Total Quality Management

10546 Words43 Pages
What Are the Differences Between Product Quality & Total Quality Management? by Walter Johnson, Demand Media Since the late 1960s, the practice of total quality management has developed as a separate field within business. Its purpose is to integrate quality issues and concerns into the entire firm considered as a unit. The firm is seen as a single thing with the one goal of making and maintaining high-quality goods and services. As the global economy opened up after World War II and international competition became fierce, quality issues became more significant. It was quality that gave a firm a competitive edge. Management Total quality management, often referred to as TQM, is an integrated approach to product quality. The difference between it and product quality is its scope. TQM deals with the entire process of production. The main thesis of the approach is that all elements of a firm are connected. To make a quality product, all aspects of a firm must be constantly striving for improvement. Everything from accounting to the work environment all has a part to play in creating quality goods and services. Process One of the more important aspects of TQM is that quality is not seen as a state of affairs, but as a process. In manufacturing medicines, for example, a chemical company must hire quality workers and constantly maintain the expertise of personnel. The employees must be well paid and paid on time. The environment must be conducive to focused work. The employees should be empowered to seek out problems and suggest solutions. Quality is the overall goal of the firm, rather than being the state of the product manufactured. According to TQM theory, the quality of the product manufactured is identical to the nature of the process that creates it. Limitations Focus on product quality is a more limited approach to quality issues. In such a
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