1.

INTRODUCTION
1.1 TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT(TQM)

Total
= involve everyone and every process
Quality
= Conformance to requirements and specification
Management = must be managed properly

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT(TQM) involves perpetual/continuous improvement in the

process we do. Unlike other scholars who used quality ideas without using the word 'total',
Feigenbaum used Total Quality Control(TQC) defined TQM as the Total Quality Controls
organization wide impact.
1.2 SERVICE QUALITY
The prominent features of services which distinguishes from product viz intangibility,
inseparability of production and consumption, heterogeneity and perishability along with the
nature of subjectivity makes defining 'Service Quality' a challenge.
2. PRINCIPLES OF TQM

The key principles of TQM are:

MEFC amo acn ptn liBaon agyu seo emu d sEeDmInme ptcpoiCrsw o ovemner mmM eeai ntnkmti n eg n t
u s to m e r F o c u s

3. TQM IN SERVICE SECTOR

Rising competition was the stimulus for the creation of demand in TQM.
Service Quality , a crucial factor for growth, survival and success.
Being intangible, there was lack of standardization of service quality.
Service quality perceived as comparison of actual outcome and customer expectation.

GAP

actual quality
customer expectation

Reduction in gap between expected and actual quality.

Some of the dimensions of service quality defined by Parasuraman are reliability,
responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, credibility, security, understanding
customers and tangibles. These were reduced to five, namely tangible, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance and empathy.

Schvaneveldt et al., (1991), used 2 perspectives firstly, "objective" - on the basis of

presence and absence of specific quality dimensions and finally, "subjective" - involving
the user.
Cronin and Taylor (1992) on the basis service quality measurable in terms of attitude
developed an alternate tool that measured performance only - SERVPERF
Normal Quality model (NQ Model) was proposed by Teas (1993), which involves
quantifying expectation in two different ways - at the idea level, by giving each attribute
the highest score, and at the feasible level when considered under the actual conditions
where actual service is provided.
Franceschini and Rossetto (1997), developed QUALITOMETRO, and based on
evaluation and on-line, service quality control.
Quality Function Deployment (QFD), a system which involves participation of all
member functions of supplier organization based on which product/ service is designed.
TQM helps in fulfillment of customer expectation finally resulting in long lasting
customer relations.

4. HOW IS SERVICE INDUSTRY DIFFERENT?

Unlike manufacturing industries - where the entire processing leads to finished durable and
nondurable goods, the service organizations' services are intangible, perishable, ephemeral and
involves customer's influence in assessing quality. Standards are judgmental and depends on
mood of the customer.
5. IMPLEMENTATION OF TQM IN SERVICE SECTOR

EF iA o sn nr t v m a e bl u s y l lt iz a is eg t h e a s t e e r v t hi c e e
ptpI mh rr e oo p cc s r ee eo ssrv vss i c ta eo n d i d e n t i f y
cidqe m oue napfi lt rn i r to e oy v l qe um a e l in t t y
somp ty pr r e os ap a tc t o esee r umgs t rysu e n s i t y
q u a lit y