Total quality management (TQM) is a concept that covers a number of management processes and practices. Its proper understanding promotes the creation of a strong customer database, empowerment of employees, and positive revenue changes (Kiran, 2017). There are several quality gurus whose impact on quality management remains remarkable. The name of Kaoru Ishikawa is known around the whole world, and his thoughts about how people should work are widely used.
This paper aims at discussing the accomplishments, contributions, and influence of Kaoru Ishikawa on quality management, including the role of his fishbone diagram and the possibility to investigate an event from the point of view of its causes, inside and outside factors, and applicable metrics.
There are many methods of how to succeed in quality management. Kaoru Ishikawa is usually defined as the father of quality management, a pioneer of management processes in the modern world (Neyestani, 2017). His accomplishments and contributions are determined by his education and interests in different fields (Jones, 2014). He is the author of a fishbone diagram with the help of which it is possible to identify all possible causes and results of an event.
This diagram can be used in different fields, including politics, economics, business, healthcare, and medicine (Tran & Bero, 2015). This diagram helps to understand the roots of a process and the nature of imperfections that may bother managers (SkyMark, 2017). The peculiar feature of Ishikawa’s work is the intention to investigate a management process from its bottom-up. The classification of causes and the possibility to reflect on personal experiences and findings are the benefits of the diagram (O’Donohue & Maragakis, 2016).
However, the fishbone diagram is not the only achievement of this theorist. Ishikawa developed effective discussions about the role of top leaders and the necessity for employees to take courses, use different theories, and support the idea of lifelong learning (O’Donohue & Maragakis, 2016). Quality management has to be identified through the activities of all employees and the processes of the whole life cycle, but not just the results or recent achievements. Ishikawa stressed that improvements could be possible only in case all stakeholders, including ordinary managers, leaders, controllers, and customers are involved. Leaders have to be responsible for the majority of activities in their organizations.
Still, they should not believe that decision making is the core of any organizational process. Ishikawa underlined that customer satisfaction and the possibility to meet the needs of customers had to guide companies. Management and decision making should be determined by what customers may want. Therefore, communication and discussions are necessary for modern companies, and Ishikawa’s influence on organizational performance remains a crucial step in development.
Ishikawa’s impact is impressive in the field of total quality management. This theorist showed how to use the experiences of other people and make personal contributions to quality, management, and performance. He developed a new diagram and followed the already given standards. His example is a good lesson for future researchers, potential theorists, and ordinary employees.
References
Jones, E. (2014). Quality management for organizations using lean six sigma techniques. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Kiran, D.R. (2017). Total quality management: Key concepts and case studies. Cambridge, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Neyestani, B. (2017). Principles and contributions of total quality management (TQM) gurus on business quality improvement. Web.
O’Donohue, W., & Maragakis, A. (Eds.). (2016). Quality improvement in behavioral health. New York, NY: Springer.
SkyMark. (2017). Kaoru Ishikawa: One step further. Web.
Tran, D.N., & Bero, L.A. (2015). Barriers and facilitators to the quality use of essential medicines for maternal health in low-resource countries: An Ishikawa framework. Journal of Global Health, 5(1). Web.