The philosophy of Total Quality Management

During the 1980s and 1990s many North American businesses adopted quality management systems, with the objective of achieving competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

The term was associated with the management approach to quality improvement used in Japan for achieving long term success.

What is TQM? It is a philosophy of management that strives to make the best use of all available resources and opportunities by constant improvement. Total Quality Management is the key business improvement strategy and the key management issue of the future because it is essential for efficiency and competitiveness.

According to Joseph M. Juran TQM is a set of management processes and systems that create delighted customers through empowered employees, leading to higher revenue and lower cost.

The TQM approach embodies both management principles and quality concepts, including customer focus, empowerment of people, leadership, strategic planning, improvement and process management.

It is the integration of all functions and processes within an organization in order to achieve continues improvement of the quality of goods and services.

Results of TQM are significant in productivity gains, unit cost reduction, elimination of much absenteeism, lowering of Worker’s Compensation rates, reduction of accidents, elimination of most complaints and winning consumers by always giving them what they expect.
The philosophy of Total Quality Management