1

Why TQM?

The Inevitability of offering poor quality products or services to today’s sophisticated

buyers is the direct loss of profit and market share. New ventures getting their nascent
operations off the ground as well as established enterprises are facing this reality
routinely. Consequently CEO’s around the world have begun viewing quality more
seriously than they have done in the past. Some are seeking ISO 9000 accreditation,
while others are integrating quality formally into their business strategy. However,
many of them find the related tasks to be a bigger challenge than commissioning new
technology or getting a collaboration to work smoothly. Success in today’s
competitive market place appears to depend on one key factor- the proximity of
company’s practices to Total Quality Management (TQM).

Experts remind repeatedly that TQM goes considerably beyond ISO 9000 and also
beyond QS 9000. TQM means a major re-orientation in a company’s practices. Indeed
TQM requires all functional activities to be conducted with the soul purpose of
satisfying the customer. Running a company based on such a philosophy therefore is
tougher than acquiring an accreditation. TQM holds that all other business objectives
follow from the single objective of “satisfying the customer”. TQM has no other
mission.

In organization under TQM achieving customer satisfaction and ceaselessly seeking

incremental improvement become the guiding beacons. In these organizations CEO’s
commit their time, their enthusiasm and the resources of the organization to achieve
satisfaction of “internal and external” customers.

What is TQM?

TQM is said to be a major augmentation to the traditional way an enterprise does

business. TQM requires all activities of the enterprise to be managed with the single
focus “satisfy the customer”. All other objectives if the enterprise – profits market
share expansion, improved competitive position, capital productivity, cost reductions
etc follow as its consequences. When quality products and quality services become
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the enterprise’s obsession, productivity and lower cost’s materialize from reduced
scrap, rework, returns and the reduced recurrence of quality problems. Productivity is
also positively affected by the extend each employee owns the results of his/her
efforts.

Ownership of results means that the individual or team has taken responsibility for
and is willing to be held accountable for improving the performance of the process.
Training greatly enhances this willingness. Improving a process implies, improving
not only the process itself, but also improving the links between that process and
others- either before it or after it, or parallel to it. Participation in delivering and
sustaining quality thus becomes necessary to adopting TQM successfully. This is a
state that traditionally managed enterprises find very difficult to attain for they
provide little, if any training. TQM is defined as an organizational obsession with
meeting or exceeding customer expectation.

Principle of TQM

There are numerous valuable contributions related to the theory, techniques, studies
and guidance on TQM. The philosophy of TQM is trying to involve employees at all
levels to promote well-being of the company as a whole. TQM depends on linking the
top management goals with a set of TQC tools for the operators to achieve these
goals. Dr.W. E. Deming and Dr. J.M. Juran were the pioneers who introduced
concepts of TQM. When compared with the 20 requirements of the ISO 9001 quality
system. Dr. Deming and Dr.Juran also list 14 points and 7 points respectively as
guidelines on quality systems.
As previously stated, quality is everyone’s responsibility. TQM is a method by
which all people can be involved in improvement. The philosophy and techniques
used TQM can be applied throughout the organization. They are equally useful in
finance, sales, marketing, engineering and production; to everyone involved in a
company’s activities. To be successful in promoting business efficiency and
effectiveness, TQM must be truly company- wide and it must start at the top
management level. The following are the key elements for successful implementation
of TQM (10):
• Commitment and involvement by top management;
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• A team work approach to solving problems;

• Thorough training to promote quality awareness;
• Improvement of quality control techniques and method;
• A continuous improvement programme;
• Participation of staffs at all levels.

THE VALUES OF TQM IN THE REVISED ISO 9000 QUALITY

SYSTEM

ISO 9000 background

The ISO 9000 series of quality management and quality assurance standards
are published by the International organization for standardization (ISO),
which is based in Geneva. The standards were published in 1987, based on
The earlier British standard 5750 with input from other countries such as Canada.
The five standards in the series (ISO 9000-ISO 9004) provide a framework for quality
system development in nearly all types of industry.
At present, more than 50 countries, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the
UK and the USA, have adopted the ISO 9000 series as their national quality system
standards. In most cases, these national standards are identical to the ISO 9000 series.
The ISO 9000 standard were also originally adopted in Europe as EN 29000 and now
have been redesignated EN ISO 9000. Any mandatory requirement for quality system
within European community (EC) directives will refer to these standards.
However, careful study of the ISO 9000 series of standards in recent years by
certain major groups of users or potential users identified a number of needs that are
not easily met in the 1987 version. Also, a number of users felt that the 1987 version
should be revised to take into account changes in technology, terminology and
practice. In particular, the key areas to be addressed in the revision were:

• The importance of all peoples needs being satisfied (including employees,

Owners, suppliers/subcontractors and society);
• Management commitment with a greater emphasis on executive roles;
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• Full involvement of personal;

• Operational processes showing linkages to the overall system;
• Customer satisfaction and importance of meeting customer requirements.

Accordingly, the technical committee of ISO (TC176) has revised the ISO 9000 series
and released them mid-1994. The new revision is part of a broader programme
resulting from a long-term strategy, which was published as document-Vision 2000.
One of the elements addressed were the need to make more significant changes to
take account of the move towards the principles of total quality management (TQM).
Thus the TC 176 directive, in revising the ISO 9000 series, is to “build in” some
TQM ingredients into the system including: quality improvement; management
commitment with a greater emphasis on executive roles; operational processes
showing linkages to the overall systems; and customer satisfaction.

Worldwide awareness of Quality

Since the EC has begun to eliminate internal trade barriers by harmonizing the
standardization process (although not very successfully), ISO 9000 has become a
trademark for manufactures to demonstrate their “good quality system” to their
international purchasers. Many companies, originally unconcerned about quality, have
started to establish their on quality systems in complaints with ISO 9000
requirements, in order to survive and remain competitive in their market.
Consequently, the ISO 9000 quality system has created a quality – oriented climate
around the world, and people have become more quality conscious and aware.
As yet, there seems to be no other quality methodology or philosophy (e.g.
SPC, TQM, quality function deployment (QFD), 0 defect, six sigma) that has same
influence on the world market. Even television and newspaper advertisement
frequently mention the ISO 9000 quality system! Through ISO 9000 quality
certification, worldwide awareness of quality has been created.
A similar situation was found in Hong Kong. Over 1000 companies have no
setup their quality system according to ISO 9000 requirements and received
certification in Hong Kong. A significant number of those certified are companies in
the building industry. The driving force came from the housing authority department
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of the Hong Kong government, which enforces the ISO 9000 certification of its sub
contractors.
ISO 9000 has brought quality awareness to Hong Kong. However, it does not
bring a cultural change in attitude on quality as evidence shows that most companies
apply ISO 9000 because of customer requirements, and do not introduce internal
quality and the productivity improvement. Unlike TQM, which is management system
to mobilize and motivate all employees for continuous quality and productivity
improvement, ISO 9000 on its own can hardly results in such a cultural change in a
company.

Effectiveness of ISO 9000

Surveys on ISO 9000 perception

A recent survey contacted in Malaysia, the UK, South Africa and the USA revealed
the world’s perceptions of the ISO 9000 quality systems. In the survey, when asked
why companies go for ISO 9000 quality system certification 36 percent said that they
used ISO 9001 because of customer demand, expectation and requirement; 23 percent
said that it was because of foresee ably quality benefits and cost reductions; and 18
percent said that they used it to gain a marketing or competitive advantage.
When asked what was the most important internal benefit of ISO 9000
certification, 41 percent reported a greater quality awareness, 32 percent said that a
better documentation system resulted: and only 16 percent reported efficiency
productivity increased and reduced rework.
On the question of what were the most important external benefits of
certification, 33 percent responded that there was higher perceived quality; 27 percent
reported improved customer satisfaction and 21.5 percent felt that they had gained
competitive edge.
A similar survey was contacted subsequently on more than 600 Canadian
companies and US. The reason for attaining ISO 9000 certification was reported as
being mainly due to customer demands and market advantage (43%), while the
internal benefit of certification where reported as better documentation and greater
quality awareness (57%).
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Collectively, these to surveys revealed that the driving force to setup a quality
system in accordance with ISO 9000 requirements and be certified resulted largely
from customer expectations, market demand and competition. The internal benefits
identified were mainly better documentation and quality awareness.

The revised ISO 9000 quality system (1994revision)

In mid-1994, the ISO 9000 quality system standards were completely revised and re-
issued. They consist of three revised assessment standards (ISO9001, 9002,9003), two
sets of revised guidance documents (ISO9000’s and 9004s) and other auxiliary
documents.
The changes in the assessment standards (i.e., ISO 9001,9002and 9003) will
not be detailed here as this is not the focus our discussion in this paper. Our main
focus is the changes in the ISO 9000s and ISO 9004s guidance documents, which
relate more directly to the well known TQM philosophy and system.

Emphasis on better management quality

Many changes are found in the revised guidance documents (viz. ISO 9000 and
ISO9004 series documents). More emphasis has been put on quality management.
Although the stated objective of the revised ISO 9000 quality system continues to be
the quality control of products and service, it address more issues than just meeting
customer-stated requirements. The revised ISO 9000 standards aim to reduce,
eliminate and prevent quality deficiencies and take into account both the customer’s
and the companies on needs and expectations. More elements in the revised ISO 9000
system place and emphasis on better quality management and look more closely at
market-oriented requirements, for example:

• Measuring and evaluating quality costs (guideline ISO 9004, section6);

• Emphasizing quality improvement (guideline ISO9000-1, section4.1b;
guideline ISO 9004,section 5.6);
• Predetermining and satisfying customer expectations (guideline ISO 9004,
section 7.1);
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• Analyzing the market and reacting to feedback (guideline ISO 9004-1,

section7.3);
• Addition of a guideline for quality improvement (guideline ISO 9000-4).

Continuous Improvement
A new paragraph relating to quality improvement was added to section 5.6 of the ISO
9000-4 guideline. It states that the management of an organization should ensure that
the quality system would facilitate and promote continuous quality improvement. This
includes:
• Encouraging and sustaining a supportive style of management;
• Promoting values, attitudes and behavior that foster improvement;
• Setting clear quality improvement goals;
• Encouraging effective communication and team work;
• Recognizing success and achievements;
• Training and educating for improvement.

When compared with its 1987 version, the revised ISO system seems to more on [he
human factors that affect the quality system; something which is more in line with the
philosophy of TQM.

Customer expectations and marketing feedback

ISO 9004 section states that the marketing function should establish an information
monitoring and feedback system on a continuous basis. Also, it is added that all
information pertinent to the customer's use and satisfaction with the quality of a
product should be analyzed, collated, interpreted, verified and reported in accordance
with documented procedures. Such information will help to determine the nature and
extent of product problems in relation to customer experience and expectations. The
new revision also refers to corrective action programmes (ISO 9004-1. section 15) for
improving product quality in order to satisfy customers' needs.

Further, the revised ISO 9004-1 added in section 7.1 that it is important to consider
the requirements for all elements of the total product, whether hardware. Software,
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processed materials or services, particularly at the early stage in the product life cycle.
In addition, all relevant organizational functions must have the capability to meet
customer requirements. When compared with its 1987 version, as a whole, the revised
non-assessment guidelines place more emphasis on satisfying customer. Expectations,
marketing analysis and feedback action.

THE FOUR ESSENTIALS OF TQM

Four essentials that characterize the TQM approach are:

1. Top managements direct involvement in the delivery of quality (note that

involvement cannot be delegated).
2. Strong customer orientation (quality is customer driven).
3. Company wide participation in the delivery of quality goods and services to
the customer and
4. Systematic methods used in solving and resolving quality problems.

These ‘ideals’ provide a good benchmark for what to do when competition is running
over. It is shown later how the Japanese have internalized these four essentials in their
own practices.
Why must management (and indeed the CEO) become involved in the delivery of
quality? Why is not the QC department enough? Western managers, who for too long
took the success of their business for granted, primarly because of their technology
advantage, which had given them an edge, have painfully discovered the answers to
such questions. By focusing excessively on the quarterly earnings bar charts, many of
them even lost sight of satisfying the needs and preferences of those who would be
paying from their pockets to provide those earnings. Lost markets were blamed on the
onslaught of competition, and the ‘fixes’ in many companies lacked courage to
achieve a fundamental that only top management could activate. In 1991 a
comprehensive study completed by the US conference board showed that competitors
who have adopted quality as the ‘new management technology’ eventually pass the
companies without formal quality improvement programmes centered on customer
satisfaction.
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For an enterprise, being out done by competition is too painful. From shrinking
market shares to downright closure of firms and wholesales layoffs are only too real
when ever quality lacks. This happened to US steel in the 60s, to Detroit automakers
in the 70s and 80s, and to the western electronics industries in 80s. Globalization and
liberalization of trade world wide and enhanced customer awareness are also
decimating and advantage protected or niched business have enjoyed till recently.
There is little reason to believe that this latest tide will turn back in the foreseeable
future unless there is large-scale scarcity of some sort. The gainers of open
competition are the customers hence the few monopolies must reshape their ways
drastically or shut down.

Satisfying ‘internal’ customers, experts say, is an excellent way to start TQM. TQM
then quickly becomes an organization wide challenge where everyone’s responsibility
becomes understanding and satisfying the needs of the following stage of processing
or production. For this to be realized all personal must be trained in the appropriate
quality improvement skills, 7-tools, SPC etc. in order to effectively do their part of the
task. In terms of attitudinal change, training should develop people to the extent that
they come to the factory not just to work, but also to think about how to improve their
jobs to meet the needs of their customers better. Quality improvement projects such as
on time delivery, efficient order entry, reduced billing errors, scrap reduction and
better supplier management then become routine, rather than rare celebrated events.

ADOPTING TQM ASSURES CULTURAL OVERHALL

A major change in the manner a company is managed is actually effected by TQM.

Such a transformation causes changes in the thoughts and actions of everyone inside
and those interacting with the organization. For instance, management will now
pursue company goals in a more enlightened way (particularly with respect to the real
needs of the customers) with out ‘becoming less concerned about the business goals’.
Striving to continuously improve customer value is actually very purposeful in a
competitive marketplace. On the other hand, in many companies ‘ tools and
techniques TQM’ alone without paying attention to the four TQM essentials above
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failed to raise the level of customer satisfaction. In these companies the impediments
were cultural - they were due to the mindsets of the people, their traditional
philosophy, values and beliefs about how things work. Culture, it might be said, gets
constructed socially and provides people making a way of sense of events. It then
guides behavior, and becomes the glue that holds the organization together and
ensures that its members behave according to norms. Thus only a thorough
understanding of existing culture can help top management change undesirable human
behavior. A good article to read on this subject is by Collins, et al.

It should be obvious now that a TQM programme requires some crucial changes in
the manner things may be getting conventionally done. For instance, since on the
average 40%of the sales price is made up of purchased product or service, a
partnering rather than the traditional adversarial relationship with the suppliers is a
fundamental precondition of moving into TQM. Both the parties have much to gain if
the final customer is satisfied with what he/she receives. Another aspect of a TQM
programme is to focus on minimizing the product’s ‘lifecycle cost’ rather than
reducing production cost in order to make the sale price competitive. For simple
consumable products like food, the purchase price is also the cost of using the
product. As products grow in complexity and the length of use increases, the
‘purchase’ price must also increase to include operational , maintenance and other
special costs. To the buyer today, a lower lifecycle cost is an important indicator of
superior value. Lastly, for TQM to deliver results, the organization should monitor
customer satisfaction-based performance measures alongside the quarterly earnings.

The toughest challenge in embarking on TQM is that it requires an enriching change

that sustained. One may convey this best by listing how things inside the enterprise
must change if it has to move true TQM. The foremost change is that quality is re-
defined to be customers satisfaction-oriented rather than product oriented other
changes are:

• Quality acquires a priority ahead of cost and quantity (irrespective of quality).

• Management decisions acquire a long term rather than short-term orientation.
• Emphasis is given to ‘preventing’ problems rather than correcting them.
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• Errors are attributed to ‘systems’, rather than to individuals and their actions.
• The responsibility for quality is everyone’s rather than that of QC department.
• Problems are solved by teams rather than by managers.
• Procurement decisions are based on lifecycle costs and partnerships rather
than price.
• The manager delegate, coaches, facilitates and mentors; rather than plans,
assigns, controls and enforces.

Evidence suggests that such a transformation is easier and quickly achieved in smaller
organizations.

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK CREATES AND GUIDES TQM

PROJECTS

A key of TQM is that customer feedback must be continually solicited and monitored.
The value of this feedback is enormous and one critical use of such feedback is the
formulation and conduct of the continuous quality improvement programmes. An
enterprise that has implemented an efficient system to solicit and compile customer
feedback is able to
• Discover customer dissatisfaction
• Discover relative priorities of quality,
• Compare own performance with that of the competitors,
• Identify customer needs, and
• Determine opportunities for improvement.

The information collected from such feedback should be shifted for their ‘proactive’
value. (Such data should help to prevent problems from recurring in future.) Even
complaints from customers are valuable. A dissatisfied customer can easily become a
lost customer. Indeed, it has been found that only about 1% to 4% of the complaints
are sent to management, 10% 25% are passed on to sales people, and almost 80%
remain unreported and the enterprise never finds out about them. What reaches
management is, therefore, literally the tip of the iceberg.
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Therefore, ‘every single complaint’ should be accepted, analyzed acted upon (cfISO
9004-1, clause 16.5). More than half of the dissatisfied customers say that they will
buy again if they believe that their complaint has been at least heard, even though not
resolved. Unfortunately, while many complaints never reach management, they do
reach other potential customers.

Customer orientation is perhaps the strongest theme that can run through quality
programmes and plans. By making the customer and his/her needs visible and
tangible throughout the organization, management can keep the entire effort focused
on what is of maximum value of the organization. Performance measures are often
contrived by fresh MBAs in planning offices who have neither operational experience
nor any direct contact with customers. In fact, most traditionally monitored indices are
based on accounting principles aimed at triggering the reactive control of production
cost. Recent experience shows that such tracking does little to help the company’s
competitive position, which is usually a far more potent source of growth and profits.
As many successful companies have discovered, measuring and tracking customers
satisfaction oriented indices are of fundamental values in today’s marketplace.
Specify quality programmes can be created to address areas where the companies
performance is seen lacking.

USA, to become a dominant overnight delivery business in North America in one

decade, they have installed and now operate several such strategic data systems in the
company. The ‘Thank you for servicing your vehicle’ survey that every Toyota
customer fills out includes ease of appointment proper diagnosis, performance of the
person writing the repair order, getting work done on time, commitment to get the job
done right, and comments on the appearance of the customer lounge. They even ask: ‘
would u recommend this place to a friend?’ To Toyota, all such feedback are vital
performance measures.

It can now be seen how the TQM framework leads to the core objective of any
business continued assurance of doing business with existing customers and acquiring
new ones.
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Comparison between TQM and the revised ISO 9000 quality system

Basically, the revised ISO 9000 is a quality system based and focused on the
customers' specific requirements, documentation and procedures. TQM. By contrast,
places great emphasis on continual product improvement, reduction in costs and
defects and involvement of all personnel in the improvement process, driven from top
management. The following section presents a comparison of elements of TQM and
the ISO 9000 quality system.

Objective
The objective of ISO 9000 is defined as follows:
The requirements specified are aimed primarily at achieving customer satisfaction by
preventing nonconformity at all stages from design to servicing.

Although the objective of TQM is not wholly agreed on by quality practitioners, the
statement below is an often quote.” TQM objective:

TQM is a people-focused management system that aims at a continual increase in

customer satisfaction at continually lower real cost. TQM is a total system approach
(not a separate area or programme), and an integral part of high-level strategy. It
works horizontally across functions and departments, involving all employees, top to
bottom, and extends backwards and forwards to include the supply chain and the
customer chain. ."

Although both ISO 9000 and TQM aim to "achieve customer satisfaction", their
purposes of use are different. Within the ISO 9000 quality system, the assessment
standards 9001, 9002 and 9003 are used for external quality assurance purposes [l].
The meaning of external quality assurance purposes is defined in ISO 9000-1 annex
A. It is used to provide confidence to the customer in a contractual situation. All the
assessment standards (ISO 9001, 9002.and 9003) are focused on how to control the
manufacturer's work process to give confidence to the customer.
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By contrast, TQM is used for internal and external quality improvement purposes. It
concerns quality cost, continuous improvement and the customers. Therefore, the
TQM system focuses not only on the customer requirements but also quality cost and
increasing (even going beyond) customer satisfactionll3].

In this regard, TQM encompasses a wider scope of quality philosophy than ISO 9000.
TQM emphasizes both external and internal quality improvement purposes.

Company policy
When comparing ISO 9000 with TQM, it is found that both ISO 9000 and TQM
specify the importance of company quality policy. ISO 9000 states that:

The supplier's management with executive responsibility shall define and document
its policy for quality, including objectives for quality and its commitment to quality
The quality policy shall be relevant to the supplier's organizational goals and the
expectations and needs of its customers. The supplier shall ensure that this policy is
understood, Implemented and maintained at all levels in the organization.

TQM states that:

A sound quality policy, together with the organization and facilities to put it into
effect, is a fundamental requirement, if an organization is to begin to implement
TQM. Every organization should develop and state its policy on quality...

ISO 9000 gives freedom to an organization to set company policy and objectives,
provided that the policy is meeting customers' needs and expectations. The
organization itself has to be responsible for the defined targets laid down within the
policy and ensure that the targets are understood and implemented by all staff. On the
other hand, TQM is more directive in setting company policy because TQM has
defined the framework on setting company policy.

Methodologies
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In the assessment of quality system compliance, ISO 9000 has 20 requirements, which
cover almost all elements of controlling a quality system within a company. By
contrast, TQM focuses more on human management in areas like quality
improvement, training, corrective and preventive action, quality awareness,
motivation and teamwork.

Deming is one of the pioneers of the introduction of the concept of TQM. When
comparing the ISO 9000 elements with Deming's 14 points, it is found that some
elements are present both in ISO 9000 and TQM, such as management responsibility,
corrective/preventive action, training and SPC.

Notwithstanding the common quality system elements, ISO 9000 does not require
quality cost evaluation in the certification assessment. Although this is stated in
guideline ISO 9000-4. The statement is regarded as a guideline only and it is not
mandatory for the company to implement it.

ISO 9000 focuses on the reduction of non-conforming material and products through
system standardization and control, preventing production scrap and excessive
rework. ISO 9000 is similar to a set of rules for people to follow, without taking into
consideration any human factor. TQM strategy is quite different. Its emphasis is on
the top management leading and supporting, through identical objectives and total
involvement of all staff, to improve the quality of product or service continuously and
finally fulfil, or surpass, customer satisfaction.

However, TQM does not place great emphasis on documentation, which is one of the
most important aspects of the ISO 9000 quality system. Without documented
procedures and records, it is difficult to determine the baseline for comparison and for
further improvement. More Importantly, the quality system would therefore solely
depend on personnel who participate in the system. Therefore, both ISO 9000 and
TQM have advantages and disadvantages in their
methodologies.
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Teamwork
A common problem of many quality systems is that they are often designed to meet
departmental objectives rather than those of the whole organization. TQM is trying to
rectify such problems.

As stated earlier, TQM is a total system approach (not a separate area or programme),
and an integral part of high-level strategy. It works horizontally across functions and
departments, involving all employees, top to bottom, and extends backwards and
forwards to include the supply chain and the customer chain. TQM's philosophy is to
break down departmental barriers so that an organization can solve problems across
departments and combine departmental objectives into the company's overall
objectives.

On the other hand, ISO 9000 does not require teamwork. Therefore, TQM is better in
management skill than ISO 9000 in promoting a spirit of teamwork across an
organization.

Concept of inspection and testing

Most companies accept that product failures inevitably exist in their operations.
Therefore, inspection and testing are used to detect and Filter defective products' from
reaching customers. Based on external assurance purposes, the ISO 9000 quality
system requires "inspection and testing" (clause 4.10, ISO 9001). In addition,
"inspection and testing status" (clause 4.12, ISO 9001) is to be monitored in order to
provide evidence of process control to customers. This, however, may lead
management to believe, falsely, that inspection and testing are essential in an
organization. Although there are other preventive requirements, like corrective action,
internal audit and process control the ISO 9000 system does not spell out clearly their
role and importance in a quality system.
On the other hand, TQM states clearly that, through staff training, a company must
allocate time and energy to search for causes of problems, and to correct the causes,
not the symptoms. TQM docs not emphasize "inspection" as a tool for quality
improvement
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Training
ISO 9000 requires staff training, to educate people about the quality system and
related techniques so that they are qualified to perform tasks to ISO 9000
requirements. On the other hand, TQM requires more than just task training. TQM
aims to train and change people's mind-set, to motivate staff towards a common goal
of quality improvements.
Motivation
TQM encourages individuals or groups to share the benefits when they achieve the
goal; People feel pride when they succeed in achieving quality. Self- motivation can
be established in the organization. On the other hand ISO 9000 has no such
motivation scheme in itself; it does not emphasize individual, "willingness" for
quality improvement.

Summary
TQM's philosophy of quality management is deeper and broader than ISO 9000. TQM
concerns both the internal organization and customer satisfaction, or even going
beyond customer satisfaction. ISO 9000 is mainly used by companies for assessment
needs. The assessment documents (ISO 9001, 9002 The values of and, 9,003) are
only used for external quality assurance purposes. It does not concern quality cost; it
is used to fulfil customer requirements only.

ISO 9000 has less control over company policy, provided that the quality policy is
relevant to the company's and customer's organizational goals. TQM provides better
guidelines on company policy.

ISO 9000 does not require teamwork. By contrast, TQM emphasizes teamwork and
does not emphasize the concept of "inspection". The ISO 9000 quality system lays
down comprehensive guidelines on controlling a quality system, whereas TQM
stresses the more human factors.

TQM may result in greater quality achievement than ISO 9000 because it is a path to
endless improvement. The ISO 9000 quality system has limitations because even
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good quality elements cannot be incorporated into the assessment standards if they are
not assessable

Conclusion

Benefits and drawbacks of the ISO 9000 quality system

The ISO 9000 quality system has a great advantage in promoting worldwide quality
awareness, through assessment and certification. ISO 9000 standards create a global
awareness of quality systems. The benefits of adopting ISO 9000 are obvious. They
include:

• Marketing advantages of ISO 9000 certification;

• Better documentation system;

• Quality awareness among internal staff;

Efficiency improvements/cost reductions.

When compared with the TQM system, ISO 9000 does not consider quality cost as a
mandatory requirement. If a company does not control the implementation and
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running costs, it may be that the cost saving (on improving quality, reducing scrap and
improving efficiency) cannot compensate the cost of adopting the ISO 9000 system.

Neglecting the human factor in its system elements, the ISO 9000 system may find it
difficult to promote quality improvement programmes, compared with the TQM
system. Non-assessable elements like teamwork and motivation are all absent in the
assessment documents (ISO 9001,9002.9003). But they have already been added to
the guideline documents of the revised ISO 9000 system (e.g. the ISO 9004
guideline).

List of Reference:

Journals,

 Total Quality Management: The Mindset

Prof T P Bagchi, Fellow
I E (I) Journal - PR
Volume 77, November 1995.

 The values of TQM in the revised ISO 9000 Quality system

Winco K.C.Yung
International Journal Of Operations & Production Management.
Vol. 17 No. 2, 1997, pp. 221-230.