It is important for an organization to provide quality products and services to its customers. Ultimate objective of any organization is maximum profitability through customer satisfaction. In order to ensure continued success, it is important for the company to continuously upgrade the quality of its products and services.

Total quality management can help an organization in achieving its business objective of customer satisfaction through involvement of all internal (management and employees) and external parties (suppliers and customers) in the process of improving product/service quality. TQM should not be considered as a onetime process and should be viewed as an integral part of all business processes.

Important Aspects Of Total Quality Management

Involvement of Management and Employees

TQM emphasizes the involvement of management in implementing the process of quality management and assurance. Commitment on the part of managers and supervisors is required to educate the employees on the benefits of total quality management.

Without management involvement, employees may not take quality assurance initiatives seriously. It is important to note that the success of total quality management depends on the involvement of all the employees.

For Instance, by making timely payments to the company’s vendors, an employee working in the accounts payable department ensures that only high quality material is dispatched by the vendors.

High quality material is essential to ensure production of high quality finished goods. Quality of finished goods is important for ensuring customer satisfaction.

Teamwork

Teamwork is essential for the success of TQM process. It is important to avoid conflicts between teams and different work groups. Small teams may be formed for particular projects. It is the responsibility of the team leader to ensure that team members work in perfect harmony with each other and understand the objectives of TQM.

Unnecessary arguments and conflicts among the team members can hamper the quality of work. Further, lack of coordination and cooperation can have an adverse impact on the quality of project deliverables.

Performance Measurement and Feedback

It is important to compare the expected results with the actual results. Such a comparison can help in identifying issues resulting in customer dissatisfaction.

Further, performance measurement at employee level can help in identifying performance gaps and training requirements. Since the focus of TQM is on continuous improvement, it is important for the management to ensure continuous development and training of its employees.

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Feedback from customers can also be used to measure the performance in terms of quality. Questions like “Are you satisfied with the quality of our products?” and “Are you satisfied with timeliness with which your order was delivered?” can help in providing valuable process and quality improvement opportunities to the company.

Information and Communication

It is important to develop appropriate channels of communication in order to facilitate open flow of information within the organization and with parties outside the organization.

Delay in the receipt of critical information can have serious impact on the decision making process. Further, the quality of teamwork (which is one of the most important aspects of TQM) is completely dependent on the level of interaction between the team members.