the training period, company-wide involvement and participation to quality improvement. All levels of the organizational hierarchy must be involved to make the TQM program successful. However, with any short-coming in the efforts or improper utilization of resources, could make the success of TQM program doubtful and collapse the internal bonding of the company. TQM techniques give the best results when they are supported strongly by all levels of the management and employee teams, and if there are persistent efforts on process improvisation with a negligible margin for errors.
Now, that we know the several benefits of TQM, its needless to say it should be an integral management technique for every organization.
Because Quality matters!
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