Category: Total Quality Management

As in any other industry Quality Management is also an essential element in the Tourism sector as in the case of Snow Canyon, Virginia. The quality of services offered and customer satisfaction are key factors affecting the growth and survival of the business. Quality may be defined as the feature or attributes of a product, package, or service which excogitates its ability to adhere to the expressed or implied needs and requirements.

To meet the demands and wishes of a client various tools based on Total Quality Management (TQM) are developed, where, Total indicates “the enclosure of all divisions of the business and the entire staff” (Litvin, 188-197). Quality stands for “the unswerving readiness of all operations to meet the quality standards and the demands of internal and external customers/guests” (Litvin, 188-197). And, Management refers to the “accountability and inventiveness of the top management in the context of systematic quality development” (Litvin, 188-197).

Total Quality Management encompasses three facets:

1. “Quality Target
2. Quality Development
3. Quality Assurance” (Litvin, 188-197)

Quality Target refers to the self-sown high standards of service to gratify the needs and demands of every guest or client and also the staff. Quality development refers to the energetic development of the worth of services and its continuous upgrading of the standards. Quality assurance refers to the habitual scrutinizing of the standard of service as well as reactions if irregularities gradually sneak in. Thus to meet the quality of service the business has to generate a stirring vision and facilitate others to realize it. It needs to promote excellence and empower quality people, pledge a long-term assurance to quality, and devote time, energy, tolerance, and determination. (Siomkos, 101-108)

In the tourism industry, the final consumer is the tourist. Thus contentment of the tourist is the primary objective of the business. From the perspective of the guest, services are thought of as a complete package comprised of individual services. These individual services are all interconnected and form a chain of services: prior information from a Tourist agency, journey towards the holiday destination, stay at the vacation resort, food at the restaurant, outings, and excursions and lastly the trip back home.

All specific services leave their mark on an individual level and even on the entire holiday experience. Putting into practice a total quality system is a complicated task, but it must be executed with precision. To compete and survive in the actual tourism arena the total quality management is vital and the organization must be conscious of the issues involved and realize their importance. (Litvin, 188-197)

Company Background

Snow Canyon is a four-season resort situated in Virginia. It provides a number of services which include skiing, golfing, rock climbing and bathing in spas. It aims at offering a complete experience to the guests visiting the resort. It is established as a premier skiing resort with its tallest mountain being 3,800 feet high (DePaul 11). Its offers high-quality skiing and snowboarding experiences with slopes open from 9 in the morning till 4 in the evening. It boasts of having five lifts that carry tourists from the bottom to the top of the slope with Paradise being lifted with the longest vertical drop (DePaul 12).

Problem

In the actual order of events, tourists arrived at the skiing spot early in the morning with the entering rate peaking at 11 in the morning with 8 people entering per minute. The entering rate fell sharply to less than one person at half-past twelve in the afternoon and again shot up at twelve past one in the afternoon to 3.8 people entering per minute.

The management plans an expansion of the resort’s capacity by installing a high-speed chairlift named Paradise Express at the paradise slope to draw more skilled skiers and snowboarders. The plan involved the installation of a lift that would carry visitors to the top in less than four minutes so that they could spend more time actually skiing instead of having to wait and waste time for lifts. (DePaul, 1-4)

In this context, three options were considered.

• Option One: Buying a new engine for the current lift which enables the lift to run 50% faster.
• Option Two: Increasing the chair capacity to four people per chair.
• Option Three: Replace the old chair lift with a new high-speed six-person chair lift that travels at a speed that is two and a half times the speed of the current lift. The lift would initially have 44 chairs which could be extended to 52 with the growth of the business. This option also includes a plan to extend the skiing area by 15% (Siomkos 101-108).

Recommendation

In option one, if the speed of the lift is doubled the time for a one-way trip is reduced by half. This would allow the lift to make only 13.2 one-way trips in an hour. Thus the lift would take 4.545 minutes to reach the top with a maximum capacity of 486 skiers at a go with a chair capacity of three. With each skier taking 20 minutes to ski down the slope and an average of 3 minutes to reach the lift once he reaches the bottom, it would take him a total of 23 minutes to reach the lift from the time he starts skiing. Let’s suppose, there are more than 1000 people at the bottom at a certain point in time.

After the first 486 people would be loaded onto the lift, the second 486 people would have to wait 9.09 minutes for the lift to arrive again at the bottom. This calculation is made without considering the unloading time of the people at the top. Thus in reality it would take the lift more than 9.09 minutes to reach the end of the slope to load in the second lot. For the third lot which would have increased in number due to skiers completing their skiing runs and reaching the lift, the wait would be a minimum of 18.18 minutes without considering the loading and unloading time of the first two lots (DePaul 16).

Considering increased sales, during peak hours if there are a large number of people in the skiing arena the lift would prove to be insufficient for handling the pressure. This would lead to customer dissatisfaction and would prove to be detrimental for the business. Secondly, this option does not meet the target of carrying guests from the bottom of the slope to the top in less than four minutes. Although it would be the cheapest alternative the wait time for the lift would be a considerable duration and would be deficient in coping with increased sales. Thus option one would not be recommended and is not likely to be implemented. (Ritchie 87)

In the second option, with the chair capacity increased to 4 people per chair the maximum capacity is increased to 648. But in this the speed of the chair lift remains the same, i.e., it takes 9.09 minutes to complete a one-way trip. Thus it would be able to make only 6.06 one-way trips and 3.03 trips carrying people from the bottom of the slope. A skier requires 20 minutes to come down the slope and a further 3 minutes to reach the lift. Again considering the example of 1000 people, the second lot would have to wait a minimum of 18.18 minutes before they could board the lift without considering the loading and unloading time of the first lot. Another thing to consider would be the situation at the top (Glaesser 112).

Even if there are only 52 people at the top, which in reality would be more, the total number of people at the top of the slope would reach 750 when the first lot is unloaded. This would be way above the comfort zone of the guests. Thus it would lead to a crowded scenario and a chaotic situation at the top at the peak hour if the lift operates at its full capacity. Also to consider in this case is the fact that there would always be more people at the top than the bottom.

If the lift has to operate at its full capacity on its second trip, 296 more skiers will have to join the second lot. This situation becomes highly unreal with just 52 at the top, 1000 at the bottom, and more than 296 people in transition (Litvin 188-197).

Moreover, after the lift completes its third trip, there would be complete chaos at the peak. This option is highly discouraged as it would lead to a high wait time for people waiting at the bottom to reach the top, and might even lead to a chaotic situation with an increased number of people at the skiing arena as they will not be properly distributed over the top, bottom and in the transition phase. Moreover, it does not come near to the target of carrying skiers from the bottom to the top in less than four minutes. This option is highly unlikely to be implemented.

Option three with 44 chairs, a chair capacity of 6, and a high speed of 3.636 minutes with an increase in skiing area by 15% would be a profitable option to cope with increased sales. It would be able to make 16.5 one-way trips in an hour i.e., 8.25 trips upwards. This indicates that a second lot would have to wait for a little over 7.2 minutes to board the lift after the first lot has been loaded. This is considerably lower than the wait time in the other two cases.

This also means that the crowding at the top of the slope can be avoided as the maximum capacity of the lift would be lesser than the other cases and would mean lower loading and unloading time. Thus the distribution of the skiers would also be optimized. A 15% increase in the skiing area would mean more than 750 skiers at the top of the slope could enjoy the experience simultaneously. Initially, the lift could have only 44 chairs for cost-effectiveness and later can be extended to 52 depending upon the growth of the business (Ritchie 21).

Installation of this high-speed lift would be able to increase the quality of service and enhance customer satisfaction as skiers could spend more time in actual skiing than waiting for the lift. This would attract new and more customers and thus would increase the profitability of the business. Customer satisfaction along with proper advertisement of this enhancement of service quality could also boost the repute of the business. The budget for enhancement includes the extension of the skiing area by 15 %. Thus available resources should be efficiently managed. It would be suggested that the lift should start its operation with 44 chairs and only a fraction of the 15% of the skiing area must be increased initially. The sales figures should then be studied carefully to analyze the growth in sales and profits (Litvin 188-197).

Result

Based upon these results future growth must be predicted and the budget utilization should be optimized by deciding how many more chairs is to be added which can be extended to a limit of 52 chairs and how much more of the skiing area is to be extended which could go up to 15% of the current skiing area (Ritchie 24).

Proper cost planning and budget utilization would make the implementation of this plan proficient and would thus be sustainable. If the plan is executed successfully, it would give the business an edge above its competitors. The holiday season during the winter is the time when the peak of sales is reached. The projected number of clients shoots up during this season. It should be ensured that the guests receive an enthralling experience during their stay. To do so, the lift should be effective by that time as this option is capable of handling the increase in sales and a large number of people during the peak hours of the holiday season (Siomkos 101-108).

Risks involved in adventure sports are high. With the execution of this plan risks also increase. Any minuscule mechanical error may lead to serious injuries or even fatalities. Also increase in the number of skiers means more chances of skiing accidents occurring.

Conclusion

Thus it is imperative to structure a risk management strategy in the event of a crisis that may involve accidents or a calamity. Regular mechanical surveys must be carried out and medical help should be kept on standby and also crisis management teams must be properly trained and should be ready to face crisis situations.

Work Cited

DePaul, Charles. Snow Canyon Resort: Paradise Ski Lift. Virginia: Darden Business Publishing, 2006.

Glaesser, Dennis. Crisis Management in the Tourism Industry. Oxford: Butterworth – Heinemann, 2007.

Litvin, Steve. How Charleston Got Her Groove Back: A Convention Bureau’s Response to 9/11. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 9.2, (2005):188-197.

Ritchie, James. The Competitive Destination: a Sustainable Tourism Perspective. Oxford: Butterworth – Heinemann, 2006.

Siomkos, Gregory. Managing Tourism Disasters. Journal of Transport Management, 6.12, (2007):101-108.

Introduction

The government accelerator programs are aimed at creating a tie up between the government organizations and new start-ups in order to expedite the national goals. The concept is to come up with new and better ideas so that the efficiency could be enhanced. The topic is quite significant because all over the world there has been extreme focus on government accelerator programs where the government is working with the private partners in order to come up with new and better products.

However the concept of TQM will play an equally significant role because of the fact that TQM is a quality tool which is aimed at enhancing and improving the functions or processes. Thus the applicability of TQM would be necessary for the projects because this will also help in making improvements in the concepts which are taken up as part of Government Accelerators as mentioned in Gulf News (2017).

Key research question

• What is the Government Accelerators (GA) methodology?
• What is the impact of GA methodology on organization’s total quality management and performance?
• What are the challenges that organizations face during the Acceleration period?

Aim

The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of the government accelerators methodology on the total quality management and entities performance.

Objective

• To critically assess the methodology of the government accelerators.
• To compare the entities performance before and after applying the government accelerators methodology.
• To make recommendation to improve the effectiveness of the methodology and increase the organizational performance.

Literature review

TQM plays a significant role in the business by doing continuous improvement on everything which is required to provide proper quality service to a customer. Management of an organization can understand and protect their in-house losses following TQM. As per the principles of TQM, quality of service directly deals with customer satisfaction. It reduces rework on any service by understanding customer’s requirements and marking the competition. Apart from this TQM is required to maintain efficiency of work and to increase revenue of a company. This activity involves all individuals on an organization including top management to lower division employees (Dr. Pandit Palande & Dr. Sri Sai, 2014).

Methodology

The data has been collected basis primary study wherein we have chosen government accelerators. Interview was conducted with (NAME, POSITION ) to gain insights on the project.

Data analysis

The GA aims to rethink about how government works by introducing a unique model built on acceleration results, increased collaboration, and innovation. The GA offers several methodologies such as the 100 days challenge to achieve tangible and sustainable results in 100 days or less, on the other hand, the workout challenge develops actionable plans for an immediate decision and fast execution. The GA empower government employees to make swift and impactful decisions, give access to innovation and state of the art meeting space and provide them with a talented and specialized pool of coaches and advisors that support organization. For every challenge, a team consists of the Leadership team, Sponsors, Acceleration team, and coaches.

The GA launched two cohorts in the past year and this table shows some of the achievements. The results of those challenges clearly shows that the GA methodology increase the organization performance rapidly during the 100 days challenge which will positively impact the total quality management

The challenges that the teams face can differ from challenge to another. Some challenges can go smoothly with the plan and others can struggle to come up with an innovative plan. However, with the assistance and support of the GA coaches and advisors all the teams in both cohorts were able to achieve their goal.

Discussion and Conclusions

The results obtained by the analysis of the two cohorts launched by the government reveal that the achievements far exceeded the expectations. The organizational performance was improved drastically in the course of the 100-day challenge, which brought total quality management to a new level. This allows stating that pairing promising start-ups with organizations representing the public sector is an effective transformational solution. Further development of the GA programs will make it possible to create long-lasting partnerships between the government and cutting-edge entrepreneurs, which will play a decisive role in defining the future development of the strategic sector.

The methodology applied by the GA reinforces total quality management rather than interferes with it. This implies that there is no contradiction between the methods used by the government and those implemented in businesses. The government of the UAE has realized the importance of strategic planning and employee satisfaction for quality performance of any organization. That allows the leaders to elaborate working plans on an efficient and creative resource allocation and staff motivation.

Cross-section government teams are capable of addressing such challenges that cannot be overcome using the resources of either the private or the public sector in separation. Moreover, another undeniable benefit of the program is that ambitious and seemingly unrealistic goals are achieved in very short periods of time through collaboration and concentration of efforts. This happens due to the ability of the government to instill the culture of TQM and innovation in the public sector while encouraging the private sector by profit-making partnerships. Thus, the program is made mutually beneficial for both parties.

All these advantages of the program allow concluding that the GA methodology is sufficiently effective to support the major government bodies and speed up the achievement of the goals outlined in the National Agenda. Joint teams formed to address various problems encountered by the public sector allow the government to consolidate the culture of innovation and bring the country to a new level of excellence by attaining quick, impressive, and sustainable results.

Recommendations

Since the results of the program prove that it has been developed taking the consideration all possible obstacles, its methodology can be improved only by enhancing the cooperation between the government and private businesses. An artificial separation of the private and the public sector existed for a long time in the country, which made their missions and goals rather different or even contradictory. Now, due the launch of the GA programs, the boundaries have become blurred (Channon & Jalland, 2016).

However, there is still a division of responsibilities, which happens due to the pursuit of individual goals. That is why it is crucial to enhance collaboration and communicate the importance of the common good to the partners.

Another important aspect is connected with strategic planning, which has not yet been embraced by all public organizations in the country. Since the government intends to develop partnerships with the private sector, it is highly recommended to align with the strategies chosen by the partners instead of relying entirely on charismatic leadership and authority (Channon & Jalland, 2016).

Finally, it would bring about additional benefits if the programs promote the ideas of Emiratization by creating opportunities for country nationals to take leadership positions in the public sector (currently occupied by expats) (Aljanahi, 2017). The idea is that such initiatives may be used to attract graduates and encourage them to pursue the goals set by the government. This way they will obtain practical skills needed for establishing successful communication with leaders of private businesses (especially Western ones), which will make them more competitive not only within the country borders but also in the global market.

References

Aljanahi, M. H. (2017). Challenges to the Emiratisation process: content analysis. Human Resource Development International, 20(1), 9-17.

Channon, D. F., & Jalland, M. (2016). Multinational strategic planning. Berlin, Germany: Springer.

Dr. Pandit Palande & Dr. Sri Sai. (2014). Total Quality Management: A Conceptual Analysis. Journal of Commerce & Management Thought. 1, 147-162.

Gulf News (2017). Mohammad Uneveils Future Accelerators programme. Web.

Introduction

The wave of globalization is attracting individuals and expatriates from different regions to work in foreign countries. Cities receiving such people should implement powerful strategies to meet their changing needs and promote economic development. This paper describes how leaders can implement Total Quality Management TQM) to affect cultures and sectors.

Applying Total Quality Management

TQM is a framework that organizations use to promote high work standards to maximize outcomes. With many cities attracting people with varied backgrounds, leaders should embrace this model to streamline service delivery and create wealth. This concept revolves around the introduction of appropriate systems, proper management, and implementation of evidence-based practices (Anttila & Jussila 2018). In different towns and cities, many sectors are involved that require the input of all stakeholders.

The speech that Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum gave in February, 2019 about modern cities offer evidence-based insights that encourage modern cities to embrace the concept of TQM. According to him, leaders should consider appropriate strategies to attract great minds and create systems that maximize productivity. One example that stands out from the speech is the importance of reducing the time resident take to commute from one place to another (Video: Sheikh Hamdan to address World Government Summit in Dubai today 2019). They can also empower individuals to collaborate and share their diverse ideas to improve performance. Addressing the needs of human beings will deliver positive results rather than pursuing emerging technologies. The example of Dubai supports the effectiveness of TQM in improving quality of life cities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, TQM is a powerful model for transforming urban areas. A convergence between developmental agendas and cultures will improve people’s experiences and economic performance. These attributes explain why Dubai has become a true inspiration for many cities across the world.

Reference List

Anttila, J & Jussila, K 2018, ‘Universities and smart cities: the challenges to high quality’, Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, vol. 29, no. 9-10, pp. 1058-1073.

Video: Sheikh Hamdan to address World Government Summit in Dubai today 2019, video recording, Khaleej Times, Web.

Total quality management refers to a set of comprehensive and organized feedback-based activities and practices for continuous product and service quality improvement (Oakland 3). One of such practices is quality circles, an approach largely popular in the 1980s and 1990s, whose effectiveness frequently depends on both corporate and country culture.

Quality circles refer to the practice of employee gathering to identify and analyze problems related to their sphere of competence to improve the overall quality of products and services. Many critics have questioned the effectiveness of this approach; however, it can be beneficial to the company if certain criteria are met. As far as the composition of the group is concerned, quality circles should be staffed by volunteers representing different functional activity. Before the discussion, all members are to receive problem-solving training such as brainstorming and other techniques. The circle members should have a certain degree of autonomy in being able to choose a specific problem they would like to address and elect a leader from and for their team. This is not to say that management cannot monitor the sessions, but the supervisor should not be a mentor and not a manager. Finally, it is essential that management is fully supportive of the group and allocates appropriate funding for its requests (Basu 27-28). Such quality circles are much more likely to produce beneficial results for the organization.

However, quality circles may also not be the ideal practice in different parts of the world. Such sessions are founded on autonomy, initiative, and teamwork which are not necessarily encouraged in different cultures. Analysis of the United Arab Emirates’ cultural dimensions according to the Hofstede’s model reveals several important insights. On the individualism scale, the UAE are largely a collectivistic society meaning that employees are likely to prioritize organizational goals (Hofstede par. 5). However, the country also scores extremely high on the power distance scale which implies that people tend to accept unequal power distribution and strict hierarchical order (Hofstede par. 3). Consequently, management may be unwilling to delegate its power to employee-staffed groups. However, empirical research suggests that corporate cultures in the UAE are favorable to the implementation of total quality management techniques, including quality circles (Jabnoun and Sedrani 18).

At the same time, quality circles are not the only approach that can be used to improve employee involvement in the quality control and management of the company. First of all, individual-level empowerment is frequently cited as an effective employee engagement technique. Empowerment refers to the process of management delegating decisions and employees gaining independence in work-related matters (Kivuva 167). While quality circles also include empowerment, they address the issue of independence and autonomy at the team rather than individual level. Secondly, a technique especially relevant for organizations in the UAE is the creation of a sense of affinity and affiliation. Given the collectivistic nature of the culture, workers are likely to significantly commit to the organizational goals and values. The company should foster their sense of belonging through appropriate employee-oriented PR and branding (Mathis par. 9).

Thus, quality circles, given that they are implemented correctly, have the potential to bring positive results to the organization’s total quality management process. At the same time, since quality circles do not always fit the specific country’s culture, a variety of other employee involvement techniques can be adopted to promote organizational goals.

Works Cited

Basu, Ron. Implementing Six Sigma and Lean: A Practical Guide to Tools and Techniques, Oxford, UK: Elsevier, 2008. Print.

Jabnoun, Naceur, and Khalefa Sedrani. “TQM, Culture, and Performance in UAE Manufacturing Firms.” Quality Management Journal 12.4 (2005): 8-20.

Hofstede, Geert. n.d. What about the United Arab Emirates? n.d. Web.

Kivuva, Winnie. “Effects of Employee Involvement in Strategic Management Implementation.” International Journal of Advanced Research 3.8 (2015): 164-171.

Mathis, Terry L. Three Strategies for Employee Engagement.2013. Web.

Oakland, John. S. TQM: Text with Cases. 3rd ed. 2003. London, UK: Routledge. Print.

Total Quality Management

In the age of intense competition, scholars, researchers, professors, and governmental authorities are taking a genuine interest in finding strategies that aim at improving the quality of education. One of the strategies that have gained traction throughout the last forty years is Total Quality Management or TQM. It is a proactive approach that helps see a company as an interrelated structure and facilitates continuous improvement with employees and materials that a business already has. At its core, it encompasses the conscious efforts of every member of an organization towards long-term goals. Thus, employees’ empowerment and involvement constitute one of the basic principles of TQM. The question arises as to whether TQM is appropriate for use in universities and how it can improve the education quality. I base my proposal on the assumption that TQM principles are highly relevant in the educational field. One of the institutions that could put TQM to good use is Zayed University.

Zayed University controversies

Zayed University is one of three state-funded higher education establishments in the United Arab Emirates. The university has become the first federal university to get accredited by the Middle States Association in the USA in 2013 and has proven to be serious about its mission to uphold international standards. Despite the university’s good formal rankings, the recent history of the organization hasn’t been devoid of troubles and controversies. Time after time, the competency of the ever-changing top management raised concerns. First and foremost, academic integrity and transparency have been questioned. It has also been pointed out that the top management may lack international work experience. It is an issue for a university with culturally diverse teaching staff and a considerable percentage of international students. All in all, many of the current policies caused criticism.

Employees’ unhappiness

It is evident that the issues that Zayed University is confronted with are negatively impacting its employees. Employees’ satisfaction and happiness are paramount to improving performance and attaining desired results. Unfortunately, there is solid evidence that the university’s employees do not find their work experience as gratifying as it could be. A recent survey showed that the majority of the organization’s staff did not feel happy about the work situation. What further proves this claim is former and current employees’ reviews on the websites such as Indeed. ae and Glassdoor.com. Just a few excerpts from the sources show that the contributors did not like “fear-mongering management” and “incompetent administrators.” Such reviews are undoubtedly detrimental to the university’s reputation.

Corporate happiness and positivity initiatives in the UAE Federal Government

Further on, it is worth mentioning that the UAE Cabinet chaired over by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai supported the launch of governmental initiatives that promote happiness and positivity (Mohammed Bin Rashid: happiness & positivity are lifestyles, government commitment, and a spirit uniting UAE community n.d.). Within said initiatives, the Cabinet encourages organizations to create positive atmosphere and working conditions.

Conclusion

It is clear that some of the university’s current policies are unviable. There is a soaring need for a better development strategy that would keep employees satisfied and comply with the Cabinet’s recommendation. My research aims at investigating practices and initiatives that have been adopted at my workplace, Zayed University to support the idea of employee focus and evaluate its impact on the quality management in the organization.

Reference List

Mohammed Bin Rashid: happiness & positivity are lifestyle, government commitment and a spirit uniting UAE communityn.d., Web.

The present paper is dedicated to Total Quality Management (TQM) as the present-day forefront issue in strategic management. The history of its emergence is discussed, and the evolution of business focus is outlined. TQM emphasizes continuous improvement at all organizational levels, focus on constant learning and advancement.

The benefit of TQM is in its ability to provide a competitive edge for a company in the highly turbulent modern business environment under the conditions of globalization. TQM is also capable of increasing product quality and customer satisfaction due to increased customer focus, which adds exceptional value to it in the modern business settings.

There are many sources of Total Quality Management origin, since the present concept is quite significant for managers worldwide. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a comparatively new concept in the area of strategic management; it emerged in the 1980s mainly as a response of the American companies to the competitive pressure of organizations from Japan (Teeravaraprug, Kitiwanwong, and Tong 102).

However, there is also an opinion that the creation of TQM was the credit of the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) who targeted their effort at ensuring Japanese performance and competitiveness improvement in the postwar years (Powell 16). Ambang claims that TQM emerged worldwide as a response to the requirements of globalization (83). Hence, the origins of the TQM concept, model, and approach are unclear, and there is much less understanding thereof than there is attention for TQM implementation.

The TQM approach rests on the assumption that a company can survive only due to continuous improvement of quality (Rampersad 1). Therefore, the TQM approach to the design of the organizational processes is focused on quality improvement, improvement of customer orientation and satisfaction, reduction of costs and throughput periods (Rampersad 1).

TQM enables any company to acquire effectiveness, flexibility, and competitiveness in operations; it also assists in reduction of waste due to the emphasis on prevention efforts instead of detection and correction of mistakes (Rawlins 19-20).

It is obvious from the overview of the contribution that TQM makes to the functioning of any business entity that it is now the cutting edge of strategic management efforts. The purpose of the present paper is therefore to delineate the advantages offered by TQM in more detail, and to assess its effectiveness in the modern business settings. Opinions of management researchers in the field of TQM application will also be critically assessed with the purpose of identifying the true value of TQM for strategic managerial initiatives.

TQM is considered the modern paradigm of management (Jafar, Mohammad, Fariba, and Mehrdad 19). TQM stands alongside with Supply Chain Management (SCM) as the most important strategic approach for organizations (Talib, Rahman, and Qureshi 26). Judging from these evaluations, one may assume that TQM indeed occupies a central place in the modern strategic management initiatives.

The chief reason for the key importance of TQM is that it attempts to achieve its goals (namely, cost reduction and quality increase) by means of informing all stakeholders about the quality issues (Wienclaw 3). TQM brings the increased use of teamwork and inspires the establishment of creative, innovative climate at any workplace, which is highly valued in the modern business environment as strategic advantages.

It seems reasonable to suppose that the evolution in business paradigms and approaches is not chaotic; there are always innovative solutions that meet the changing needs of market participants, both businesses and customers. Therefore, the shift from industry structure and competitive positioning that was dominant in the strategic management before the 1980s may be justified by the necessity of a new approach (Powell 15).

It became clear in the 1980s that a generation of new business values and competencies came, and the companies should focus on culture, capabilities, administrative skills, know-how, and learning (Powell 15). This change brought about the creation of TQM that could respond to these organizational needs.

Now, the TQM practices include top management commitment to the integration of TQM across all organizational levels; customer focus is the central element of the TQM implementation. Much emphasis is put on training an education as the major paths of increasing the human potential of the organization; continuous improvement and innovation become the benchmarks of TQM integration in the organization.

Finally, the supplier management and employee management practices ensure compliance of all business processes and flawless operation in all aspects and at all departments (Talib, Rahman, and Qureshi 31). There is no doubt that such integrative approach to business operations dooms the company to success, improvement, and self-guided evolution.

One can also assume the importance of TQM judging from the evidence of its overall positive effect on the company’s operation (Koc 213), and its ability to bring about product safety, flexibility in operations, quality improvement of the company’s output, and reduction of the cost of quality (Talib, Rahman, and Mehrdad 31).

The implementation process also contains some positive features, since it involves the comprehensive internal participation of management and employees. Consequently, once the staff of the company adopts the TQM philosophy both at the individual and collective level, the success of TQM integration becomes a much more viable perspective.

Instead of a conclusion, one should note that TQM integration in the organizational setting is currently the number one priority for managers dealing with strategic planning at their workplaces. TQM is a universal model increasing the competitive edge of the company, reducing costs and waste, and increasing product quality.

The TQM approach helps organizations to become more customer-focused, and to gain higher levels of customer satisfaction. Therefore, it is a step towards a new stage in strategic management of any organization, giving a comprehensive, holistic approach to supervision, planning, and organizational change.

Works Cited

Ambang, Tabian. “Influences of international management trends on business organizations in Papua New Guinea”. Contemporary PNG Studies: DWU Research Journal. 13 (2010): 81-94.

Jafar, Azizi, Mohammad, Taleghani, Fariba, Esmaielpoor, and Gudarzvand Chegini Mehrdad. “Effect of the quality costing system on implementation and execution of optimum Total Quality Management”. International Journal of Business and Management. 5:8 (2010): 19-26.

Koc, Tufan. “The relationship between TQM and performance in small manufacturing enterprises: The mediation effect of failure”. International Journal of Industrial Engineering. 18:4 (2011): 203-218.

Naagarazan, R. S., and Arivalagar, A. A. Total Quality Management. New Delhi, India: New Age International, 2009.

Powell, C. Thomas. “Total Quality Management as competitive advantage: a review and empirical study”. Strategic Management Journal. 16 (1995): 15-37.

Rampersad, K. Hubert. Total Quality Management: An Executive Guide to Continuous Improvement. New York, NY: Springer, 2010.

Rawlins, R. Ashley. Total Quality Management (TQM). Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2008.

Talib, Faisal, Rahman, Zillur, and M. N. Qureshi. “Integrating Total Quality Management and Supply Chain Management: Similarities and benefits”. The IUP Journal of Supply Chain Management. 7:4 (2010): 26-44.

Teeravaraprug, Jirarat, Kitiwanwong, Ketlada, and Nuttapon Sae Tong. “Relationship model and supporting activities of JIT, TQM and TPM”. Songklanakarin Journal of Science Technology. 33:1 (2011): 101-106.

Wienclaw, E. Ruth. “Business strategy and policy”. EBSCO Research Starters. 2008 Birmingham, AL: EBSCO Publishing Inc., 2008.

ISO 8402 defines quality as “the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs” Basically, “quality is satisfying customers need both present and future” (Charantimath, 2006).

Quality captures a product’s fitness for use, ability to distinguish feature or grade of the product in appearance, performance among others, degree to which a specific product is preferred over competing products of equivalent grade, degree of general excellence and finally it is concerned with how well a product conforms to design and other specifications (Charantimath, 2006).

For a company’s product or service to be competitive, then all these attributes have to be preserved and enhanced from time to time. Total quality management is the process which managers use to continuously identify and administer the activities needed to achieve the quality objectives of an organization with an aim of offering high value products and services.

Reasons why Abu Dhabi University implemented ISO system

ADU quality policy states that “it is committed to providing quality degree programs to its students. Focusing on the needs of students, it engages in a process of continuous improvement grounded in evidence-based assessment of students leaning and satisfaction with their Abu Dhabi University experience” (Abu Dhabi University, 2011).

ISO system was adapted to aid in executing this policy. An interview with Mr. Stephen Deunch’a (Quality Officer Assurance) revealed that implementation of ISO facilitated establishing processes and procedures in all department of the University. Secondly, it improved effectiveness of the processes and quality services. Finally, it introduced commitment to continuous improvements of quality.

Timeline of the whole project

The process of acquiring ISO certification is lengthy and requires a lot of company’s time and resources. There are five major steps for obtaining ISO certification. ADU began the process in December 2008 and completed in January 2010. The process involved documentation of procedures, documentation of quality manual and policies, revision and approval, Internal Auditing and semiannual management reviews.

Impact of acquiring ISO certification

Standards are important to stakeholders of an organization as they ensure positive characteristics such as quality, durability, efficiency, safety and environment friendliness are reinforced. For instances, all the employees of ADU have a universal understanding of procedures of various processes. Also, the University will direct resources in processes which are internationally standardized hence minimizing wastage. ISO also benefits the community at large because there interests are catered for and so it builds their confidence in the products.

ADU’s Vision, Mission and Values

ADU’s Vision 2013:

“Abu Dhabi University is recognized as a national University of choice for quality education, applied research that drives regional economic development, and enjoy international accreditation” (Abu Dhabi University, 2011)

ADU’s Mission

“The Mission of ADU is to offer highly rewarded career oriented undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs aligned with the needs of UAE and the region through excellence in teaching, student learning, faculty scholarships and engagmnet in community development” (Abu Dhabi University, 2011)

ADU’s Culture and Shared Values

“ADU’s community is student-centered, commited to faculty/staff development and prides itself in collegiality, inclusiveness while respectful of Arab culture, integrity, equity, innovation, agility and service above self” (Abu Dhabi University, 2011)

Office responsible for implementing ISO

Execution of ISO standards is the responsibility of every employee. However, the Executive Director of Quality Institutional Research and strategy Departement has the primary responsibility of implementing ISO 9001:2008. Assurance Unit has been asigned the responsibility of implementation of ISO system.

The Provost is responsible for achieving and maintaining internationa institutional accredation while the Dean of each college has the primary responsibility for achieving and mainintg individual program international accreditations for all programs in their college where such accreditations exist (Abu Dhabi University, 2011).

Next Steps

Currently, the Univeristy has implemented Balances Scorecards to be used for performance assessment of all managers. The University should extend measuring for all core processes, it should consider self measurement because scorecards is a perfomance measurement system that only track programs which lead to achieving strategis plan. It does not assess an individuals contributions towards achiving the strategic goals.

References

Abu Dhabi University. (2011, November 30). Vision and Beyond. Web.

Charantimath P. (2006). Introduction to total quality management: Total Quality Management, (3), 1-3.

Introduction

To retain a strong market position and retain a competitive advantage in the global market today, while focusing on diversification and satisfaction, companies find themselves without another option other than to integrate the philosophy of total quality management in running their activities today. That should be the case with BR engineering.

To spite managers in the modern world where customers are ever demanding for quality, incorporating total quality management into BR engineering comes with a host of benefits that shall largely impact on the business position of the company, its position in the market, its competitive advantage, its customer base, the brand name, the image of the company, and the overall quality of products manufactured by the company. Quality products translate to a strong market position, a bigger customer base and higher profits.

Total quality management is a philosophy that focuses on reduced wastes, focuses on customer satisfaction and needs, and continuously drives an organization into dynamically innovating products and service focusing at quality and cost effectiveness, and continuous improvements. Continuous improvements are tailored to target customer needs and satisfaction while positioning the company at a position of understanding the customer at every stage of its operations.

Total Quality Management

Total quality management is an organizational philosophy defined by product features that have the ability to satisfy a need, meet reliability requirements, and meet customer expectations as briefly illustrated below.

Quality is defined on the dimension of product performance; product features that satisfy customer needs and expectations, durability, its aesthetic values, safety, and serviceability for which customers readily pay for. Different approaches and definitions of quality are approached differently such as Deming philosophy that identifies continuous improvements among other approaches. Leading into t detailed discussion on the need for total quality management (TQM).

Need for TQM

The need to integrate total quality management philosophy into BR Engineering’s core business activities and in its venture into new engineering fields comes at a time when customers are the main focus in the business world today. It is a time when the cost of production should be minimized by eliminating wastes or bringing them to a bare minimum.

It is the responsibility of organizational employees to continuously pursue the element of quality to satisfy ever changing customer needs and expectations, eliminate waste, satisfy the customer, and improve BR Engineering’s performance (A Roadmap to Quality, 2007).

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an organizational philosophy for pursuing and meeting customer expectations and needs through continuous quality improvements of processes and products involving organizational employees who exert a concerted effort towards that goal (Total Quality Management Process, 2003).

A critical analysis of BR Engineering’s approach suggests that the traditional approach of focusing on product quality in the geometrical and surface finish dimensions may in the long end lead the company to lose its customer base. This is so since the traditional quality dimension or approach does not focus on the customer and the ever changing customer needs and expectations. It does not incorporate the concept of continuous improvements to meet customer expectations and needs.

Neither does the approach focus on minimizing wastes and maximizing on employee skills. It does not focus on team work as a way to improve product quality and enhance product features to meet the changing market needs. The customer is not the driving force for product quality, but the product is the driving force in this engineering environment.

Total Quality Management Process (2003) notes that the traditional approach and dimensions of quality at BR engineering focus on product quantity and product cost are unsatisfactory. It focuses on evaluating the product after production to identify those products that do not conform to established specifications, discarding products that do not meet the specifications, and releasing into the market products that meet specification requirements.

The total quality management process will be characterized by customer related processes, which include customer requirements on a product, regulatory requirements on product quality, and other addendums (A Roadmap to Quality, 2007). The management and organizational employees will continuously review requirements related to the product through defined product requirements, and the ability to meet defined standards.

Product design and development will span the planning of the product design, identifying design inputs and outputs, which span functional requirements, regulations, and design validation and verifications on a product.

Further to that, BR Engineering needs to realize that competition is rife more especially at a time when innovations on products can be done in a short time to meet customer needs with modern technologies. That is in addition to the fact that copy right laws and other product related laws have become increasingly difficult to enforce (A Roadmap to Quality, 2007).

Total quality management is expensive to integrate into a company, but benefits out-do the cost of implementing the quality management system. However, a low cost approach can be used to integrate TQM into BR Engineering by focusing on the capability of the technical and management staff of the company.

One such resourceful person is the time-served skilled engineer, the managing director of the company. The Director can oversee the implementation of TQM by identifying and selecting units of study while planning on systematic integration of the TQM plan.

Therefore, TQM will tailored the company to be customer focused, shifting it from its traditional approach and dimension of quality. Customer satisfaction will be the key word.

Customer feedback will form an essential component in influencing research processes, lead to product innovations and continuous improvements, and impact on approaches to minimal use and procurement of raw materials for industrial use. Thus, the overall outlook of team work will be evident within the company and outstanding benefits (A Roadmap to Quality, 2007).

TQM Benefits

One of the key benefits bound to be realized by integrating the total quality management philosophy into BR Engineering’s core activities, besides the new fields targeted for entry are improved financial results. Financial results improve when the cost of production of a product reduces creating an overall effect on the final cost of the product. If the manufacturing cost is low, the possibility of adjusting the final cost of the product is high.

Therefore, if the product quality is maintained but offered at a lower price, the positive effect of stimulating demand and consumption of the product rises. Consumer prevalence changes favorably towards the product and the overall effect is higher consumption demands and higher profits. That has the overall effect of improving the financial statement of the company.

The company will realize benefits of reduced wastes and improved processes. The process of procuring raw materials for its activities will be improved leading to cost cuts, translating to reduced cost of production and a host of other benefits that may be realized in the whole chain (Franceschini, Galetto & Maisano, 2007).

Conformance to standards, teamwork, product realization, resource management, improved financial benefits, reduced employee absenteeism, improved product lifecycle, improved response to customer queries and concerns, less product defects, and minimized wastes.

Standards lead organizations to be cross platform and create standardized products whole conforming to other standards such like environmental conservation. Teamwork has the benefit that comes with a synergistic model. Employees find they are motivated and work towards product improvements, and other benefits. These benefits can only be realized through concerted employee responsibilities in each of their domain departments hereunder discussed (A Roadmap to Quality, 2007).

Team Work and Employee responsibilities

Quality management department

To oversee the implementation of total quality management and continuously evaluate overall organizational total quality management performance and implementation, the quality management department’s role is tasked with the sole responsibility of identifying and setting total quality management implementation processes for each employee in their domains, ensuring approaches and strategies are set to effective total quality management organization-wise, measure and analyze all total quality implementation within the company, initiate actions to monitor, evaluate, identify quality deviations in each department and recommend corrections necessary for total quality management, assess total quality implementations for each employee’s domain, and document further requirements to drive the company further in its total quality management endeavors in satisfying customer needs and meeting their expectations(Easton, 1993).

Employees in this department are responsible for setting a total quality improvement corporate culture as a continuous process and ensure strategies are set to integrate all organizational tasks and functions and focus them at customer satisfaction.

The responsibility ensures that employees in this department educate other employees to appreciate and focus at customer satisfaction, inculcate a culture of competence in all employees, ensure teamwork within the organization, ensure total employee involvement, and drive the organization into achieving its total quality management goal. The goal is to continuously improve customer satisfaction at the lowest cost while maintaining a strong customer base, relationships, and sustained profits.

The quality management system is a strategic tool influenced by BR engineering’s operating environment, the new business environment, changing needs, specific organizational, objectives, current products it specializes in and future industry it endeavors to enter, processes governing production of products, and its size.

The synergetic model is hereunder illustrated that could result from team work. In addition to that, the system will establish links with the ISO 9004 standrds to givern its proccesses. It should make it compativle with other managerial from: Juran on planning for quality functions

The quality management system will be characterized by general requirements that span processes organization-wise, the sequence of processes, resource availability, strategic plans to achieve continuous improvements, standards for monitoring processes, and shared control to processes and resources.

Each documentation process is characterized by policies, objectives, quality manual, and control documents. Control documents, control manuals, and control records characterize the total quality management system.

Management Responsibilities

Management shall be responsible for enforcing total quality implementation policies, reviews, and making resources available. The management shall be responsible for customer focus, quality policies, planning and planning objectives, quality management planning, and review inputs and outputs.

On the other hand, the management at the top of the hierarchy, headed by the Director will be solely responsible for providing direction in every aspect of quality management and improvement. Leadership gives clear leadership in the pursuit of quality management for all departments of the BR Engineering Company. Managers under the leadership of the Director will ensure that policies and procedures are set for pursuing the total quality management philosophy at all levels of the engineering company (Easton, 1993).

That is achieved through effective communication channels between all departmental managers and the top management, conducting annul and semiannual seminars and meetings to evaluate organizational performance and achievements, and evaluating employee compliance to quality standards and procedures within the organization. This is geared towards ensuring customer satisfaction with the aerospace, products and other engineering products and services (Franceschini, Galetto & Maisano, 2007).

The management will ensure and continuously evaluates and monitors the quality of products and services and ensures all engineering equipments are up and working in meeting customer expectations and needs. Each vehicle, and aerospace equipments must provide quality services and that is ensured by the technical department run by specialized technical personnel.

In addition to that, the management ensures all departments coordinate and work collaboratively in achieving the overall goal of total quality management in product and service delivery (Franceschini, Galetto & Maisano, 2007).

The management continuously plans on the best strategy to achieve higher product success and better service quality across organizational functions. Product success is achieved through reliable mobile devices and service success is achieved through better sound and data quality delivered by the motor vehicles, and reliability of the aerospace equipments.

The management organizes all departments in pursuing the common goal focused at customer’s satisfaction, offers appropriate directions in achieving these, and ensures that each department has incorporated control measures to achieve better quality voice services, among others.

Managers continuously endeavor to create consistency of purpose within the organization, design approaches to integrating best practices in service provision, and institute methods that are consistent with modern approaches in inspecting employee compliance to quality standards.

The management ensures that cross functional departments and employees in every department are aware of the quality needs and expectations of the customer, ensures strategies and procedures are put in place to maintain customer loyalty so as not to have them shift to other service providers and manufacturers of engineering components in the current core business of the organization and new filed of the aerospace and automotive industry, increasing competition and decreasing the company’s customer base.

The management under their able leadership ensures innovative skills are created and cultivated into the culture of the organization for quality improvements and implementations. The managers at this level ensure priorities to achieve higher service quality are put in place, creating a sense of participation in the pursuit of the common goal of quality implementations.

Sales and Marketing department

In Etisalat (2010) it is noted that the sales and marketing department consists of marketers whose sole responsibility in quality management largely differentiates the organization from other service providers in the same field. Marketers have the sole responsibility of ensuring products and services reach the target population at designate times and meet customer specifications and tastes, and needs.

The marketers and sales representatives play critical roles in ensuring the company image is always good and services offered by the company reflect a good image of the company. Marketers always collect information on competing aerospace and automotive manufacturers, compare and evaluate the company’s products and identify features that should be incorporated or innovated in these products to competitively place them in the market and ensure they remain a head of others.

Total quality management is a philosophy that focuses on continuous improvements, customer satisfaction, and higher profits. The Engineering Company will be tagged as one of the leading manufacturers of automobiles and aerospace by incorporating total quality management into its core functions. Therefore, achieving that goal will be through continuous product improvements to meet customer needs and expectations.

The marketers ensure service characteristics targeting the customer are incorporated into its product delivery. In addition to that, the marketers always endeavor to establish the potential of earning higher profits for products in the core industry activities and the new ventures.

They accurately predict demands in the market and identify strategic needs targeting the market that has been identified. Customer availability in these fields is accurately identified by the marketing department to ensure the right customer needs are met. That ensures sustained retention of customers translating to higher profits and a strong customer base (Etisalat, 2010).

Customer needs are continuously reviewed and services provided compared against customer needs and equipments and projected needs evaluated. In addition to that, the marketers establish a strong and reliable interface with customers to enhance customer relationships and communication. This leads to higher product and service quality.

Kossoff (1993) argues that to further improve product quality value addition services should be offered frequently. The value addition service translates to quality improvement making the services cheaper and reliable.

The marketers focus on shortening the time products reach the market when general maintenance is being done on the manufacturing equipments (Kossoff, 1993).

The quality of services is further improved as a strategic objective by identifying opportunities to reduce expenditure, using the most minimal capital investment by using other technologies that are cheaper to maintain.

The marketing segments are identified by organizational employees at BR Engineering to be contributing factors towards better quality and improved service quality. New facilities are created and integrated into the system as the customer base continues to increase at an exponential rate (Juran, 1988).

Human resource department

The human resource management department is an employee section that forms the backbone of efficiency of service provision at all levels in the BR Engineering Company. Employees in this department are entitled with the responsibilities of ensuring that employees recruited into the company possess the right and appropriate skills to contribute to BR Engineering success in service provision while focusing at customer satisfaction and company profits.

BR Engineering is a company that wills experience tremendous growth in the manufacturing industry due to available opportunities despite intense rivalry that marks the sector. That will make it traverse national boundaries and venture into other opportunity ridden countries in the same field (Feigenbaum, 1991).

Well skilled and educated employees know their responsibilities well and contribute positively and in an informed way to the success of BR Engineering in its engineering services. Skilled and experienced employees easily identify areas of improvements and own the quality improvement process to better provide desirable services to the engineering sector.

Purchasing

The finance department ensures that purchased products conform to specifications and standards and purchasing information is clearly provided. Total quality management incorporates mechanisms for ensuring verification of purchased products is done, production services are quality controlled and that each process undergoes a validation and verification procedure against established standards (Feigenbaum, 1991).

Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring and measurements are continuously done in the new environment to ensure customer satisfaction is achieved at all levels. Internal audits that evaluate the system against established standards. Processes are continuously monitored and processes measured against established quality standards. Each product undergoes conformance controls to eliminate wastes and defects in the process.

Overall data is evaluated and analyzed to evaluate the degree of customer satisfaction, conformance to requirements, and identification of specific areas demanding continuous improvements.

Improvements

Improvements are continuous and span correctional measures which consist of reviews and identification of nonconformance issues, and preventive measures as issued under standards such as the ISO 9001.

Training and development needs

These employees ensure they continuously identify training and development needs for each employee in each department and innovatively look for ways to incorporate training programs to improve their training needs that target quality improvement and management at all levels of employee and management productivity. Quality improvement goes hand in hand with quality demands and training needs (Franceschini, Galetto & Maisano, 2007).

The financial department

Employees in this department keenly monitor the financial performance of the company, identify the best and cost effective performance strategies and target at continuously identifying the best methods to reduce expenditure at all levels of the company.

Total quality management is a philosophy that focuses on cost as a function and profits and customer base. Employees in this department continuously strive to identify cost effective methods and technologies of delivering products and services to the customer, products approaches, and appropriate quality costs (Etisalat, 2010).

Recommendations

Based on above discussions and findings on BR Engineering and its approach to running its Engineering business practices in addition to its projections to enter into the new fields of automotive engineering and aerospace industry, it is recommended that the engineering company integrate the whole concept of total quality management as one key component in its business pursuits.

Total quality management is a philosophy that companies wanting to stay competitive in the world today retain a strong market position and a wider customer base employee have embraced and integrated into their systems.

Total quality management is a concept that focuses an organization towards the customer in satisfying and meeting their ever changing needs while emphasizing on reduced wastes and continuous improvement processes to meet dynamically changing customer needs and expectations. It comes with a myriad of benefits such as higher profits among others.

It is a concept that focuses on teamwork and employee participation in the quality of services provided at BR Engineering be reviewed and a radical shift in the approach to TQM within BR Engineering be embraced. Specific tools and training programs be integrated in TQM of the BR Engineering firm to propel it to greater heights in improving on its customer base and revenue generation. Time wasted in attending to customer complaints is minimized by integrating all issues related to TQM in service provisions.

In addition to that, the hierarchical structure of the organization’s management should be flattened and communication enhanced to ensure quick customer and employee interactions. Total quality management is philosophy that spans different organizations whether these organizations are large or small. It is the way organizations are going to maintain their strong market positions while focusing at customer satisfaction and needs at reduced costs.

In addition to that, each department needs to identify the synergy that results when different departments incorporate their activities and pursue them as a team.

Conclusion

This study offers strong evidence of continued significance of quality management as a priority issue for many countries to remain competitive in domestic and global markets.

The results of this research indicate that total quality management practices have to be well embedded in the managerial practices of BR Engineering with further enhancements to reflect employee efficiency and service quality. In addition to that, total quality management is an organization-wise philosophy that should be incorporated in a synergetic model across functional departments to achieve even better results.

References

A Roadmap to Quality, 2007. An e-learning Manual for Implementing Total Quality Management. Japanese Association Standards. United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Vienna 1.

Easton, G., 1993. The 1993 state of US total quality management: a Baldrige examiner’s Perspective. California Management Review, 35(3), 32-54.

Etisalat, 2010. About us. Web.

Feigenbaum, A. V.,1991. Total Quality Control: Engineering and Management. McGraw Hill, New York.

Franceschini, F., Galetto. M., & Maisano, D., 2007. Management by Measurement.

Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007. ISBN 978-3-540-73211-2

Juran, J., M.,1988. Juran on planning for quality. Cambridge MA: Productivity Press. A Life Cycle Approach, (5th ed) Homewood, IL, Irwin.

Kossoff, L. (1993. Total quality or total chaos? HR Magazine, 38(4), 131-4.

Total Quality Management Process. (2003). Tyco Electronics. Quality Manual. 102 (1).

Total Quality Pioneers

The connotation of quality differs from person to person depending on individual considerations and interest. Organizations also have distinct internal measures or features of goods or services that they consider to be of adequate standard.

Nonetheless, quality can be defined a feature or aspect of something or observable fact that can be seen and understood, and may be gauged, but which is immeasurable. Such attributes may include; attractiveness, sense, or taste.

On the other hand, total quality is a technique of business that improves the tenets of consumer satisfaction. This eventually increases the competitive edge of an organization through constant enhancement of quality of all assets and commodities; such as products, services, human resources, and procedures. The aspects of total quality include; constant improvement of the value of products, practices, services, but lowering expenditure.

Total Quality elements

The issue of total quality is much more complex than quality. Generally, total quality encompasses the outcomes, quality of human resources, and practices. Pioneers of total quality comprise an imperative class of thinkers whose beliefs continue to uphold the concept of total quality in the world of business.

Total quality is believed to be described and gauged by the end clients who benefit from a product or service; therefore, clients and business organizations are the main stakeholders to the creation and maintenance of total quality.

It is notable that the manner in which quality pioneers employed the elements of total quality made the academics flourishing because they established a mechanism that yielded the greatest level of quality that end clients approved of (Goetsch, & Davis, 2010; Agarwal, Kumar, Swati, & Tyagi, 2011).

The useful elements

The contemporary world of excellent services and standard commodities has become what it is; thanks the observation of the aspects of quality in all kinds of business operations. For instance, Deming’s beliefs on quality are important in the contemporary environment because today consumers are aware that defective products should not be consumed.

This forces companies to eliminate faults on their products by setting up internal mechanisms aimed at preventing errors before they happen. Deming improved quality and guaranteed the consumer value for his or her money, by reining in businesses whose main agenda was to be successful profit-wise, regardless of customer satisfaction.

His philosophy stressed the significance of taking care of consumer interest first. Total quality means researching on consumer habits and preferences and employing the facts in the preparation and presentation of products.

Future trends

What the future could be having in store especially on quality issues is that management will likely resort to offering training services for newly recruited staff, and stress the need for total quality management to staff. Total quality management is likely to be practiced through the business chain, from suppliers, to production processes, to promotion of a product, and eventually to the grateful consumers.

All business dealings will employ total quality management, even as the bar of the principle will be expected to continue to be raised. The principle of total quality will enable executives, staff and consumers to make better decisions. Although, eventually the consumer will enjoy a freehand choosing the best quality from the market, it would be better if companies presented products of high value to the market (Jafar et al, 2010).

References

Agarwal, P. K., Kumar, P., Swati, G., & Tyagi, A. K. (Apr, 2011). Implementing total Quality Management in Professional Educational Institutes in India. Advances in Management, 4(4), 18-22.

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2010). Quality management for organizational excellence: Introduction to total quality (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

Jafar, A., Mohammad, T., Fariba, E., & Mehrdad, G.C. (Aug, 2010). Effect of the Quality Costing System on Implementation and Execution of Optimum Total Quality Management. International Journal of Business & Management, 5(8), 19-26.

Introduction

Total quality management is the integrative, prudent management with the intention of improving the quality of the products produced while encouraging conformity with the process and the environmental requirements. Total quality management is a cure-all process in all forms of business set ups (Ahire19). For any form of business to gain or improve on its competitiveness in the market, its management must fully exercise total quality management.

Today we are enjoying a single global economy where all companies operating in the same industry are supposed to comply with the changing business environment and technology to survive. Monopoly of a company in a single economy is no more. Managers therefore are encouraged to oversee their companies through these dynamic environments while keeping in to consideration the company goals, mission and vision (Ahire 20).

Success rates of companies

A majority of the companies reveals that the success rate of TQM is quite low at the organizational level. The reason behind this is that some of the top level management assumed that this program is a cure-all and as such, it is capable of solving virtually everything that could face an organization and at the same time, still ensure that an organization continues to realize better financial results.

Proponents of TQM argue that challenges arise when there is a lack of understanding, patience, and commitment, in as far as the top management is concerned. For a better adoption of TQM at the organizational level, there is need to ensure that team work and quality exists.

In the companies where TQM has been implemented with success, these have certain elements in common that have ensured the successful adoption of the TQM program. In all these companies, the top management is highly committed, and they re also in charge of the TQM program in the company. In addition, the organizations also enjoyed TQM-friendly cultures. The successful organizations also possessed many of the practices and values that are important for the successful implementation of TQM.

Should TQM be applied very selectively?

There is no need to selectively apply the TQM program because the most important thing is to ensure that the right people to implement it are first identified. These are the same individuals who will ensure that all the tools and instruments needed to facilitate in the implementation of the TQM program. In order for the TQM program to succeeded, all the employees of an organization should be made aware of it and its associated benefits.

They should be assisted to own it, and to take part in its implementation. This is because TQM program is a people program, as opposed to a management program. As such, all the employees should be encouraged to get involved in the various stages of its implementation. The TQM program should not be left for the companies that claim that they have in place the “right” climate to ensure the success of this particular program.

For a total quality management cycle to be complete, customers should be involved in all decisions made for a perfect realization of the company goals. Customer is the most important stakeholder in a company or any other form of business. All decision made in a company or a business aims at winning the customers loyalty therefore calls for a customer’s involvement in any move in business. Businesses should operate within the customer’s interests and preferences (Cua et al 678).

Management should come up with products and motivational programs that will help them maintain the already existing customers and get other new reliable customers. It is evidently that it is expensive to get a new customer than to maintain an existing customer.

A customer is for sure the most important stakeholder because without him the business cannot grow. Customer handling services should always be observed by all employees of a company with due care and dignity. Managers should at all times acts as an example to other employees and show them how to handle the customers.

It is always important to improve communication with the customers and advice them accordingly where need arise for it helps to gain their loyalty. He or she should not be taken as a bother but as if he or she is giving us privilege to be served by that specific company (Cua et al 679).

If at all the management of an organization wishes to attain total quality management, customers and the general public comments and compliments to the company are considered when making decisions. Feedback is important to the company decision makers because they can note where to improve on and where to hold on.

All complains come through feedback channel that act as a mirror to a company. Negative feedbacks should be handled with carefully to avoid further image and reputation destruction. The quality of the products produced is guaranteed if the feedback is positive. In case the management want to change the name or even the look of the products, customer’s response is paramount.

A customer satisfaction can be noted only by his or her negative or positive feedback. If a company fails to satisfy its customers, then it holds no meaning to continue operating and should close down their plant. To avoid this bitter end, managers always strive to satisfy their customers with all means possible for a better future of the company.

Committed leadership is one of the key elements of a total quality management. Managers should manage the companies they are entrusted on with an utmost good faith. A manager should be the face of the company, the improvement in achievements should be credited on him or her. At the same time, a fall should mean an improper management from him or her (Anand, Ward and Mohan 304).

He should be a point of reference from the juniors. Prudent leadership is not the lack of failure but the ability to collect the mistakes and move forward. Managers who practice the total quality management practices should commit themselves fully to the business with an intention to make the best out of it. A manager should act as the eyes of the other stake holders putting their interest firsts and acting in the interest of the company.

For any quality management to be fulfilled, managers should be part of the planning and implementation team in a company. Strategic planning is necessary for any body or any organization that would wish to achieve its objectives set aside. Strategic planning provides a highway for the company to oversee its future.

Strategic planning is a streamlined mission of any company or even a country that has a prospect to grow or to attain a certain level fair than what they are having today.

For a company to grow, it must have a direction which is this laid down plan that guides the management when meeting the day to day duties. Any action taken in the company must comply with the strategic plan. This helps them work as a team holding a common vision. All departments in a company should follow strictly these guiding plans to the best of their ability.

Irrespective of other obstructions that might divert the attention of the company from implementing its strategic plan, management should always guide on the way forward to avoid losing the objectives. Due to the changing environment, the strategic plan should always be reviewed to fit the situation to shield the company being edged out of business by the upcoming business set ups (Anand et al 305).

A manager should always attend regular training to equip him or her with the new advisement in the ever changing business environment. This will help him steer the company to the right direction. At the same time he or she will be able to head the company to comply with the new developments, rules and regulations that might have come up.

For example, the environment related rules. At the same time, all employees should be involved directly in decision making and their views should be given a chance. This will help to develop an all inclusive organization that will make everybody feels to be part of it success.

Adoption of TQM

In spite of the level of success that has been documented by the various organizations that have implemented the TQM program. Nonetheless, some of the managers still claim that TQM is nothing more than a fancy name for various practices that they have always employed at the company. These concerns include issues of quality, teamwork, and participative style, among others.

These practices are important because they make the adoption of a TQM program much easier at the organizational level. In addition, the adoption of the TQM program also ensures that an organization increases and improves its production levels.

In addition, TQM enables accompany to produce significant results on the company’s competitive position. The issues of TQM are bound to heighten everyone’s conscious. On the other hand, there are those who try to ask who they are as an organization, and what they stand to gain from the implementation of the TQM pram. This group is also concerned about the best way to adopt TQM in order that it can suit their respective needs.

For this group of individual, they have a higher likelihood of realizing positive results from the TQM program. On the other hand, we also have other organizations who think that by just plugging in the program into the system of the organization, they are bound to realize the benefits of the TQM program. Such organizations are bound to fail and in the process, everyone is likely to go cynical.

Quality management influence

In this day and age of high-tech production and operations, some companies may feel that there is less need for TQM, seeing that fewer people are also employed in these organizations, nonetheless, this does not in any way reduce the need for implementing the TQM program. Even in an organization characterized by fewer employees, TQM is important in order to increased efficiency.

Even in an organization with a reduced workforce, it helps to increase and improve production. Some of the organizations that have successfully implemented the TQM program are modest in size but still, they have managed to record impressive financial results. In fact, modest-sized organizations with fewer employees and fewer levels of management are necessary characteristics in order to ensure that a TQM program succeeds.

By perfecting this quality management, decision making can be easy and effective when solving the day to day challenges. Customer service improves significantly and more sales are expected hence posing a chance to make more profits (Cua, Kristy, and Schroeder 676). Employees also find a reason to relate themselves with that company because they find themselves as part and Parcel of the company.

The effectiveness of communication processes within a company is enhanced because every stakeholder in that company finds himself or herself responsible of his department or line of duty. Production and other related output in a company that practice quality management increases keeping in mind that their products are of high quality due to specialization of labor.

Supplier quality management is another important total quality management principle. A good manager should plan and help implement the plan on how the goods produced should reach the customer at the right place, time and in the right form. The channel of distribution should be reliable and easy to maintain and manage.

Prudent supply manager should squarely establish himself to his targeted customers by keeping time and being reliable (Cua et al 677). The channel of distribution should be equally economical for the company to maximize its profits. For example, if a company produces breads in an urban area, its most targeted customers are the working class. This group of people wakes up very early in the morning to get to their working place on time.

The supplying means then should therefore be able to meet this requirement strictly to avoid losses of customers which might lead to heavy losses because of breads perishability nature. In such a case, the most economical means of transport chosen from the varieties should be able to transport the product in question on time irrespective of the weather condition. The number of middlemen involved should be reduced as much as possible (Cua et al 677).

These reasons therefore will help the retailers and the final consumers to have the ability to afford the company products. The more the middlemen the more expensive the goods become. This is because everyone within that line of distribution will have to make a profit on that item in question. Managers should carry out a study to help them decide on which method to use when supplying their products or to whom to entrust with the distribution of their products.

Conclusion

Total quality management not a cure to all. This is because no achievement can be attained without maximizing its relevance while in any business form. Without practicing a prudent management within an organization setting, the objectives set aside can only remain a dream. It is therefore important to affect a total, all inclusive quality management in all walks of life if at all we need to grow together as one guided society for a better tomorrow.

Works Cited

Anand, Gopesh, Ward, Peter and Mohan, Tatikonda. Role of explicit and tacit knowledge in six sigma project: An empirical examination of differential project success. Journal of Operations Management, 28 (2010): 303–315

Ahire, Sanjay. Management Science-Total Quality Management Interface. Michigan: Michigan University Press, 1997. Print.

Cua, Kristy, Mckone, Kathleen and Schroeder, Roger. Relationship between Operations Management of TQM, JIT, and Manufacturing performance. Journal of Operations Management, 19 (2001): 675–694