Total Quality Management (TQM) - Research Paper Example

What makes total quality management peculiar is the fact that brings on board the inputs of not just a limited component of the organization but the collective efforts of all stakeholders towards the success of the organization. Total quality management also tries to make the customer the central focus and attention for quality delivery. This means that the target for ensuring success is to ensure that the customer receives quality of service. Industry Adoption of TQM Today, it is said that the adoption of total quality management by industries is no longer a luxury but a responsibility (Ferreira & Otley, 2003).

The reason for this is in the numerous benefits that the adoption of total quality management comes with. Though the benefits will be discussed into detail in subsequent sections, it can be said that the need for industries to adopt total quality management is mainly in the structure of their organizations. First, it can be asserted that for any given industry, there is the privileged of having a multi-structural organogram in place. An organogram may best be described as an organizational structure, which for industries is made up of several input stakeholders.

All of these input stakeholders who may include shareholders, board of directors, management, employees and suppliers all have a responsibility of ensuring that the industry achieves its goals. Because of the divergent nature of the structure and because of the fact that total quality management deals with different stakeholders playing their roles, it becomes easier for industries to adopt total quality management. The other point is that there is the customer factor, where various industries have customers, whom they are expected to serve their interests.

For this reason, it becomes necessary to adopt total quality management and use it to serve the purpose of the customer. Benefits of TQM Considering the face of change that is being associated with total quality management, the best benefit that can be assigned to total quality management is the fact that it helps in the creation of competitive advantage for various companies. Competitive advantage becomes necessary when virtually every other company is doing the same thing and performing at the same level (Ezzamel, 2004).

For example when all competitors are charging the same service price, it becomes necessary to have a fighting force that would ensure that customers choose your company over others, though the prices may be the same. Today, there is much evidence to the fact that customer prefer customer satisfaction to cost salvaging. To this end, when total quality management is implemented to bring about customer satisfaction, it serves as a competitive advantage for the organization to win the hearts of customers.

What is more, adopting total quality management ensures a coherent organizational atmosphere. This is because it puts every member of the working force at post and enshrines that each person plays his or her role judiciously (Rank, 2012). Hurdles to Quality Improvements The implementation of total quality management has often been faced with several hurdles and challenges, among which includes the fact that there has often been apathy and lack of cooperation from the entire workforce. The reason why this has