Components of Successful Total Quality Management - Outline Example

Components of successful TQM session TQM is an effective tool to gauge up the quality of the product as well as the work place. This ensures a better product and quality consistency every time. There have been various studies to analyze the effective tools needed to successfully implement TQM. According to those studies, no one factor actually makes a component effective, it is a mix of different factors and tool. Some of the vital elements of an effective TQM system include Customer Focused Approach, Continuous Learning, Effective Employee Management, Leadership, Supplier Management, Quality Performance, Consideration of Social Impact, Staff Indicators, Process Management, Quality Planning, Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction. Some effective tools to measure these factors are Cause and effect diagram, Check sheet, Control chart, Graphs, Histogram, Pareto and a Scatter diagram. Once the management has acknowledged the TQM components, their implementation can begin as well as monitored. ISO 9000 session 2 Put simply, the ISO 9000 is a mix of standards which has helped formalize the systems in order to evaluate the ability of the organizations to produce consistent results in terms of quality. It was introduced in 1987 by the International Organization for Standardization in Geneva, Switzerland. The standards mainly focus on the process itself that ensure the quality of a product or a workplace. The system thrives on the standardization of certain systems so that both, the suppliers and the customers can benefit out of that. It requires the businesses to document certain design, production and distribution systems which can help the value addition tracing and can add quality to the product. Moreover, this system can be considered a management control tool which can help control the quality of the product for the customer. Quality thinking and systems thinking session 3 Systems’ thinking is actually a study of how one thing affects another. In a broader sense, it can be used as a prediction tool and is based on the theory that in problem solving, you need to start by viewing "problems" as parts of an overall system then study individual parts and their contribution to that system. Quality thinking is the determination of how quality can be brought about a specific place. This enhances the efforts to achieve the best of the best in the producing what the customers want. To relate the two concepts together, we can see ways systems thinking can improve quality efforts is by using it to explore why quality schemed sometimes fail they can better succeed. Using systems thinking, one can rethink and reactivate the quality addition process by looking at the relevant variables in the system, their influence on each other. Putting the customer second session 4 Let’s start with an example, at Southwest airlines, the customers are very satisfied with the service and rarely switch their service due to the fact that they are so loyal to the company. A fact to be pointed out is that at Southwest Airlines, the management philosophy is that the customer comes second. O then why the loyalty? This is because at Southwest Airlines, the company’s number one customers are its employees. Various researches prove that customers reported greater service satisfaction with branches or stores whose employees indicated higher levels of work and employees satisfaction. This means that if your employee is happy, they will keep the customer happy. Starbucks employs the same philosophy and is the leading coffee shop brand in the world. The important thing to remember is that it’s your employees who represent you in the field. Keep them happy, and you will keep the customers happy. Organizational structure for TQM session 5 Today, quick strategies, empowerment and the ability to impress the customer with the quality of the product are important. The use of TQM principles and tools helps here. However, even though the tools and elements of TQM help in achieving quality, the successful implementation cannot be done unless the organization orients itself accordingly to fit the mechanisms of those tools and elements. Various researches have indicated that in order to implement a successful TQM consistent workplace, the organizations should therefore adopt a process network characterized by decentralization, self-management teams, reduced organizational layers or flatten the hierarchies, spinouts and extended boundaries. On the parallel, the adherence to formal working procedures should be emphasized as to ensure order and orderliness at the work place. This ensures that the employees are empowered to achieve the goals and the entire organization can move towards achieving their vision faster. Towards a better understanding of process session 6 In order to attempt ant process, it is vital that one possess the knowledge of how the process actually works. For this purpose, many tools have been developed to document the way a process works and they are many process analysis tools. One of the significant tools to understand a process is through the use of process mapping which is a tool that in the form of a workflow diagram to bring forth a clearer understanding of a process or series of parallel processes. This, along with the understanding of the knowledge and skills of the people either already operating the process or are needed should be taken into account in order to utilize the process fully and effectively. Pareto Analysis Session 7 The Pareto analysis is a statistical method or a technique in decision making. It is used to select a limited number of tasks that produce major overall effects. The Pareto principle is an idea that proposes that by doing 20% of work you can generate 80% of the advantage of doing the entire job. Put simply in terms of quality improvement or control, the principle states that a large majority of problems (80%) are produced by a few key causes (20%). If those causes are identified, the problems can be solved. It helps inspire the organization to focus on key variables affecting a problem and initiates the thinking and creative process in the decision making. TQM the Need for an Employee-Centered Session 8 The need for employee centered approach to TQM means that the employees have enough leverage to feel comfortable with whatever they are doing to ensure the quality of the organization and its functions. TQM practices are best used in support of employee involvement programs. The employee-centered approach to TQM fundamentally offers the possibility of aligning employee abilities with organizational interests. Rather than depersonalization of work as well as the danger that the employees might feel alienated, undervalued, the work place should offer self-realization and self-development for the employees. This makes the TQM principles more affective in its implementation as the employees would comfortable with the work they have to do. Leadership Performance in TQM Session 9 The fact is that in today’s world, one can no longer simply rely on the quality or the loyalty of the customers to grow. Firms need vision and leadership to help them grow and reach out to broader audiences. The role of leadership in making a TQM process successful one depends on the timely decisions taken and the level of dependable foresight the management has from its leaders. Moreover, leaders of today need to focus on the facts rather than the improvidence in the improvidence in planning, implementation and evaluation. Research reveals that the leadership performance equation may be seen as the following; = f(,,) Where the variables are leadership performance (lp), contextual accuracy (ca), timely accuracy (ta), foresight accuracy (fa) and improvidence accuracy (ia). These variables help the management in controlling erroneous decisions and also helps to give insights into what the strategies should be to give a quality performance every time. Total Quality as a Product of Empowered Culture Session 10 Employee empowerment is the employee’s authority to solve a problem or carry out a process and make decisions as they see fit at that moment rather than turning to the hierarchies. Employee involvement is best thought of as an activity which supports the different TQM programs. This is because since the employees are comfortable with what they do along their belief in their work offers the company a quality product every time. When the employees feel personally responsible with the results that they have to achieve rather than feel that they are simply the instruments of the company, they can better relate to their work as well as look for ways to achieve the best results and assist their personal development as well. Read More