TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
CHARACTERISTICS OF TQM: The Characteristics of TQM, as revealed from the above definitions and models are as follows: 1. TQM is customer oriented. 2. TQM requires a long term commitment for continuous improvement of all processes. 3. The success of TQM demands the leadership of top management and continuous involvement. 4. Responsibility for establishment and improvement of system lies with the management of an organisation. 5. TQM is a strategy for continuously improving performance at all levels and in all areas of responsibility.
FOLLOWING AS THE FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS OF TQM. 1.
People: TQM aims at empowering people so as to accomplish optimal business results through teamwork. This involves training that focusses on communication skills, interactive skills and effective meeting skills. Such training enables people to be actively involved in the continuous improvement of products and processes and leads to improved teamwork.
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Continuous improvement: It involves the fundamental principle of quality, the Daming cycle and th4e PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Action) cycle. The iteration of cycle is the never ending pursuit of excellence.
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Process : The use of problem solving process as a guide to analyze a problem, choose a solution, develop an action plan and evaluate implementation results ; and the use of quality improvement process for reducing customer requirements to a specification and specification to a defined work process so as to focus attention on the customer and customer requirements.
4.
Customer: TQM’s primary focus is the customer and customer satisfaction. Customer perceptions of quality that correlates with customer’s satisfaction are expected quality, satisfying quality, delightful quality, indifferent quality and reverse quality. These must be aimed at to prevent customer dissatisfaction, to meet customers’ expectations and delighted them.
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