Why should you implement a Total Quality Management (TQM) program to achieve quality assurance? There is one simple answer; when properly planned and implemented TQM will provide substantive financial benefits to your business and add to the bottom line. Let’s consider just two examples of how using Total Quality Management can help your business. Show
Use TQM to Improve Customer SatisfactionA primary focus of TQM and most Quality Management Systems is to improve customer satisfaction by having a customer focus and consistently meeting customer expectations. Customers are almost always satisfied when their expectations are met. When they expect a certain product or service, and you deliver it without problems and at a fair price, you’ve built a solid customer relationship. Happy, satisfied customers become repeat customers and they provide word-of-mouth marketing – the most powerful kind. There are three Total Quality Management components that work toward achieving customer satisfaction:
TQM provides the quality assurance that customers will get what they expect, as well as a process for managing unsatisfied customers, make needed corrections and prevent similar reoccurrences. Explore the tools you need to achieve TQM. Check out QAD Quality Management Products. Every business owner and manager knows the importance of satisfied customers, and how expensive it is to find new customers compared to keeping current customers. Business research clearly shows that there is a direct correlation between satisfied customers and revenue. If your business doesn’t have a clear path to creating satisfied customers, then it can benefit from TQM. TQM Improves Business Efficiency and EffectivenessWhile focusing on the customer is critical to success, it isn’t the only factor. A business can go broke sparing no expense to make customers happy. So not only does a business need to satisfy customers, but it needs to do it in a way that is. A business also has to look within and understand its own operations, another important role of a quality management system. Total Quality Management places a focus on internal processes, including
Being able to consistently produce desired outcomes without wasting resources like time, material, and money is critical for a business to make it over the long haul. TQM Provides Long Term CompetitivenessBeing able to satisfy customers while operating effectively and efficiency is truly the recipe for financial success and stability. If you achieve these quality assurance goals that are part of Total Quality Management, then you will likely be in business for a long time to come. Notice that with TQM, quality is not just about a product or service meeting (somewhat arbitrary) requirements. It is about how the whole organization operates to understand customer expectations and competitively deliver customer satisfaction. No Easy TaskIt is important to remember, however, that TQM takes full commitment from management. Simply tossing the concept down to employees and saying “do this” just adds an extra burden on workers without much benefit from their efforts. Organizational members take their cue about what is important from management. Only through top management commitment and involvement does TQM take hold and become part of the organization’s culture. Once ingrained as the way of doing things, the business can reap the benefits of TQM – including a healthier bottom line. Learn the basic principals of Total Quality Management (TQM) and why maintaining quality is important to the target population, to funders, and to the community.
W. Edwards Deming, a businessman who was influential in American industry during World War II and Japanese industry afterwards developed successful management principles based on quality. These principles encouraged the development of a flexible, dynamic system which involved everyone in a company in the production of goods that exactly met the customer's needs, did precisely what they were supposed to do as effectively as possible every time at the best possible price, and were constantly being improved. His ideas are often referred to as Total Quality Management (TQM), and they have led to a number of similar theories of management and numerous innovations in businesses around the world. Why is quality important for you?Exactly what does quality mean in the context of advocacy, community development, health, or human service organizations or initiatives?A quality program:
But why is quality important for a grass roots organization?
Developing a "culture of quality" can have a number of positive effects on your organization itself
What are the basic principles of TQM?(Much of the following discussion is based on material contained in Introduction to Total Quality: Quality Management for Production, Processing, and Services, 2nd Edition. Full source citation can be found under Resources.) There are some basic assumptions that underlie the idea of TQM. In this section, we'll look at how they might relate to your organization or initiative. Key elements of total quality
The Deming CycleThe assumptions above underlie the "Deming Cycle," which is really a process for creating and selling a quality product. We'll revisit the Deming Cycle later to examine how it can be used in an advocacy, community development, health, or human service context.
What is TQM and its relevance to your organization?It is important to note that the principles of TQM were designed for the business sector, so while some aspects are relevant to organizations concerned with advocacy, community development, health, and human services, other aspects may be contrary to the goals of those organizations. Some elements of TQM that would work toward quality in any environment include:
Some elements which may not work toward quality for your organization are those that assume that the goal is the success of a business, such as:
How do you achieve quality performance, using TQM and other principles?Using the Deming Cycle while keeping some of the basic TQM principles in mind can help you design, deliver, refine, and maintain an effective program or initiative. PlanConduct consumer research and use it for planning the product. The "product" here is the actual program you intend to conduct, and the "consumer research" is an examination of actual needs of the target population, the community, and others who will be affected. Thus, the "Plan" part of the cycle might include the following:
DoProduce the product. The "production" part of the process is the actual design of the program, outreach effort, treatment strategy, etc. that will meet the need determined in the "Plan" part of the cycle. Much of the actual work here depends not only on TQM principles (teamwork, employee involvement, scientific approach, obsession with quality, and customer focus), but also on common sense and organizing principles. The following are important elements of designing an effective program:
CheckCheck the product to make sure it was produced in accordance with the plan. Compare the details and overall shape of the program or initiative to the plan. Does it align with the needs assessment? Does it look like it will address the desired outcomes in desired ways? Is it inclusive? Was everyone involved in its development? Is it feasible? Is it ready to go? ActMarket the product. "Marketing the product" here means actually running the program or initiative that you've planned. If it's going to work well, there are some non-TQM standards that need to be applied:
AnalyzeAnalyze how the product is received in terms of quality, cost, and other data. Analysis in this context - looking at what you're doing, evaluating it, and trying to improve it - needs to be conducted on the basis of the original plan, with discussions among participants, staff, and others. Consider:
Restart the cycleYour analysis should naturally lead into a new planning sessions, and where necessary, lead to rethinking and reworking the program or initiative, or even the task of the organization itself. How do you maintain quality performance?While the maintenance of quality is, to some extent, built into the Deming Cycle, it requires some particular commitments and action. Institutionalization of dynamismAn organization needs to be dynamic, always moving and always seeking continued improvement, and to institutionalize its dynamic character. This means:
Long-range strategic planningTo maintain quality, an organization needs to continually look at itself over and for the long term. It needs to ask some questions about its role and its future:
SWOT AnalysisOne way to explore these questions is through the use of another device partially borrowed from TQM: SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Each of the questions above can be examined in the light of SWOT analysis. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your organization in regard to each question? What opportunities exist for the organization in each area of its functioning? And what threats or challenges will the organization have to overcome if it is to continue to be successful, and to maintain quality performance? Strengths and weaknesses: Strengths and weaknesses may be trends, rather than specifics. A level of service that is currently appropriate, for example, is not a strength if it is more or less than will be needed in a year. A new program that's not ready to implement yet is not a weakness if it's unready because the developers are taking the time necessary to make it effective. By the same token, strengths and weaknesses don't necessarily lie only in the success of programs or the skills of staff members, but in such areas as relationships, contacts, and reputation. An organization running a great program may still be have serious weaknesses because it lacks some of these other features, no matter how well it carries out its day-to-day activities. Opportunities: Opportunities can take many forms.
Taking advantage of any opportunity can have both positive and negative consequences for your organization, so it's important to analyze the situation carefully before committing yourself. Threats (Challenges): Some of the challenges that go along with any opportunity can be truly daunting if they're not thought through carefully. Many of the opportunities above require some sort of organizational restructuring or growth, processes that are always difficult, and require a lot of planning. Some even represent rethinking the purpose of the organization, which may become a different organization in the process. In becoming larger or more accepted, for instance, an organization may forget its roots or its guiding principles, and lose much of its effectiveness. Other threats may come unaccompanied by opportunity. Your organization may experience difficulty finding -- and keeping -- ongoing funding and other resources, including competent staff; sustaining continued effort in all areas of functioning (advertising, recruitment, public relations, programming, evaluation, etc.); dealing with controversy; and addressing antagonism from individuals, other groups, or the community. Applying SWOT analysis to all the areas your organization has to deal with makes it easier both to anticipate and prepare for the negative, and to remember to identify and build on the positive. Other facets of the planning process Some specific areas that long-range strategic planning needs to address at regular intervals:
Keeping at itThe single most important thing to understand about maintaining quality performance -- or maintaining an organization, for that matter -- is that you can never stop working at it. No effort at maintaining quality will work any longer than it is applied. No matter how institutionalized dynamism becomes, no matter how good your planning process is, they take constant care.
In SummaryAchieving and maintaining quality performance is important to the target population, to funders, and to the community. Using some TQM principles and, specifically, the Deming Cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act, Analyze) can be helpful in getting to a high level of quality and continuing to improve. In general, achieving and maintaining quality is a result of:
If you can carry out and institutionalize these steps, especially the last, success is in your grasp. Online Resources ASQ: The Global Voice of Quality is a global community of people passionate about quality, who use the tools and their ideas and expertise to make our world work better. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) publishes International Standards which ensure that products and services are safe, reliable and of good quality. For business, they are strategic tools that reduce costs by minimizing waste and errors and increasing productivity. They help companies to access new markets, level the playing field for developing countries and facilitate free and fair global trade. ISO 9000 WWW Pages, provided by Simply Quality, lists websites that provide information on ISO 9000. The ISO 9000 family of standards is related to quality management systems and designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while meeting statutory and regulatory requirements related to the product. ISO 9000 deals with the fundamentals of quality management systems. Little-Bitty Quality Steps is an article on small steps to quality on the website of Bacal & Associates, management and training consultants to the public sector in Canada. Publich Health Quality Improvement Exchange (PHQIX) allows people to submit short explanations of their initiatives and observations/lessons-learned. Total Quality Management provides a dictionary of TQM terms. Print Resources Deming, E. Out of the Crisis. (1986). Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Advanced Engineering Study. Deming, E. Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position. (1982). Cambridge, MA: M.I.T., Center for Advanced Engineering Study. Goetsch, D., & Davis, S. Introduction to Total Quality: Quality Management for Production, Processing, and Services, 2nd Edition. Merrill, an imprint of MacMillan Publishing Co. Hunt, D. (1992). Quality in America: How to Implement a Competitive Quality Program. Homewood, IL: Business One Irwin. Latzko, W., & David, M. Four Days with Dr. Deming: A Strategy for Modern Methods of Management. (1995). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Sashkin, M., & Kenneth, J. (1993). Putting Total Quality Management to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. Which of the determinants of service quality involves having the customer's best interests at heart?The correct answer is D) credibility
Credibility is considered one of the best determinants in ensuring the service quality with the proper trust factor, honest attitude, and best customer's interests.
Which of the following determinants of service quality means approachable and ease of contact?The answer is E) courtesy. Courtesy involves approachability and ease of contact.
What is a set of quality standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization?ISO 9000 is a set of internationally recognized standards for quality assurance and management. Published by the International Organization for Standardization, it aims to encourage the production of goods and services that meet a globally-acceptable level of quality.
Which of the following is one of the major categories of costs associated with quality?The Cost of Quality can be divided into four categories. They include Prevention, Appraisal, Internal Failure and External Failure. Within each of the four categories there are numerous possible sources of cost related to good or poor quality.
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