Summary
Authors of the article – Angel R. Martinez, Lorente Frank Dewhurst, and Barrie G. Date. The article was written in 1998. The article’s central concern and its relation to International Business Course
The broad area covered in this article is the origins of the term Total Quality Management (TQM) and a clarification on the divergent definitions of the term TQM offered by business academics and practitioners, highlighting the specific contributions made by the key proponents towards the development of the term TQM.
The main dimensions, components, practices and mechanisms of TQM are also explored with a comparative analogy on how they have been integrated in different business cultures.
This relates TQM to quality management tools and techniques, in that it has erected a standardized quality assurance platform upon which both national and international business corporations and institutions can be gauged, to ensure customer satisfaction, employee motivation at optimal production cost.
This article talks about the origins, development and applications of both conventional and upcoming quality management dimensions to guarantee customer satisfaction and optimal production cost. I like this article; this is due to the fact that it embraces a holistic approach to management practices which provide an avenue for quality assurance and business proficiency.
Key learning points
- Origins of TQM
- Components of TQM
- Benchmarking
- Quality control
- development of TQM
- Cultural differences
- TQM gurus
As a corollary in the analysis of the origins and evolution of the term total quality management, the central concern is the incorporation of quality management components in every corporate institute for quality assurance.
The relevant statements to the article
In the global marketplace increased levels of competition have resulted in quality becoming of increasing importance to organizations and consequently total quality management (TQM) has become a key management issue.
This highlights the strategic utility value of TQM in perfecting corporate efficiency, competitiveness and survival in the business arena.
It can be argued that many of the TQM dimensions outlined in Table 1 were being applied by organizations before the TQM movement appeared; consequently, it is not easy to establish the exact date of birth of the term TQM.
Perhaps, the main reason for the origin of the term TQM could be a substitution ion the previously used tern of total quality control (TQC), the word “control” by “management” with the reasoning that quality is not just a matter of control, it has to be managed.
These two statements describe the progressive and sequential historical development of TQM, from the informal deliberative stage of 1960s to the current concrete TQM concept.
In the USA the development of quality management resulted from the penetration of its markets by Japanese products which started in the 1970s, together with the impact of the writings of Crosby, Deming, Feigenbaum and Juran.
Japanese companies have developed their own approach to TQC, based on the teachings of Deming and Juran, shaping it to suit their own culture and operating environment along with the development of a new set of tools, techniques and operating systems.
A brief comparison of the ideas of these five quality gurus (Crosby, Deming, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa and Juran) in relation to the TQM dimensions that were introduced in table (I) is made in table (IV).
It can be seen that the need of top management support and the importance of management support and the importance of customer relationship is shared by all. Bench-marking is not considered by any of them, perhaps because this technique came to the fore when they already had a well-proven approach to quality management.
The three preceding statements point at the collaborative role of quality gurus facilitating cultural transfer of quality management concepts around the globe.
This paper has considered the evolution of the elements, practices and mechanisms that define TQM. It has been shown that, while the term TQM only began to be popularized in the second half of the 1980s, many of the elements that have shaped it were developed early, during the 1950s to 1970s.
Most theoretical developments in the advancement of the concept have been made in the USA whereas Japan has held the initiative in terms of application.
The paper also indicated a lack of a total agreement about how to apply TQM, as supported by the differences in the views of the leading quality management gurus. For example, the need for focus on workforce management is widely accepted but the proposed ways in which to apply this form of management are different.
Other elements of TQM, such as benchmarking and supply chain management, are not considered in any detail by the shapers of the TQM concept.
Differences in the application TQM amongst different countries also appear to exist. Since the culture of the company influences the approach to the application of TQM, different countries with different cultures apply TQM in different ways. However as we approach the end of the century economies and societies are becoming increasingly inter-related and these differences are diminishing.
These three preceding statements sum up the historical evolution in the development of TQM.
Critical analysis
Yes, I am happy about what I have read. This is because, this seminal work is comprehensive in its exposition on the; origins, stages of development, components, practices and cultural transfer of top quality management (TQM) in the business fraternity.
TQM has proved to be a fitting tool of leverage between corporate profit maximization drive and the inherent consumer satisfaction desires, by ensuring that every corporation meets certain threshold quality assurance standards. The elucidation of the components of top quality management, embraces a holistic approach- universally acclaimed- to institutional and business quality checks and balances.
Nonetheless, the paper does not highlight the current noble areas of achievement upon the implementation of TQM in business and corporate entities, thus the taste of authenticity and applicability in the business platform is missing to a certain measure.
Applying the subject of the article to a real life business case
TQM can be employed by business managers and executives in providing a leading role quality assurance; whereby strategic and effective decisions would be made concerning employee motivation, customer satisfaction and the central aim of optimized business profit gains.
Employing the statistical tools in the product design process, quality data sampling and reporting in businesses ensure mistake proof process flow and an informed awareness on the viability of business ventures- cushioning the business against unforeseen risks.
The establishment of a quality assurance department in any business does provide the necessary; link between the executive and employees, cross-cutting monitory services for all the departments of the business, thus, ensuring quality service delivery to all the stakeholders of the business.
What I have learned
I have established the origin, development and the various components of TQM from this article. The article has opened my horizons on the cultural impact and collaboration on the development of TQM as a global concept in managerial practices.
Practicing executives can harness the seminal propositions advanced in this TQM article by taking the market advantage through offering quality services to their clients.