Total quality management (TQM)

Total quality management is a management approach centred on quality, based on the participation of an organization's people and aiming at long term success (ISO 8402:1994). This is achieved through customer satisfaction and benefits all members of the organization and society. In other words, TQM is a philosophy for managing an organization in a way which enables it to meet stakeholder needs and expectations efficiently and effectively, without compromising ethical values.
TQM is a way of thinking about goals, organizations, processes and people to ensure that the right things are done right first time. This thought process can change attitudes, behaviour and hence results for the better.

What TQM is not

TQM is not a system, a tool or even a process. Systems, tools and processes are employed to achieve the various principles of TQM.

What does TQM cover?

The total in TQM applies to the whole organization. Therefore, unlike an ISO 9000 initiative which may be limited to the processes producing deliverable products, TQM applies to every activity in the organization. Also, unlike ISO 9000, TQM covers the soft issues such as ethics, attitude and culture.

What is the TQM philosophy?

There are several ways of expressing this philosophy. There are also several gurus whose influence on management thought in this area has been considerable, for example Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa and Imai. The wisdom of these gurus has been distilled into eight principles defined in ISO 9000:2000.

The principles of quality management:

There are eight principles of quality management:

customer-focused organization - organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations

leadership - leaders establish unity of purpose, direction and the internal environment of the organization. They create the environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization's objectives

involvement of people - people at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization's benefit

process approach - a desired result is achieved more efficiently when related resources and activities are managed as a process

system approach to management - identifying, understanding and managing a system of interrelated processes for a given objective contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization

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continual improvement - continual improvement is a permanent objective of an organization factual approach to decision making - effective decisions are based on the logical and intuitive analysis of data and information

mutually beneficial supplier relationships - mutually beneficial relationships between the organization and its suppliers enhance the ability of both organizations to create value

Total Quality Management is a structured system for managing the quality of products, processes, and resources of an organization in order to satisfy its internal and external customers, as well as its suppliers. Its main objective is sustained (if not progressive) customer satisfaction through continuous improvement, which is accomplished by systematic methods for problem solving, breakthrough achievement, and sustenance of good results (standardization). There is no standard or hard-line procedure for implementing TQM. Every company can practice TQM in a manner it sees best for its organization. However, a companys TQM program must always be structured and internally standardized, i.e., everyone within an organization must practice TQM in the structured manner set forth by management. Most companies today have chosen to adopt a TQM program thats patterned after an already established TQM model, e.g., the Deming Application Prize, the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, the ISO Series of Standards, etc. TQM may be considered as a collection of principles and processes that have been proven to be effective in business quality management over time. It goes back to the teachings of Drucker, Juran, Deming, Ishikawa, etc, who each have studied and developed ideas for improving organizational management. A very simple model of TQM consists of the following steps: 1) the company reviews the needs of its customers and if these are being delivered by the company; 2) the company plans the activities needed (both day-to-day and long-term activities) to meet these customer needs; 3) the company establishes and stabilizes the processes required to deliver the products and services needed by the customer; 4) the company implements systems to further improve its processes, products, and services. Note that Steps 1-4 above constitute a cycle, and may be iterated indefinitely for continuous improvement.

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Principles Of TQM

1- Be Customer focused: Whatever you do for quality improvement, remember that ONLY customers determine the level of quality. Whatever you do to foster quality improvement, training employees, integrating quality into processes management, ONLY customers

determine whether your efforts were worthwhile.

2-Insure Total Employee Involvement: You must remove fear from work place, then empower employee... you provide the proper environment.

3- Process Centered: Fundamental part of TQM is to focus on process thinking.

4- Integrated system: All employee must know the business mission and vision. An integrated business system may be modeled by MBNQA or ISO 9000

5- Strategic and systematic approach: Strategic plan must integrate quality as core component.

6- Continual Improvement: Using analytical, quality tools, and creative thinking to become more efficient and effective.

7- Fact Based Decision Making: Decision making must be ONLY on data, not personal or situational thinking.

8- Communication: Communication strategy, method and timeliness must be well defined.

TQM Implementation Approaches You can't implement just one effective solution for planning and implementing TQM concepts in all situations. Below we list generic models for implementing total quality management theory: 1- Train top management on TQM principles.

2- Assess the current: Culture, customer satisfaction, and quality management system.

3- Top management determines the core values and principles and communicates them.

4- Develop a TQM master plan based on steps 1,2,3.

5- Identify and prioritize customer needs and determine products or service to meet those needs.

6- Determine the critical processes that produces those products or services.

7- Create process improvement teams.

8- Managers supports the efforts by planning, training, and providing resources to the team.

9- Management integrates changes for improvement in daily process management. After improvements standardization takes place.

10- Evaluate progress against plan and adjust as needed.

11- Provide constant employee awareness and feedback. Establish an employee reward/ recognition process.

Strategies to develop TQM 1-TQM elements approach: Take key business process and use TQM Tools to foster improvement. Use quality circles, statistical process control, taguchi method, and quality function deployment.

2 - The guru approach: Use the guides of one of the leading quality thinker.

3- Organization model approach: The organization use benchmarking or MBNQA as model for excellence.

4- Japanese total quality approach: Companies pursue the deming prize use deming principles

The Eight Principles of Quality Management

Preface: Quality management is becoming increasingly important to the leadership and management of all organisations. It is necessary to identify Quality Management as a distinct discipline of management and lay down universally understood and accepted rules for this discipline. The ISO technical committee working on the ISO9000 standards had published a document detailing the quality management principles and application guidelines. (This article is based on the said document). The latest revision (version 2008) of ISO9000 standards are based on these principles. Link to Useful Quality Management Resources

Definition of Quality Management Principle: "A quality management principle is a comprehensive and fundamental rule / belief, for leading and operating an organisation, aimed at continually improving performance over the long term by focusing on customers while addressing the needs of all other stake holders". The eight principles are ...

1. Customer-Focused Organisation 2. Leadership 3. Involvement of People 4. Process Approach 5. System Approach to Management 6. Continual Improvement 7. Factual Approach to Decision Making and 8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships. Now let us examine the principles in detail. Principle 1 - Customer-Focused Organisation : "Organisations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations". Steps in application of this principle are ... 1. Understand customer needs and expectations for products, delivery, price, dependability, etc. 2. Ensure a balanced approach among customers and other stake holders (owners, people, suppliers, local communities and society at large) needs and expectations. 3. Communicate these needs and expectations throughout the organisation. 4. Measure customer satisfaction & act on results, and 5. Manage customer relationships. Top Principle 2 - Leadership : "Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organisation. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organisation's objectives."

Steps in application of this principle are ... 1. Be proactive and lead by example. 2. Understand and respond to changes in the external environment. 3. Consider the needs of all stake holders including customers, owners, people, suppliers, local communities and society at large. 4. Establish a clear vision of the organisation's future. 5. Establish shared values and ethical role models at all levels of the organisation. 6. Build trust and eliminate fear. 7. Provide people with the required resources and freedom to act with responsibility and accountability. 8. Inspire, encourage and recognise people's contributions. 9. Promote open and honest communication. 10. Educate, train and coach people. 11. Set challenging goals and targets, and 12. Implement a strategy to achieve these goals and targets. Top Principle 3 - Involvement of People : "People at all levels are the essence of an organisation and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organisation's benefit". Steps in application of this principle are... 1. Accept ownership and responsibility to solve problems. 2. Actively seek opportunities to make improvements, and enhance competencies, knowledge and experience. 3. Freely share knowledge & experience in teams. 4. Focus on the creation of value for customers. 5. Be innovative in furthering the organisations objectives. 6. Improve the way of representing the organisation to customers, local communities and society at large. 7. Help people derive satisfaction from their work, and 8. Make people enthusiastic and proud to be part of the organisation. Top Principle 4 - Process Approach : "A desired result is achieved more efficiently when related resources and activities are managed as a process." Steps in application of this principle are ... 1. Define the process to achieve the desired result. 2. Identify and measure the inputs and outputs of the process. 3. Identify the interfaces of the process with the functions of the organisation.

4. Evaluate possible risks, consequences and impacts of processes on customers, suppliers and other stake holders of the process. 5. Establish clear responsibility, authority, and accountability for managing the process. 6. Identify internal and external customers, suppliers and other stake holders of the process, and 7. When designing processes, consider process steps, activities, flows, control measures, training needs, equipment, methods, information, materials and other resources to achieve the desired result. Top Principle 5 - System Approach to Management : "Identifying, understanding and managing a system of interrelated processes for a given objective improves the organisation's effectiveness and efficiency." Steps in application of this principle are ... 1. Define the system by identifying or developing the processes that affect a given objective. 2. Structure the system to achieve the objective in the most efficient way. 3. Understand the interdependencies among the processes of the system. 4. Continually improve the system through measurement and evaluation, and 5. Estimate the resource requirements and establish resource constraints prior to action. Top Principle 6 - Continual Improvement : "Continual improvement should be a permanent objective of the organisation." Steps in application of this principle are ... 1. Make continual improvement of products, processes and systems an objective for every individual in the organisation. 2. Apply the basic improvement concepts of incremental improvement and breakthrough improvement. 3. Use periodic assessments against established criteria of excellence to identify areas for potential improvement. 4. Continually improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all processes. 5. Promote prevention based activities. 6. Provide every member of the organisation with appropriate education and training, on the methods and tools of continual improvement such as the PlanDo-Check-Act cycle , problem solving , process re-engineering, and process innovation. 7. Establish measures and goals to guide and track improvements,and

8. Recognise improvements. Top Principle 7 - Factual Approach to Decision Making : "Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information." Steps in application of this principle are ... 1. Take measurements and collect data and information relevant to the objective. 2. Ensure that the data and information are sufficiently accurate, reliable and accessible. 3. Analyse the data and information using valid methods. 4. Understand the value of appropriate statistical techniques, and 5. Make decisions and take action based on the results of logical analysis balanced with experience and intuition. Top Principle 8 - Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships : "An organisation and its suppliers are interdependent, and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both to create value." Steps in application of this principle are ... 1. Identify and select key suppliers. 2. Establish supplier relationships that balance short-term gains with long-term considerations for the organisation and society at large. 3. Create clear and open communications. 4. Initiate joint development and improvement of products and processes. 5. Jointly establish a clear understanding of customers' needs. 6. Share information and future plans, and 7. Recognise supplier improvements and achievements.
Top Useful Quality Management Resources We offer an array of products and services in the realm of quality management. There are 'Learn-andTeach' Training kits, 'Do-it-Yourself' System Documentation Kits, Computer Software Packages, and, eConsulting services. Please visit our eShop to know more about these resources and purchase them right away. You may click here for the current price list.

Total quality management is a commitment to the continuous improvement of work processes with the goal of satisfying internal and external customers. Its the customer that matters in TQM; the process is only the means to satisfying the customer.

ustomers are only satisfied if their requirements are consistently met. To be competitive, we must meet these requirements in a timely and cost effective manner. TQM provides the organizational focus and mind set, as well as specific tools and techniques, to ensure meeting customer requirements, first time and every time. A key principle of TQM is intense focus on customers and their satisfaction. What does this mean and how do we go about accomplishing it? We can use three principles in creating this focus. CUSTOMER FOCUS

First, I.S. must identify, measure and "design in" the product and service attributes that the customer cares about. How do we know what these attributes are? As a start, we can certainly ask the customer. However, this is only a start. Organizations which have become adept at TQM are able to go well beyond asking the customer to anticipating the future needs and desires of their customers. Second, we must continually monitor customer satisfaction. The only determination of "quality" that really matters is the customer's perception. Customer feedback and participation in the process is essential. Formal and continuous monitoring will keep the organization focused. Third, management must make sure that everybody knows their customers, both internal and external. Further, it is essential that everybody can "see" the ultimate customer using their products and services. Employees at all levels of the organization should be given opportunities to observe the customer using their products and services. All employees should understand how each process used in producing products and services adds value for the customer. If these three principles are understood and applied at all levels of the organization, the customer focus will be pervasive. LEVELS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Customers, both internal and external, have basic requirements which must be satisfied if they are going to do business with your organization. These represent the absolute minimum that must be done. Beyond that, customers have expectations, both expressed and implied, that must be met if they are going to desire to continue to do business with you. Top notch, or "world class" organizations, delight their customers by consistently exceeding both requirements and expectations. This then becomes a continuous process as each level of performance creates higher expectations. It is extremely gratifying and rewarding to be associated with an organization that consistently delights its customers. APPLYING TQM TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS

To successfully apply TQM to I.S., we must concentrate on three things: y Identify all our customers, both internal and external. y Define customer requirements and expectations. y Deliver information products and services which meet, or exceed, defined requirements. Who is the Customer? Customers for an information system are many and varied. They include, of course, those individuals who directly use the system to perform their work tasks. These are the "users," and are normally easy to identify. For example, clerks in the Personnel and Accounting departments are users of a Payroll System. For TQM purposes, all users are customers. Those in management who authorize, request, budget and approve information systems are customers. Without their participation, there would be no systems work to perform. These individuals are most often different from the users of the system. Many levels of management may need to review and approve the decision to implement a new Payroll System, and while they may never interact directly with the system, they certainly have requirements. Many customers may receive outputs from an information system. These are indirect customers, and they may have very specific requirements. Employees receive their paychecks from a Payroll System. Government agencies have requirements for a Payroll System, as do banks, auditors and providers of employee benefits, to name just a few. Those individuals who must operate and maintain a system are also customers and have specific requirements. These are internal customers whose requirements must be met if they, in turn, are to meet the requirements of their customers. The computer operator must be able to accurately print paychecks and payroll reports if the requirements of users and employees are to be met. Likewise, the maintenance programmer must be able to implement necessary changes over time if the Payroll System is to continue to meet the needs of other customers. For most systems, the organization's external customers are at least indirect, and increasingly direct, customers. Strategic systems and systems which have direct external customer interface, such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in Purchasing or Order Processing, impact the external customer. Vendors of information systems and services constantly interact directly with external customers. The I. S. organization must be thorough in identifying all potential customers for an information system if they are to have any possible chance of meeting customer requirements. What Are The Customer's Requirements? This is the area which often presents an insurmountable hurdle to implementing TQM in Information Systems. Defining customer requirements is usually the most difficult task we face. How can I. S. professionals be expected to meet customer requirements, first time and every time, when no one, including the customers, knows exactly what these requirements are? Many systems development professionals believe that TQM simply cannot apply to them. They never develop exactly the same system twice. They believe that "Zero Defects" is totally unrealistic.

I once had a sincere Programmer/Analyst tell me: "You never know what the user's requirements are until you get into the testing phase, so the thing to do is code something and see what happens." Fortunately, TQM offers tools and techniques which can be used in conjunction with sound systems analysis work to assist us in properly and completely defining customer requirements. How Do We Ensure That Requirements, Once Known, Can Be Met? The only method which produces quality information systems on a consistent basis is a "Life Cycle" approach. In our last column we discussed those stable, measurable, repeatable processes which must be in place to ensure quality in systems development and maintenance. Lacking these processes, meeting customer requirements is a pure crap shoot. Sometimes we will win, but more often we will fail. Worse, there is no way to predict what the result will be on our next project. DEFINING CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS Why are information systems requirements so difficult to define? Why do documented requirements often turn out to be not even close to defining the system which ultimately gets implemented? There are two major reasons why requirements definition is so difficult. First, the customer/user may have only the vaguest idea of what an information system should look like prior to actual implementation and use of that system. Second, system developers commonly lack sufficient knowledge of the business functions a system must support to define how the system must be configured. This dilemma is usually addressed by developing systems which automate the organization's currently existing manual processes. The problem with this approach is that automation of manual processes does not add significant value nor make use of the greater capabilities of information technology. Worse, where manual processes do not exist or are poorly understood by the users, systems efforts commonly fail to produce usable results. This historical approach to systems development goes a long way to explaining the need for the massive reengineering projects we see in many organizations - finally we are beginning to truly leverage information systems to improve business processes. Requirements definition is so important and so difficult. How can we make this process easier and less error prone? KNOW YOUR MARKETS Organizations with mature TQM functions have become proficient at satisfying and delighting customers. They invest a great deal of effort in learning about their customers. They work with customers on joint problem solving teams. They participate with customers in product design and development. They conduct extensive surveys. They have excellent intelligence about their competitors. They are aware of their customers' strategic direction. You cannot invest too much time in learning about your customers and the business. Information Systems organizations have been too isolated from the mainstream of the business enterprises they serve. I. S. management cannot be concerned primarily with technology if they are to meet customer requirements.

Obtain Theoretical Business Knowledge In his book, Rethinking Systems Analysis and Design (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1982), Gerald Weinberg talks about the time it takes someone who knows nothing about a field to amass knowledge comparable to that of an entry level graduate student in that field. The period is somewhere between one to three months. You can't develop good inventory management systems if you don't know inventory management. You can't develop good accounts payable systems without a knowledge of accounting. Do not assume that your customers/users possess this theoretical knowledge. As W. Edwards Deming, the most famous of the quality gurus, has said, "Experience teaches nothing unless studied with the aid of theory." It is very often sad and dismaying to encounter the absence of even basic theoretical knowledge among practitioners about the business functions they are involved in every day of their working lives. Study Existing Systems Use existing systems as a starting point in developing requirements for a new system. Analyze the system to be replaced, but also include other systems. These may be systems you have worked with in the past, systems available from vendors, systems used by competitors. The best analysts can see similarities between systems used for different business purposes and extrapolate these to apply to the existing environment. Analyze The Using Environment. The most logical and complete method for obtaining requirements is from a complete analysis of the environment within which the system must be used. Observation of this environment, and, if possible, actual working experience in the environment will be invaluable in developing information requirements. However, this is true only if the analyst comes to this task armed with sufficient knowledge of the business, theoretical understanding of the business functions and familiarity with existing systems (as described in the preceding paragraphs). Interview Customers/Users. The junior analyst typically begins by asking the customer/user what is wanted. Analysis very often stops at this point. In 1975, I delivered a speech at an Information Systems Conference where I discussed promoting Programmers to Analyst positions. I used an example of the Analyst who was proud to be able to code the solution before anyone had defined the problem. Interviews should not take the course of asking customers what they want. They should be used to mutually define problems and opportunities for information technology application. Discuss problems with users. Clarify issues which were identified in observing the environment. Make suggestions and observations based on theoretical knowledge and familiarity with other systems. Get users to talk about their jobs the challenges and opportunities of their business functions. Interviews should therefore take place well into the requirements development process. Prototyping.

Prototyping seems to be all the rage just now. It can be the latest and greatest way of avoiding the previously described analytical work, allowing the Analyst/Computer Technician to work more with the computer than with the business functions. Tools, techniques and methodologies are always very poor substitutes for business knowledge during requirements definition. This is true of Structured Analysis, Rapid Analysis, JAD, as well as prototyping. Prototyping is most useful in an environment where no one knows the answer. Where a model does not exist for a system, where theoretical knowledge is lacking (because for whatever reason it is unobtainable) or where the environment in which the system must operate cannot be observed (because presumably it does not yet exist), the analyst, in conjunction with the customer, must fall back on an iterative approach to information systems requirements definition. Always be aware that early attempts are likely to miss the mark. Don't be dismayed by repeated failures and throwaways. After all, you are sailing in uncharted waters. If this weren't true, you wouldn't need to do the prototyping. We are fortunate to have software tools available that allow us to build prototypes and mock ups quickly and relatively inexpensively, thereby supposedly avoiding the expensive systems development fiascoes we have built in the past. However, two cautionary notes in using prototyping. First, just because you can prototype something doesn't mean you can build it. Last year, I worked on TQM principles with a software firm that introduced a prototype in 1989. Customers went wild. This was totally new, it would revolutionize a whole segment of their business. The software firm budgeted one year and $1 million to turn the prototype into a working system. Three years and almost $4 million later, they still had not delivered a satisfactory system. The firm lacked the system development methodologies to ensure that they could develop quality systems once they had a defined prototype. Second, resist the prevalent trend to use prototyping as a substitute for business knowledge, analysis of existing systems, analysis of the business environment and user interviews. Prototyping is a fall back position in requirements definition, not the answer in and of itself. Sure, to the computer technologist, prototyping is a lot more fun than studying inventory management, accounting, production control or other business functions. Maybe we should consider others for the job of requirements definition. SUMMARY - HOW TQM CAN HELP TQM tools and techniques can be invaluable in the analyst's arsenal when developing information systems requirements. TQM provides a basis for a common language in problem definition and problem solving. Concentration on elimination of root causes of problems and on such TQM concepts and team building, empowerment and continuous process improvement can ensure that information systems address the "true" customer requirements rather than slap a band aid on symptoms of problems. These TQM tools are tremendously powerful in getting all parties to focus on the requirements of the business and its ultimate customers. When applied within the Information Systems function, TQM can help the organization maintain the focus necessary to ensure that systems, as developed, meet customer requirements first time and every time. Continuous process improvement, constant feedback, elimination of the cause of errors make the process visible and responsive. Work which is not directed at meeting customer requirements can be identified early in the systems development process and corrective action can be initiated.

Applying TQM to the system development process can produce immediate and dramatic dividends. Start by identify all your customers. Then ensure that customer requirements are completely defined, understood and agreed upon. The process of developing systems which meet customer requirements will not be easy, but it can only be undertaken once we know what those requirements are. TQM is not a program or a methodology. It is a philosophy of doing business. Fortunately, TQM also provides enabling tools and techniques which, when consistently applied, ensure that Information Systems organizations can meet customer requirements - first time and every time. n