Total Quality Management
Total quality management (TQM) is the process of monitoring and continually improving the quality of products while increasing productivity. Organizations large and small witness significant improvement of product quality and production levels when TQM is implemented properly. This paper will provide an explanation of TQM, compare and contrast traditional and quality-focused management styles, the impact of globalization on quality, and how TQM can benefit a specific organization.
Defining Total Quality Management
Total quality management should be broken down to understand the definition and impact of the management style. The term ‘total’ means complete or entire; in the business world the term ‘total’ is all encompassing from top management personnel to every employee an organization may have. Total includes every process and procedure relative to the organization’s product or service. Quality is the second component of TQM, but quality has a number of different perceived definitions, the most common, however, is “an essential or distinctive characteristic, property, or attribute” (Dictionary.com, 2008), others define ‘quality’ as a degree of excellence whether positive or negative. In business quality is used to define a product or service in relation to the cost of the product or service and is based on the customer base for a particular organization.
In the instance where two organizations provide the same product or service, a consumer will likely investigate the cost associated with each respective product. During the investigation process the consumer may discover one organization charges more for the product or service than the other organization, but the more expensive product includes “extras” to meet the consu ...