Total Quality Management Issues - Essay Example

Breadth Component       Quality is one of the most important factors all s seek. They want to receive equivocal satisfaction from the monetary value that they are paying for the product or service. Other than consumers, employees also seek satisfaction and contentment. Various studies have proven that good compensation is not the only factor for employees’ happiness. Management of the company also looks for satisfaction and derived it from well operating company and limiting, or if possible, eradication of waste in the production and other company functions. These concerns, alongside various others, gave rise to the breed of management called Total Quality Management.   Importance       Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management system that aims to achieve the ultimate customer experience, whether meeting the expectation of the customers or going beyond what they anticipated (Dale, 1999). Dale (1999) expresses that in order achieve the goal of TQM, strong cooperation and involvement from the entirety of the company is needed. Thus, TQM requires active participation and synergy of all employees and focusing that synergy towards meeting the customers expectations and improving overall business processes. To attain improvement in the company, various researchers said that the key to improvement is constant upgrading and development (Goetsch & Davis, 1994). Management should not stop upgrading because all processes can still be improve and be better. Once they stop improving, they could be left behind by their competitors. Based on this discussion, TQM seems to be a management concept only. However, TQM also has a quantitative and more defined facet (Priporas and Psychogios, 2007). Priporas and Psychogios (2007) identified some of the quantitative aspect or measure of TQM, which includes Statistical Process Control, ISO 9000 standards, Pareto Analysis, Histograms, among others. On the other hand, the qualitative ideas that constitute TQM are overall workers’ participation; uninterrupted upgrading; incessant coaching; cooperative relation among employees; self-motivated employees; full dedication and support from high-tiered officers; independent and autonomous administration approach; consumer happiness; and business surrounding alterations (Priporas and Psychogios, 2007).       The main purpose of TQM is already well-known to everyone—customer satisfaction. However, to achieve this employee satisfaction should be fulfilled. Once the employee is satisfied and happy, it will be his innate response and goal to make the end customer happy. Yet, many overlook the importance of employee satisfaction and the means to achieve it in the implementation of TQM. All are geared towards the end goal which is customer satisfaction, and setting aside other important aspects. Priporas and Psychogios (2007) observed that the qualitative aspect of TQM is often misunderstood or unknown to employee and managers. The quantitative tools such as the ISO 9000 standards are more widely known. Thus, when one of the components of TQM is lost, full success of TQM implementation will not be possible. In this light, this paper focuses on the humanistic perspective or employee side of TQM rather than the usual customer and production sides. It is important to understand how this side of TQM works because it is one of the core foundations of TQM. In addition, employee side of TQM covers almost all of the qualitative aspects of TQM. Better understanding of how the employee side contributes to TQM success will help management to target the weak points and to give solutions to those weak points. Furthermore, it is imperative to cultivate and nurture employees for they are the key element of the company. Without dedicated employees, the company will not flourish and grow; and at its worst, the company may shut down due to low productivity of employees.   Analysis        Various researches have been published about different aspects of TQM. Notably, most of the researches focused on the qualitative indicators of the effectiveness of TQM. TQM is isomorphic in nature (Cai, et. al., 2006). It transforms the company into a more sophisticated, trustworthy, and legitmate organization.  Since applying TQM in a company will entail standardization of procedures, processes, and other practices, it is inevitable that at some point, companies who practice TQM will have analogous ways and trends in running the company that can go beyond the limits of borders and cultures, and even same industry (St. John, et. al., 2001). For instance, multinational companies, such as McDonalds have the same standard operating procedures in all its branches internationally. Thus, a more organized set of procedures is deemed to be more sophisticated and well-managed.        Cai et. al. (2006) made a study about how human resources management that applies TQM affects the loyalty and dedication of employees in the Mexican maquiladora. Maquiladora is one of the largest outsourcing bases in Mexico. Many multinational companies have some part of the production done in this base. Cai, et. al. (2006) and other prior researchers observed that even if the head company practices TQM, still the output of maquiladora counterparts were below the standards. Some argued that this may be due to cultural factors or corruption. Cai and associates (2006) studied the maquiladora HR practices. They found out the cooperation with the employees, empowerment of the employees, and benefits received by the employees, all of which are part of TQM way of management, potently contribute to the happiness and contentment of the employees. Training, all part of TQM, improves employee empowerment. Moreover, they also found out that when the employee is highly satisfied, the employee becomes more dedicated and loyal to the company. This in turn will result to higher productivity.         Ishikawa (1985) believes that central or middle management tier are essential in TQM for they are the one who serves as bridges to the low-tiered and top-tiered management. However, Vouzas (1997) noted that during the first stages of TQM execution, high ranking officials do not have confidence on the middle officials. When this event occurs, involvement on the part of the middle managers is lost. And involvement is a vital component of the success of TQM implementation. Moreover, without the active participation of the middle managers, communication from high-level management to bottom-level employees will be difficult.         McGregor (1960) proposed two archetypes of employees. He said that there are employees who are unenthusiastic to perform their jobs, must always be guided, shy away from accountability, and do not have dreams of his own. Berces and Heygi (2001) defined this type of employee as the outside-motivated employees. These employees need direction to be able to contribute to the implementation of the company’s TQM. Their motivation is driven by commands from superior. On the other hand, other employees are the opposite. They are accountable, can act on without commands, and are internally motivated (McGregor, 1960). These employees are needed in TQM. They are empowered employees who can decide and act on their own accord to help improve the quality of the company. However, many managers believe that most employees are the first type of employee, thus this hinders the total implementation and success of TQM in the company.  Synthesis / Integration       These are few studies that dwelled on the employee side of TQM. All of which emphasize the importance of employees in the successful of TQM implementation. The common trend in the aforementioned studies is pinpointing the unsuccessful implementation of TQM to improper manifestation of employee empowerment and trust. Berces and Hegyi (2001) argue that the unsuccessful implementation of TQM in most companies can be rooted to lack of empowerment of the employees. Moreover, Berces and Heygi (2001) said that the existing culture in the company is vital in the commencement of TQM. Thus, norms and culture in the workplace should be assessed first before the implementation of TQM. It may be the case that only top management level can adapt to the changes that TQM will bring. More importantly, mid-level managers and rank-and-file employees should also be willing and ready to embrace the changes that TQM will bring. Kaynak (2003) concluded in his study that workers’ happiness should be attained to correspondingly obtain employee commitment; thus likely improving the implementation of TQM.  Trends       TQM is not only about excellent services given to customers and quality business processes like what most managers think (Priporas and Psychogios, 2007). Rahman and Bullock (2005) found out that employees’ involvement, similar goals, consumer service excellence, teamwork, and harmonious relationship with trade partners, all of which are part of the soft side of TQM, have noteworthy effect on better organizational performance. Some of the foundations of TQM, and may be considered as pillars, are all about the people behind the business.  Employees are the greatest asset of the company; therefore it is imperative that they should be well taken care of. Top managers plan and organize the company but it is the ordinary employees who execute these plans. Moreover, they are nearer to the end customer. Top managers receive reports on the customers’ feedback, making it second hand data. Whereas, ordinary employees have first hand encounters with customers, making them more accurate in their assessment of what the customers want. Summing it up, the main point is that employees are an important part of TQM and they must know everything about TQM. Everything should start with trust. Management should trust their employees to capabilities and let them participate in as early as the planning stages of the company’s TQM. Challenges       Training the employees and letting them be involved in TQM processes will also add to the commitment of the employees. Employees who are more educated can adapt better to TQM practices (Hua, et. al., 2000). Once the employees are more educated, they will have the initiative to help the company in their small ways. Management should support and encourage these actions to breed deeper involvement which can empower the employees to act on their own to help in the success of TQM. Empowerment and commitment of all the employees, from the top managers to the rank-and-file, will be a huge factor to the success of TQM.       However, one reason why empowerment and commitment of employees are not always observed in companies is due to lack of funds in training. Training and informing all the employees on the TQM will entail substantial funds. Another is the theory of McGregor (1960) aforementioned in this paper. Some managers view their subordinates as merely “company slaves” who are externally motivated. Finally, trust also hinders the full empowerment and dedication of employees. Once employees feel that they are not trusted by the company, they also lose their loyalty and trust in the company. Depth Component Annotated Bibliography Sources   Davidson, A.R., et. al. (2000). An innovative approach to measuring the success of total quality programmes in manufacturing industries. Total Quality Management 11 (4-6) pp. S704- 713. This article argues that there is little to no devices or tools that exist which measure the effectiveness of TQM. Most of the measures are qualitative which can be biased and may be misinterpreted. With this, the author suggested a quantitative approach in measuring the effectiveness of TQM using inventory performance. Inventory can be quantifiable and can be a good proxy for the overall performance of the company. Good inventory management also implies on time delivery to customers, good production management, and harmonious relationship with the suppliers, among others. Thus, a superior inventory management could also mean excellent performance for the other departments of the company. They tested several companies’ inventory performance and made an index for each company. Their hypothesis that companies with good inventory management are those companies who practice TQ hold true for the sample.  Agus, A. and M. Abdullah. (2000). Total quality management practices in manufacturing companies in Malaysia: An exploratory analysis. Total Quality Management. 11(8) pp 1041-1051. Agus and Abdullah (2000) analyzed the TQM practices of manufacturing firms in Malaysia. TQM is not a prevalent practice before Malaysia experienced a crisis. After the crisis, many Malaysian companies started to consider TQM to improve their performance. In their study, they devised a “quality index”. With the use of this index, they found out the car manufacturers and gas companies are better off than the rest of the manufacturing firms. Moreover, they found out that companies can have an advantage towards their competitors if they are ISO certified and they are TQM practitioners because they execute higher quality performance. Perdomo, J. P., J.G. Benito, and J. Galende. (2006). Total quality management as a forerunner of business innovation capability. Technovation. 26 pp 1170-1185. Although the “hard” or quantitative side of TQM is a factor of success, the “soft” or the theoretical side of TQM is a forerunner in the improvement and success (Perdomo, et. al. 2006). Morover, Perdomo, et. al. (2006) argue that those companies who practice employee empowerment and trust before implementing TQM are more likely to have a smooth TQM transition. Kaynak, H. (2003). The relationship between total quality management practices and their effects on firm performance. Journal of Operations Management. 21 pp 205-435. Kaynak (2003) modified the questionnaire used by Saraph et. al. (1989) to measure the effect of TQM to the company’s performance. He included different components of TQM such as inventory management, human resource management, among others. However, he failed to include the responses of the customer; thus making his TQM assessment more of an internal assessment. But, he suggested the customer relation should be included. Further he noted that questionnaires should not take too much time of the respondent as to not waste interest in the survey. In this study, Kaynak (2003) found out that without dedication and commitment of all the workers, particularly top management, TQM implementation will not be successful. Taylor, W. A. and G.H. Wright. (2006). The contribution of measurement and information infrastructure to TQM success. The International Journal of Management Science. 36 pp 372-384. In their research of 67 firms, Taylor and Wright (2006) found out that 24% of the sample firms are not assessing the effects of TQM on their expenditure; worse 55% are not gauging workers happiness. Both of these TQM practices are included in the top six factors that contribute to successful TQM according to Taylor and Wright (2006). Hua, H., et. al. (2000). An empirical study on quality management practices in Shanghai manufacturing industries. Total Quality Management. 11 (2) pp1111-1122. Hua, et. al. (2000) obtained some unconventional results from their study in the TQM practice of Shanghai manufacturing firms. They found out that firms who are ISO 9000 certified are not automatically the firms who have superior TQM practice. Moreover, the extent of TQM execution is not associated with better TQM practices. In Shanghai manufacturing firms, due to the lack of coaching and education of the employees, firms have difficult experience instilling the concepts and ideas of TQM to their employees (Hua, et. al., 2000). Tari, J.J. and V. Sabater. (2004). Quality tools and technique: Are they necessary for quality management?. International Journal of Production Economics. 92 pp 267-280. Tari and Sabater (2004) found out in their study of few firms in Alicante areas in Spain that the employment of devices and methods of quality enhancement have affirmative correlation with TQM improvements of the company. In addition, ISO certified firms tend to depend mainly on the rudimentary devices to help them improve TQM. However, not all quality improvement should be attributed to the devices and methods; some of the improvements are a result of commitment, involvement, and dedication of employees and managers, and team cooperation (Tari and Sabater, 2004). Combining the two, use of devices and methods and commitment of employees will further yield better improvement results.   Application Component Most companies who adapt TQM neglect to have a rigid post-implementation assessment. These post-implementation assessments, whether quantitative or qualitative, could help improve the company’s TQM model. Issues, concerns, and loopholes of the TQM model may be identified and remedied by the help of the post-implementation assessments. Moreover, this may help the company recognize whether or not they are on the right track in achieving the goals they set in their TQM model. However, management should bear in mind that the results of TQM is not instantaneous. Having the proper assessment of TQM practices, will help the company identify strong points and weakness. Many researches are done to study the relationships of TQM practices and company performance, but few companies tend to realize the importance of reviewing these relations. The author suggests that aside from the post-implementation assessment, companies should also have pre-implementation assessments to test whether the workforce of the company agrees and is willing to commit themselves to the plan. Furthermore, the pre-implementation assessments will gauge if TQM is suitable for the company. Although this measure will add up to the expenditure of the company, this action can mitigate failure of TQM.              References Agus, A. and M. Abdullah. (2000). Total quality management practices in manufacturing companies in Malaysia: An exploratory analysis. Total Quality Management. 11(8) pp 1041-1051.   Berces, R. and Z. Hegyi. (2001). TQM and organizational development. Periodica Polytenchnica. 9(2) pp 117-126.  Cai, S., M. Jun., and H. Shin. (2006). TQM practice in maquiladora: Antedents of employee satisfaction and loyalty. Journal of Operations Management 24. pp 791-812.   Dale, B. G. (1999). TQM: An overview. In B. G. Dale (Eds.), Managing quality (3rd ed., pp. 3-33). Oxford, UK: Blackwell-Business. Davidson, A.R., et. al. (2000). An innovative approach to measuring the success of total quality programmes in manufacturing industries. Total Quality Management 11 (4-6) pp. S704- 713.  Goetsch, D., & Davis, S. (1994). Introduction to total quality: Quality, productivity, competitiveness (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan.  Hua, H., et. al. (2000). An empirical study on quality management practices in Shanghai manufacturing industries. Total Quality Management. 11 (2) pp1111-1122. Ishikawa, K. (1985). What is TQC. The Japanese way. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.   Kaynak, H. (2003). The relationship between total quality management practices and their effects on firm performance. Journal of Operations Management. 21 pp 205-435.  McGregor, D., The Human Side of Enterprise, McGraw-Hill, NY, 1960.  Perdomo, J. P., J.G. Benito, and J. Galende. (2006). Total quality management as a forerunner of business innovation capability. Technovation. 26 pp 1170-1185.  Priporas, C-V., and A. G. Psychogios. (2007). Understanding total quality management in context: Qualitative research on managers’ awareness of TQM aspects in Greek service industry. The Qualitative Report Volume. 12(1) pp 40-66.  Rahman, S. and P. Bullock. (2005). Soft TQM, hard TQM, and organisational performance relationship: An empirical investigation. The International Journal of Management Science. 33 pp 73-83.  St.John, C.H., Cannon, A.R., Pouder, R.W. (2001). Change drivers in the new millennium: implications for manufacturing strategy research. Journal of Operations Management 19 (2), 143–160.  Tari, J.J. and V. Sabater. (2004). Quality tools and technique: Are they necessary for quality management?. International Journal of Production Economics. 92 pp 267-280.  Taylor, W. A. and G.H. Wright. (2006). The contribution of measurement and information infrastructure to TQM success. The International Journal of Management Science. 36 pp 372-384.  Vouzas, F. (1997). Middle management and quality improvement: Evidence from five countries. In Livian Yves-Frédéric & G. J. Burgoyone (Eds.), Middle managers in Europe (pp. 155-172). London, UK: Routledge. Read More