case study in tqm

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Total quality management: three case studies from around the world

With organisations to run and big orders to fill, it’s easy to see how some ceos inadvertently sacrifice quality for quantity. by integrating a system of total quality management it’s possible to have both.

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There are few boardrooms in the world whose inhabitants don’t salivate at the thought of engaging in a little aggressive expansion. After all, there’s little room in a contemporary, fast-paced business environment for any firm whose leaders don’t subscribe to ambitions of bigger factories, healthier accounts and stronger turnarounds. Yet too often such tales of excess go hand-in-hand with complaints of a severe drop in quality.

Food and entertainment markets are riddled with cautionary tales, but service sectors such as health and education aren’t immune to the disappointing by-products of unsustainable growth either. As always, the first steps in avoiding a catastrophic forsaking of quality begins with good management.

There are plenty of methods and models geared at managing the quality of a particular company’s goods or services. Yet very few of those models take into consideration the widely held belief that any company is only as strong as its weakest link. With that in mind, management consultant William Deming developed an entirely new set of methods with which to address quality.

Deming, whose managerial work revolutionised the titanic Japanese manufacturing industry, perceived quality management to be more of a philosophy than anything else. Top-to-bottom improvement, he reckoned, required uninterrupted participation of all key employees and stakeholders. Thus, the total quality management (TQM) approach was born.

All in Similar to the Six Sigma improvement process, TQM ensures long-term success by enforcing all-encompassing internal guidelines and process standards to reduce errors. By way of serious, in-depth auditing – as well as some well-orchestrated soul-searching – TQM ensures firms meet stakeholder needs and expectations efficiently and effectively, without forsaking ethical values.

By opting to reframe the way employees think about the company’s goals and processes, TQM allows CEOs to make sure certain things are done right from day one. According to Teresa Whitacre, of international consulting firm ASQ , proper quality management also boosts a company’s profitability.

“Total quality management allows the company to look at their management system as a whole entity — not just an output of the quality department,” she says. “Total quality means the organisation looks at all inputs, human resources, engineering, production, service, distribution, sales, finance, all functions, and their impact on the quality of all products or services of the organisation. TQM can improve a company’s processes and bottom line.”

Embracing the entire process sees companies strive to improve in several core areas, including: customer focus, total employee involvement, process-centred thinking, systematic approaches, good communication and leadership and integrated systems. Yet Whitacre is quick to point out that companies stand to gain very little from TQM unless they’re willing to go all-in.

“Companies need to consider the inputs of each department and determine which inputs relate to its governance system. Then, the company needs to look at the same inputs and determine if those inputs are yielding the desired results,” she says. “For example, ISO 9001 requires management reviews occur at least annually. Aside from minimum standard requirements, the company is free to review what they feel is best for them. While implementing TQM, they can add to their management review the most critical metrics for their business, such as customer complaints, returns, cost of products, and more.”

The customer knows best: AtlantiCare TQM isn’t an easy management strategy to introduce into a business; in fact, many attempts tend to fall flat. More often than not, it’s because firms maintain natural barriers to full involvement. Middle managers, for example, tend to complain their authority is being challenged when boots on the ground are encouraged to speak up in the early stages of TQM. Yet in a culture of constant quality enhancement, the views of any given workforce are invaluable.

AtlantiCare in numbers

5,000 Employees

$280m Profits before quality improvement strategy was implemented

$650m Profits after quality improvement strategy

One firm that’s proven the merit of TQM is New Jersey-based healthcare provider AtlantiCare . Managing 5,000 employees at 25 locations, AtlantiCare is a serious business that’s boasted a respectable turnaround for nearly two decades. Yet in order to increase that margin further still, managers wanted to implement improvements across the board. Because patient satisfaction is the single-most important aspect of the healthcare industry, engaging in a renewed campaign of TQM proved a natural fit. The firm chose to adopt a ‘plan-do-check-act’ cycle, revealing gaps in staff communication – which subsequently meant longer patient waiting times and more complaints. To tackle this, managers explored a sideways method of internal communications. Instead of information trickling down from top-to-bottom, all of the company’s employees were given freedom to provide vital feedback at each and every level.

AtlantiCare decided to ensure all new employees understood this quality culture from the onset. At orientation, staff now receive a crash course in the company’s performance excellence framework – a management system that organises the firm’s processes into five key areas: quality, customer service, people and workplace, growth and financial performance. As employees rise through the ranks, this emphasis on improvement follows, so managers can operate within the company’s tight-loose-tight process management style.

After creating benchmark goals for employees to achieve at all levels – including better engagement at the point of delivery, increasing clinical communication and identifying and prioritising service opportunities – AtlantiCare was able to thrive. The number of repeat customers at the firm tripled, and its market share hit a six-year high. Profits unsurprisingly followed. The firm’s revenues shot up from $280m to $650m after implementing the quality improvement strategies, and the number of patients being serviced dwarfed state numbers.

Hitting the right notes: Santa Cruz Guitar Co For companies further removed from the long-term satisfaction of customers, it’s easier to let quality control slide. Yet there are plenty of ways in which growing manufacturers can pursue both quality and sales volumes simultaneously. Artisan instrument makers the Santa Cruz Guitar Co (SCGC) prove a salient example. Although the California-based company is still a small-scale manufacturing operation, SCGC has grown in recent years from a basement operation to a serious business.

SCGC in numbers

14 Craftsmen employed by SCGC

800 Custom guitars produced each year

Owner Dan Roberts now employs 14 expert craftsmen, who create over 800 custom guitars each year. In order to ensure the continued quality of his instruments, Roberts has created an environment that improves with each sale. To keep things efficient (as TQM must), the shop floor is divided into six workstations in which guitars are partially assembled and then moved to the next station. Each bench is manned by a senior craftsman, and no guitar leaves that builder’s station until he is 100 percent happy with its quality. This product quality is akin to a traditional assembly line; however, unlike a traditional, top-to-bottom factory, Roberts is intimately involved in all phases of instrument construction.

Utilising this doting method of quality management, it’s difficult to see how customers wouldn’t be satisfied with the artists’ work. Yet even if there were issues, Roberts and other senior management also spend much of their days personally answering web queries about the instruments. According to the managers, customers tend to be pleasantly surprised to find the company’s senior leaders are the ones answering their technical questions and concerns. While Roberts has no intentions of taking his manufacturing company to industrial heights, the quality of his instruments and high levels of customer satisfaction speak for themselves; the company currently boasts one lengthy backlog of orders.

A quality education: Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies Although it may appear easier to find success with TQM at a boutique-sized endeavour, the philosophy’s principles hold true in virtually every sector. Educational institutions, for example, have utilised quality management in much the same way – albeit to tackle decidedly different problems.

The global financial crisis hit higher education harder than many might have expected, and nowhere have the odds stacked higher than in India. The nation plays home to one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for business education. Yet over recent years, the relevance of business education in India has come into question. A report by one recruiter recently asserted just one in four Indian MBAs were adequately prepared for the business world.

RIMS in numbers

9% Increase in test scores post total quality management strategy

22% Increase in number of recruiters hiring from the school

20,000 Increase in the salary offered to graduates

50,000 Rise in placement revenue

At the Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies (RIMS) in Bangalore, recruiters and accreditation bodies specifically called into question the quality of students’ educations. Although the relatively small school has always struggled to compete with India’s renowned Xavier Labour Research Institute, the faculty finally began to notice clear hindrances in the success of graduates. The RIMS board decided it was time for a serious reassessment of quality management.

The school nominated Chief Academic Advisor Dr Krishnamurthy to head a volunteer team that would audit, analyse and implement process changes that would improve quality throughout (all in a particularly academic fashion). The team was tasked with looking at three key dimensions: assurance of learning, research and productivity, and quality of placements. Each member underwent extensive training to learn about action plans, quality auditing skills and continuous improvement tools – such as the ‘plan-do-study-act’ cycle.

Once faculty members were trained, the team’s first task was to identify the school’s key stakeholders, processes and their importance at the institute. Unsurprisingly, the most vital processes were identified as student intake, research, knowledge dissemination, outcomes evaluation and recruiter acceptance. From there, Krishnamurthy’s team used a fishbone diagram to help identify potential root causes of the issues plaguing these vital processes. To illustrate just how bad things were at the school, the team selected control groups and administered domain-based knowledge tests.

The deficits were disappointing. A RIMS students’ knowledge base was rated at just 36 percent, while students at Harvard rated 95 percent. Likewise, students’ critical thinking abilities rated nine percent, versus 93 percent at MIT. Worse yet, the mean salaries of graduating students averaged $36,000, versus $150,000 for students from Kellogg. Krishnamurthy’s team had their work cut out.

To tackle these issues, Krishnamurthy created an employability team, developed strategic architecture and designed pilot studies to improve the school’s curriculum and make it more competitive. In order to do so, he needed absolutely every employee and student on board – and there was some resistance at the onset. Yet the educator asserted it didn’t actually take long to convince the school’s stakeholders the changes were extremely beneficial.

“Once students started seeing the results, buy-in became complete and unconditional,” he says. Acceptance was also achieved by maintaining clearer levels of communication with stakeholders. The school actually started to provide shareholders with detailed plans and projections. Then, it proceeded with a variety of new methods, such as incorporating case studies into the curriculum, which increased general test scores by almost 10 percent. Administrators also introduced a mandate saying students must be certified in English by the British Council – increasing scores from 42 percent to 51 percent.

By improving those test scores, the perceived quality of RIMS skyrocketed. The number of top 100 businesses recruiting from the school shot up by 22 percent, while the average salary offers graduates were receiving increased by $20,000. Placement revenue rose by an impressive $50,000, and RIMS has since skyrocketed up domestic and international education tables.

No matter the business, total quality management can and will work. Yet this philosophical take on quality control will only impact firms that are in it for the long haul. Every employee must be in tune with the company’s ideologies and desires to improve, and customer satisfaction must reign supreme.

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Total quality management in the health-care context: integrating the literature and directing future research

Majdi m alzoubi.

1 Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, 43400, Malaysia

ZM Al-Hamdan

2 Department of Nursing Management, Faculty of Nursing, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan

Synergistic integration of predictors and elements that determine the success of total quality management (TQM) implementations in hospitals has been the bane of theoretical development in the TQM research area. Thus, this paper aims to offer a systematic literature review to provide a foundation on which research on TQM can be built and to identify the predictors of successful TQM in the health-care context.

Materials and methods

A systematic literature survey was adopted in this paper, involving the review of 25 relevant researched articles found in the databases Science Direct, EBSCO, MEDLINE, CINAHL and PubMed.

The systematic literature survey reveals five variables to be core predictors of TQM, signifying how important these variables are in the successful implementation of TQM in the health-care context. Also, it is revealed that the identified core predictors have positive effects on an improved health-care system. However, the systematic survey of the literature reveals a dearth of studies on TQM in the health-care context.

As TQM has become an important management approach for advancing effectiveness in the health-care sector, this kind of research is of value to researchers and managers. Stakeholders in the health sectors should introduce and implement TQM in hospitals and clinics. Nevertheless, this study has limitations, including that the databases and search engines adopted for the literature search are not exhaustive.

Introduction

Given the snowballing global economic competition and other external pressures, organizations have been compelled to pursue enduring quality and quality management which will, in turn, enhance their competitive advantage. Quality as a concept has metamorphosed over the years, and it involves objective quality bordering on the characteristics and quality of goods and services that meet implicit and explicit customer demands. It also includes subjective quality which denotes the capability to produce goods and services in the best, effective and efficient manner. 1

Looking at the health-care context, quality has always been aimed at since the time of Florence Nightingale. 2 Given that quality assurance is a requisite for economic survival, 3 and that it is an ethical, legal and social rights matter, 4 the health sector has been worried about it for more than a decade .2 Quality assurance is significant as it concerns customer satisfaction and the reduction of risks connected with health care to a minimum. 5 In the present time, health care has become a developing profession with an approach to care quality via the appraisal and regulation of structure, process and care result components. 6

Given the ever-increasing competitive and dynamic environment in which hospitals operate, and the need to augment hospitals’ performance and health-care quality, researchers 2 , 7 – 9 have conducted considerable research on enhancement of health-care quality. Moreover, given that nurse performance is crucial to the overall performance of the hospital and effective health-care system, there has been a research focus on nurse performance. 7 Nurses represent a large percentage of the health workers in any hospital. Nurses would play a significant role in the implementation of any intervention programs introduced by any hospital.

Moreover, research 8 – 11 has shown that the health-care system is facing a myriad of challenges which include high care cost, swiftly increasing dependence on technology, economic pressure on health organizations, reduction in health-care quality, 8 , 10 fulfillment of patients’ needs, 9 augmented numbers of patients who are suffering from multiple illnesses, increased demand for high-quality care, increased health-care costs and cost-containment pressures (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] 2007). 11 Some studies have indicated that an active way of surmounting health-care challenges is through an intervention program that will border on quality management (eg, total quality management [TQM]). 12

TQM is a system implemented by the management of an organization to achieve the satisfaction of customers/patients .13 The importance of TQM as a strategy to improve organizational performance has grown in this era of globalization. 14 Numerous research has revealed the role of TQM in the enrichment of system quality and enhancement of both employee and organizational performance. TQM is known for continuous quality improvement, quality management and total quality control. 10 TQM is held to be an innovative approach to the management of organizations. In the medical sector, TQM integrates quality orientation in all processes and procedures in health-care delivery .15 It is now being widely adopted in the medical sector of many countries. The research by Vituri and Évora 2 indicates that the literature on TQM in health sectors reveals that TQM has been fully adopted in some health institutions.

The implementation of TQM, upon which the success of TQM hinges, is intricate and complex; it depends on a good combination of certain predictors (ie, critical success factors [CSF]), and its benefits are difficult to accomplish .16 Different means of integrating predictors of TQM, although inconsistent, have emerged in the literature. 17 Some predictors have been considered crucial to TQM success, 18 and thus the exceptional predictors which can be adopted by organizations, irrespective of their industry, type, size or location. 19 These predictors are regarded as the determinants of firm performance via effective implementation of TQM.

Nevertheless, synergistic integration of predictors and elements, otherwise known as CSFs and which determine the success of TQM implementation, has been the bane of theoretical development in the TQM research area. Some of these predictors have been reported, by extant studies, 20 to have a positive impact on performance.

Likewise, substantive problems exist and can hamper theoretical development in the research area. The literature lacks foundation and structure on which the research on TQM in the health-care context is based, and connections between studies on TQM in the health-care context can hardly be drawn. The current state of extant research on TQM in the health-care context indicates that there is a need for more research in the area. 21 New knowledge development regarding identification of fitting predictors for successful TQM that enhance effectiveness in the health-care sector should be developed and where further research needs to be done should be identified.

Considering the extant works on a systematic literature review on predictors of TQM, two English written studies 14 , 22 are discernible, but Hietschold et al 14 focused on CSFs of TQM in general contexts while Aquilani et al 22 focused on the identification of TQM research, implementation of TQM research and impact-of-TQM-on-performance research in general contexts. Besides these two studies, no studies have focused on the systematic literature survey of predictors/elements of TQM in the health-care context.

Therefore, undertaking a systematic literature review in this aspect of research is germane, and this paper is poised to do as such. This paper conducts a systematic literature survey to provide a foundation stone on which research on TQM in the health-care context can be built, to evaluate the current state of evidence for TQM in the health-care context, to reveal inadequacies in the literature and to point to where further research needs to be done.

This research is guided by the following research question: what are the predictors of successful TQM in the health-care context between the period of 2005 and 2016? Like the two previous studies on a systematic literature review of TQM, this paper adopts and applies the three core steps of planning, execution and reporting that constitute a systematic literature survey. 23

This research seeks to obtain the most important predictors of successful TQM in the health-care context. This includes the review of published peer-reviewed works in English-language journals, which were published between 2005 and 2016. The literature was sourced from Science Direct, EBSCO, MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online), CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature) and PubMed (US National Library of Medicine).

As part of the process of systematic literature analysis in this paper, a structured search of the academic literature was conducted to find published articles that identified TQM, total quality management, implementation, CSFs, health care and nursing. The keywords used in the search are TQM, total quality management, implementation, critical success factors, health care and nursing.

As presented in Figure 1 , a search of Science Direct, MEDLINE, EBSCO, CINAHL and PubMed yielded 2133, 6341, 1867, 7 and 474 articles, respectively. Then, repeated citations, dissertations and case studies were deleted. Via reading of the title and abstract, the remaining articles were narrowed down by relevance. Only peer-reviewed academic and practice articles that focus on total quality management, implementation, CSFs health care and nursing were selected. This exercise yielded a total of 475 articles which were published between 2005 and 2016.

Consort flow chart of systematic review method.

Abbreviation: TQM, total quality management.

Furthermore, inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to narrow down the yielded articles. The inclusion criteria involved articles which were written in English language and published between 2005 and 2016, articles that dwell on implementation and critical factors clearly, articles from any geographical location which examined TQM, TQM principles, TQM tools and methods in the context of the health-care sector, and TQM studies that used a quantitative research approach and quasi-experimental research design. The exclusion criteria involved articles which are written in non-English language and published before 2005 or after 2016, studies in which the population and sample were not health-care workers practicing inside hospitals, gray literature or works that are not published in a peer-reviewed journal, dissertations/theses, proceedings, published abstracts, studies with qualitative research methods, and commentary articles written to convey opinion or stimulate research or discussion, with no research component. By employing these inclusion and exclusion criteria, 20 articles were generated. Moreover, to guarantee all-inclusiveness and to widen the scope of the review, a forward and backward search of citations in articles was conducted. This was recognized via the database searches, and 25 articles were finally selected. Thereafter, the 25 generated articles were fully perused.

Likewise, for exhaustive research, the approach adopted in this paper also involved the identification and measurement of predictors (CSFs) of TQM. This was done by identifying the most common or important predictors in the selected 25 works that analyze the existing models and/or scales in other contexts, industries or countries. It also includes recognition of the papers that investigate the influence of TQM implementation and/or the impact of predictors of TQM on performance. Additionally, for a proper review of the selected works, adequate plotting of the development of the line of reasoning, integrating and synthesizing the studies, authors, study design, study population, variables, measures of variables and findings of each selected article were identified and noted down. Figure 1 represents the consort flow chart of the systematic review method.

Findings and discussion

Altogether, 25 researched articles were eventually reviewed. All of the selected 25 articles are based on empirical evidence, although a possible limitation of this systematic review strategy might be the exclusion of qualitative studies in the research. Based on Table 1 , five predictors were identified. These are presented in Table 2 .

Matrix of the reviewed literature

Abbreviations: HR, human resources; TQM, total quality management.

TQM predictors in the reviewed studies

The researched literature on predictors of successful TQM implementation was found to be from various countries but in the same health sector. While some predictors adopted by a few of the researched studies were identified, the most frequent and core predictors were identified and considered. As depicted in Table 2 , education and training, continuous quality improvement, patient focus/satisfaction, top management commitment and teamwork appear to be the core predictors (CSFs) in this review. This finding validates how important these variables are in the successful implementation of TQM in the health-care context.

It is noteworthy that the core predictors (ie, education and training, continuous quality improvement, patient focus/satisfaction, top management commitment and teamwork) identified in this study were among the variables found to be central and frequently used CSFs in the previous systematic-review-based studies. 14 , 21 This validates and confirms the findings of the previous studies.

Moreover, it is found that the most adopted research method in TQM in the health-care context is cross-sectional research; 56% of the reviewed researched articles 41 – 46 used a cross-sectional research design, but 32% of the studies employed a quasi-experimental research approach. This indicates that there is still a need for more research on TQM in the health-care context which will adopt a quasi-experimental research approach, because quasi-experimental research design can be very useful in recognizing general trends from the results, and reduces the difficulty and ethical worries that may be connected with the pre-selection and random assignment of test subjects. On the geographical location aspect, the result of this analysis showed that 28% of the reviewed studies were conducted in Iran while 20% of the reviewed studies were conducted in Jordan; 12% and 8% of the reviewed studies were conducted in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, respectively. The other studies, 4% each, came from India, Namibia, Turkey, the United States, France and Mauritius.

With regards to the influence of predictors on performance in the researched studies, it is found that all of the selected articles 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ,. 51 that examined the effects of the core predictors (continuous quality improvement, education and training, patient focus/satisfaction, top management commitment and teamwork) of TQM indicate a positive effect of TQM in the health-care sector.

More so, the findings of this review signify that predictors of TQM implementation will result in higher levels of nurse performance .51 In addition, the literature and empirical evidence have shown that TQM in an organizational process always results in better performance of the organization. TQM focuses on patient satisfaction, organization problem identification, building and promotion of open decision-making among employees. It embraces a holistic strategy that gives room for every worker to share responsibility for the quality of the work done. It makes use of analytical mechanisms, such as flow and statistical charts and checksheets, to gather information about activities in an organization. 52 In the medical sector, TQM aims at embedding orientation of quality in all processes and procedures in the delivery of health services .15

Nevertheless, this literature survey is not an exhaustive review of the literature on TQM as it solely focused on the effect of TQM. Future research should widen the scope of this paper by including studies conducted in other contexts (eg, education, manufacturing, etc) and studies that use different research methods (eg, longitudinal research method, randomized control trial method). While TQM predictors have increased in number to reach a total of 59 TQM practices, 21 TQM predictors in the context of health care are few but growing. Investigating the nature of TQM predictors and the methods used in examining them indicates that researchers may have been keen in searching for new predictors instead of trying to cluster them and identify those that are critical for successful TQM implementation. In addition, research on TQM predictors in the health-care sector is scanty, as noted previously.

Practically, given the identified core TQM predictors in this study, it is evident that hospitals’ management should consider entrenchment of continuous quality improvement, education and training, patient focus/satisfaction top management commitment and teamwork in the implementation of TQM, which will consequently enhance hospital performance. Given that TQM predictors are many and some of them have been considered core in several specific contexts, industries, dimensions, etc, it is held that stakeholders in different sectors/industries should begin to identify the most vital TQM practices that suit their situations, goals, strategies and expected performances.

TQM Case Study: Newspaper Focuses on Customer Service

Published: February 26, 2010 by Niraj Goyal

Quality in the total quality management (TQM) method is defined as customer delight. Customers are delighted when their needs are met or exceeded. The needs of the customer are:

• Product quality
• Delivery quality
• Service quality

Improving customer service was the focus of two projects within the deployment of TQM in a mid-sized newspaper in India. This is the second piece in a three-part series of articles featuring case studies from that deployment; Part 1 of the series featured projects leading to improvements in product quality. Part 3 looks at supply-chain improvements.

Reducing Advertisement Processing Time

The newspaper closed its window for booking advertisements at 4 p.m. every day. However, many of the newspaper’s advertisers expressed that they would be delighted if this limit could be extended to 5 p.m., as they were not able to send ad materials on time for the 4 p.m. deadline.

The TQM leaders formed a team consisting of representatives from each link in the ad-processing chain of work. The team attended a two-day quality-mindset program to expose them to the concepts of TQM and also to open their minds about experimenting with change.

Defining the Problem

In TQM, problems are defined as Problem = Desire – Current status . Therefore, in this case:

Problem = Desired closing time – Current closing time = 5 p.m. – 4 p.m. = 60 minutes

The 4 p.m. deadline had been instituted because:

• Deadline for sending the ad pages to the press was 6:30 p.m.
• Standard cycle time for processing ads into pages was 2.5 hours

Achieving a 5 p.m. ad closure deadline meant reducing the standard ad processing time by 40 percent, or one hour. To define the current state, the actual time spent preparing pages to go to press was collected over several days.

Defining the metric: If T = (page processing time – page-to-press deadline) , then for 99.7 percent on-time delivery, or 3 sigma performance, the average T + 3 standard deviations of T should be less than 0.

Measure the current state: The ad closing deadline could not be delayed by an hour without delaying the dispatch of the newspaper to press by an equivalent amount. Therefore, the current state was calculated by measuring the delay compared to a notional 5:30 p.m. dispatch time rather than the actual deadline of 6:30 p.m. Calculations showed that:

• Average T = 72 minutes
• Average T + 3 sigma of T = 267 minutes

The problem was defined: reduce 267 minutes to less than 0 minutes.

Analyzing the Problem

The team monitored the time spent on each activity of the ad process (Table 1).

During the 4 to 4:30 p.m. period, ads received at the last minute were still being processed. At 4:30 p.m., the material was dumped into the layout for pagination , meaning arrangement on the newspaper pages using software and manual corrections. To achieve the objective of a 5 p.m. ad content deadline, the pagination time had to be reduced.

Brainstorming why pagination took two hours produced three possible major reasons:

• Error correction
• Delayed receipt of ad material for a booked ad
• Last-minute updates from advertiser

All this work was carried out after the last ad was submitted. Team members suggested that if ads were released for pagination earlier, removing errors could begin simultaneously with the processing of the last ads in order to reduce cycle time. They agreed to give two early outputs at 3:30 and 4 p.m., before the final dump at 4:30 p.m.

Testing the Ideas

The process was repeated four times (Table 3).

Checking the Results

Nine weeks of continuous implementation yielded dramatic improvement. Average processing time was reduced by an hour, from 72 minutes to 12 minutes. However, the level of variability, although 50 percent lower, was still unacceptable. Analysis of the variability showed that it was largely due to slip-ups in implementing the SOPs.

Standardizing Controls

The team used an x-bar control chart (Figure 1) to monitor and improve performance regularly.

Gradually the performance improved. Two months after implementation, delivery time had progressed from 267 minutes late to 12 minutes early. The deadline for receiving ads could now be relaxed to 5 p.m., delighting the advertisers.

Reducing Customer Complaints

Management indicated that the number of credit notes given to advertisers was too high. Credit notes, issued to rectify errors made in sales invoices, were used to fend off considerable customer annoyance. But this system caused trouble for the paper. Besides increasing non-value-added work, credit notes sometimes resulted in financial loss because customers could use the credit toward ads that had already been booked as sales.

During the previous 12 months, the newspaper had received 80 credit notes per week. The team agreed to try to reduce that number by 50 percent in Phase 1.

Finding the Root Causes

About 200 credit notes were examined to determine why they had been issued. Categorization of the causes was charted in a Pareto (Figure 2).

Three causes constituted 84 percent of the problem:

• Wrong billing – 46 percent
• Wrong rate – 24 percent
• Wrong material used – 14 percent

Table 4 shows the root causes of a majority of the credits issued, determined using the 5 Whys method, and their corresponding countermeasures.

The team tested the ideas, which resulted in an 80 percent reduction in credit notes, from 80 per week to 14 per week. The process was adopted in regular operation, and the results were documented and presented to senior management.

Change in Thinking

TQM often leads to radical changes in employee mindsets. The improvements resulting from the two customer service-related projects helped to create a team environment in which any change idea is easily accepted, tested and – if it works – implemented.

About the Author

Niraj Goyal

The TQM Journal

• Submit your paper
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Before you start

For queries relating to the status of your paper pre decision, please contact the Editor or Journal Editorial Office. For queries post acceptance, please contact the Supplier Project Manager. These details can be found in the Editorial Team section.

Author responsibilities

Our goal is to provide you with a professional and courteous experience at each stage of the review and publication process. There are also some responsibilities that sit with you as the author. Our expectation is that you will:

• Respond swiftly to any queries during the publication process.
• Be accountable for all aspects of your work. This includes investigating and resolving any questions about accuracy or research integrity .
• Treat communications between you and the journal editor as confidential until an editorial decision has been made.
• Include anyone who has made a substantial and meaningful contribution to the submission (anyone else involved in the paper should be listed in the acknowledgements).
• Exclude anyone who hasn’t contributed to the paper, or who has chosen not to be associated with the research.
• In accordance with COPE’s position statement on AI tools , Large Language Models cannot be credited with authorship as they are incapable of conceptualising a research design without human direction and cannot be accountable for the integrity, originality, and validity of the published work. The author(s) must describe the content created or modified as well as appropriately cite the name and version of the AI tool used; any additional works drawn on by the AI tool should also be appropriately cited and referenced. Standard tools that are used to improve spelling and grammar are not included within the parameters of this guidance. The Editor and Publisher reserve the right to determine whether the use of an AI tool is permissible.
• If your article involves human participants, you must ensure you have considered whether or not you require ethical approval for your research, and include this information as part of your submission. Find out more about informed consent .

Generative AI usage key principles

• Copywriting any part of an article using a generative AI tool/LLM would not be permissible, including the generation of the abstract or the literature review, for as per Emerald’s authorship criteria, the author(s) must be responsible for the work and accountable for its accuracy, integrity, and validity.
• The generation or reporting of results using a generative AI tool/LLM is not permissible, for as per Emerald’s authorship criteria, the author(s) must be responsible for the creation and interpretation of their work and accountable for its accuracy, integrity, and validity.
• The in-text reporting of statistics using a generative AI tool/LLM is not permissible due to concerns over the authenticity, integrity, and validity of the data produced, although the use of such a tool to aid in the analysis of the work would be permissible.
• Copy-editing an article using a generative AI tool/LLM in order to improve its language and readability would be permissible as this mirrors standard tools already employed to improve spelling and grammar, and uses existing author-created material, rather than generating wholly new content, while the author(s) remains responsible for the original work.
• The submission and publication of images created by AI tools or large-scale generative models is not permitted.

Research and publishing ethics

Our editors and employees work hard to ensure the content we publish is ethically sound. To help us achieve that goal, we closely follow the advice laid out in the guidelines and flowcharts on the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) website .

We have also developed our research and publishing ethics guidelines . If you haven’t already read these, we urge you to do so – they will help you avoid the most common publishing ethics issues.

A few key points:

• Any manuscript you submit to this journal should be original. That means it should not have been published before in its current, or similar, form. Exceptions to this rule are outlined in our pre-print and conference paper policies .  If any substantial element of your paper has been previously published, you need to declare this to the journal editor upon submission. Please note, the journal editor may use  Crossref Similarity Check  to check on the originality of submissions received. This service compares submissions against a database of 49 million works from 800 scholarly publishers.
• Your work should not have been submitted elsewhere and should not be under consideration by any other publication.
• If you have a conflict of interest, you must declare it upon submission; this allows the editor to decide how they would like to proceed. Read about conflict of interest in our research and publishing ethics guidelines .
• By submitting your work to Emerald, you are guaranteeing that the work is not in infringement of any existing copyright.

Third party copyright permissions

Prior to article submission, you need to ensure you’ve applied for, and received, written permission to use any material in your manuscript that has been created by a third party. Please note, we are unable to publish any article that still has permissions pending. The rights we require are:

• Non-exclusive rights to reproduce the material in the article or book chapter.
• Print and electronic rights.
• Worldwide English-language rights.
• To use the material for the life of the work. That means there should be no time restrictions on its re-use e.g. a one-year licence.

We are a member of the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers (STM) and participate in the STM permissions guidelines , a reciprocal free exchange of material with other STM publishers.  In some cases, this may mean that you don’t need permission to re-use content. If so, please highlight this at the submission stage.

Please take a few moments to read our guide to publishing permissions  to ensure you have met all the requirements, so that we can process your submission without delay.

Open access submissions and information

All our journals currently offer two open access (OA) publishing paths; gold open access and green open access.

If you would like to, or are required to, make the branded publisher PDF (also known as the version of record) freely available immediately upon publication, you can select the gold open access route once your paper is accepted. 

If you’ve chosen to publish gold open access, this is the point you will be asked to pay the APC (article processing charge) . This varies per journal and can be found on our APC price list or on the editorial system at the point of submission. Your article will be published with a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 user licence , which outlines how readers can reuse your work.

Alternatively, if you would like to, or are required to, publish open access but your funding doesn’t cover the cost of the APC, you can choose the green open access, or self-archiving, route. As soon as your article is published, you can make the author accepted manuscript (the version accepted for publication) openly available, free from payment and embargo periods.

You can find out more about our open access routes, our APCs and waivers and read our FAQs on our open research page. 

Find out about open

Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines

We are a signatory of the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines , a framework that supports the reproducibility of research through the adoption of transparent research practices. That means we encourage you to:

• Cite and fully reference all data, program code, and other methods in your article.
• Include persistent identifiers, such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), in references for datasets and program codes. Persistent identifiers ensure future access to unique published digital objects, such as a piece of text or datasets. Persistent identifiers are assigned to datasets by digital archives, such as institutional repositories and partners in the Data Preservation Alliance for the Social Sciences (Data-PASS).
• Follow appropriate international and national procedures with respect to data protection, rights to privacy and other ethical considerations, whenever you cite data. For further guidance please refer to our  research and publishing ethics guidelines . For an example on how to cite datasets, please refer to the references section below.

Prepare your submission

Manuscript support services.

We are pleased to partner with Editage, a platform that connects you with relevant experts in language support, translation, editing, visuals, consulting, and more. After you’ve agreed a fee, they will work with you to enhance your manuscript and get it submission-ready.

This is an optional service for authors who feel they need a little extra support. It does not guarantee your work will be accepted for review or publication.

Visit Editage

Manuscript requirements

Before you submit your manuscript, it’s important you read and follow the guidelines below. You will also find some useful tips in our structure your journal submission how-to guide.

Submit your manuscript

There are a number of key steps you should follow to ensure a smooth and trouble-free submission.

Double check your manuscript

Before submitting your work, it is your responsibility to check that the manuscript is complete, grammatically correct, and without spelling or typographical errors. A few other important points:

• Give the journal aims and scope a final read. Is your manuscript definitely a good fit? If it isn’t, the editor may decline it without peer review.
• Does your manuscript comply with our research and publishing ethics guidelines ?
• Have you cleared any necessary publishing permissions ?
• Have you followed all the formatting requirements laid out in these author guidelines?
• If you need to refer to your own work, use wording such as ‘previous research has demonstrated’ not ‘our previous research has demonstrated’.
• If you need to refer to your own, currently unpublished work, don’t include this work in the reference list.
• Any acknowledgments or author biographies should be uploaded as separate files.
• Carry out a final check to ensure that no author names appear anywhere in the manuscript. This includes in figures or captions.

You will find a helpful submission checklist on the website Think.Check.Submit .

The submission process

All manuscripts should be submitted through our editorial system by the corresponding author.

The only way to submit to the journal is through the journal’s ScholarOne site as accessed via the Emerald website, and not by email or through any third-party agent/company, journal representative, or website. Submissions should be done directly by the author(s) through the ScholarOne site and not via a third-party proxy on their behalf.

A separate author account is required for each journal you submit to. If this is your first time submitting to this journal, please choose the Create an account or Register now option in the editorial system. If you already have an Emerald login, you are welcome to reuse the existing username and password here.

Please note, the next time you log into the system, you will be asked for your username. This will be the email address you entered when you set up your account.

Don't forget to add your  ORCiD ID during the submission process. It will be embedded in your published article, along with a link to the ORCiD registry allowing others to easily match you with your work.

Don’t have one yet? It only takes a few moments to register for a free ORCiD identifier .

Visit the ScholarOne support centre  for further help and guidance.

What you can expect next

You will receive an automated email from the journal editor, confirming your successful submission. It will provide you with a manuscript number, which will be used in all future correspondence about your submission. If you have any reason to suspect the confirmation email you receive might be fraudulent, please contact the journal editor in the first instance.

Post submission

Review and decision process.

Each submission is checked by the editor. At this stage, they may choose to decline or unsubmit your manuscript if it doesn’t fit the journal aims and scope, or they feel the language/manuscript quality is too low.

If they think it might be suitable for the publication, they will send it to at least two independent referees for double anonymous peer review.  Once these reviewers have provided their feedback, the editor may decide to accept your manuscript, request minor or major revisions, or decline your work.

This journal offers an article transfer service. If the editor decides to decline your manuscript, either before or after peer review, they may offer to transfer it to a more relevant Emerald journal in this field. If you accept, your ScholarOne author account, and the accounts of your co-authors, will automatically transfer to the new journal, along with your manuscript and any accompanying peer review reports. However, you will still need to log in to ScholarOne to complete the submission process using your existing username and password. While accepting a transfer does not guarantee the receiving journal will publish your work, an editor will only suggest a transfer if they feel your article is a good fit with the new title.

While all journals work to different timescales, the goal is that the editor will inform you of their first decision within 60 days.

During this period, we will send you automated updates on the progress of your manuscript via our submission system, or you can log in to check on the current status of your paper.  Each time we contact you, we will quote the manuscript number you were given at the point of submission. If you receive an email that does not match these criteria, it could be fraudulent and we recommend you contact the journal editor in the first instance.

Manuscript transfer service

Emerald’s manuscript transfer service takes the pain out of the submission process if your manuscript doesn’t fit your initial journal choice. Our team of expert Editors from participating journals work together to identify alternative journals that better align with your research, ensuring your work finds the ideal publication home it deserves. Our dedicated team is committed to supporting authors like you in finding the right home for your research.

If a journal is participating in the manuscript transfer program, the Editor has the option to recommend your paper for transfer. If a transfer decision is made by the Editor, you will receive an email with the details of the recommended journal and the option to accept or reject the transfer. It’s always down to you as the author to decide if you’d like to accept. If you do accept, your paper and any reviewer reports will automatically be transferred to the recommended journals. Authors will then confirm resubmissions in the new journal’s ScholarOne system.

Our Manuscript Transfer Service page has more information on the process.

If your submission is accepted

Open access.

Once your paper is accepted, you will have the opportunity to indicate whether you would like to publish your paper via the gold open access route.

If you’ve chosen to publish gold open access, this is the point you will be asked to pay the APC (article processing charge).  This varies per journal and can be found on our APC price list or on the editorial system at the point of submission. Your article will be published with a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 user licence , which outlines how readers can reuse your work.

For UK journal article authors - if you wish to submit your work accepted by Emerald to REF 2021, you must make a ‘closed deposit’ of your accepted manuscript to your respective institutional repository upon acceptance of your article. Articles accepted for publication after 1st April 2018 should be deposited as soon as possible, but no later than three months after the acceptance date. For further information and guidance, please refer to the REF 2021 website.

All accepted authors are sent an email with a link to a licence form.  This should be checked for accuracy, for example whether contact and affiliation details are up to date and your name is spelled correctly, and then returned to us electronically. If there is a reason why you can’t assign copyright to us, you should discuss this with your journal content editor. You will find their contact details on the editorial team section above.

Proofing and typesetting

Once we have received your completed licence form, the article will pass directly into the production process. We will carry out editorial checks, copyediting, and typesetting and then return proofs to you (if you are the corresponding author) for your review. This is your opportunity to correct any typographical errors, grammatical errors or incorrect author details. We can’t accept requests to rewrite texts at this stage.

When the page proofs are finalised, the fully typeset and proofed version of record is published online. This is referred to as the EarlyCite version. While an EarlyCite article has yet to be assigned to a volume or issue, it does have a digital object identifier (DOI) and is fully citable. It will be compiled into an issue according to the journal’s issue schedule, with papers being added by chronological date of publication.

How to share your paper

Visit our author rights page  to find out how you can reuse and share your work.

To find tips on increasing the visibility of your published paper, read about  how to promote your work .

Correcting inaccuracies in your published paper

Sometimes errors are made during the research, writing and publishing processes. When these issues arise, we have the option of withdrawing the paper or introducing a correction notice. Find out more about our  article withdrawal and correction policies .

Need to make a change to the author list? See our frequently asked questions (FAQs) below.

Frequently asked questions

• Professor Maria Vincenza Ciasullo University of Salerno - Italy [email protected]
• Ciara Boardman Emerald Publishing - UK [email protected]

Journal Editorial Office (For queries related to pre-acceptance)

• Rehan Ismail Emerald Publishing [email protected]

Supplier Project Manager (For queries related to post-acceptance)

• Lalita Shree Lakshmanamoorthy Emerald Publishing [email protected]

Editorial Advisory Board

• Associate Professor Roslina Ab Wahid Universiti Teknologi Mara - Malaysia
• Dr. Selim Ahmed World University of Bangladesh - Bangladesh
• Professor Jiju Antony Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University - UK
• Dr Oluwayomi Babatunde University of the Witwatersrand - South Africa
• Professor Claudio Baccarani University of Verona - Italy
• Dr Surajit Bag Léonard de Vinci Pôle Universitaire - France
• Dr Samir Baidoun Birzeit University - Palestine
• Professor Stelian Brad Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Romania
• Professor Federico Brunetti University of Verona - Italy
• Dr Michele Cano-Kourouklis University of the West of Scotland - UK
• Dr Kuen-Suan Chen National Chin-Yi University of Technology - Taiwan
• Professor Andrea Chiarini University of Ferrara and Chiarini & Associates - Italy
• Dr Shirley Y Coleman Newcastle University - UK
• Professor Su Mi Dahlgaard-Park Lund University - Sweden
• Professor Kym Fraser University of South Australia - Australia
• Professor Thong Ngee Goh National University of Singapore - Singapore
• Professor Ida Gremyr Chalmers University of Technology - Sweden
• Professor John Hamilton James Cook University - Australia
• Professor Rajashekharaiah Jagadeesh SDM Institute for Management Development - India
• Professor Stanislav Karapetrovic University of Alberta - Canada
• Professor R. Karaszewski University of Nicholas Copernicus - Poland
• Professor Leander Klein The Federal University of Santa Maria - Brazil
• Dr Graeme Knowles University of Warwick - UK
• Professor Marc Lim Swinburne University of Technology (Sarawak) - Malaysia
• Professor Christian N Madu Lubin School of Business, Pace University - USA
• Professor Jacques Martin Université du Sud Toulon-Var - France
• Professor Andrea Moretta Tartaglione University of Cassino and Southern Lazio - Italy
• Professor Christopher Moturi University of Nairobi - Kenya
• Professor John Oakland Oakland Consulting plc - USA
• Dr Fernando F Padró University of Southern Queensland - Australia
• Professor Tonino Pencarelli University of Urbino Carlo Bo - Italy
• Dr. Evangelos Psomas University of Patras - Greece
• Professor Sangeeta Sahney Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur - India
• Professor Arash Shahin University of Isfahan - Iran
• Dr Bishnu Sharma University of the Sunshine Coast - Australia
• Professor Gurmeet Singh University of the South Pacific - Fiji
• Professor Ebrahim Soltani Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University - United Arab Emirates
• Professor Elisabeth Viles Universidad de Navarro - Spain
• Dr Manu K Vora Business Excellence Inc - USA
• Dr Dianne Waddell Deakin University - Australia
• Professor Adrian Wilkinson Griffith University - Australia

Editorial Review Board

• Associate Professor Anjali Awasthi Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering - Canada
• Associate Professor Sheila Belayutham Universiti Teknologi MARA - Malaysia
• Dr George Besseris City University College - Greece
• Professor Angelo Bonfanti Univerista degli Studi di Verona - Italy
• Dr Vasiliki Brinia Athens University of Economics and Business - Greece
• Professor Fabio Cassia University of Verona - Italy
• Dr Ylenia Cavacece University of Cassino and Southern Lazio - Italy
• Professor Mauro Cavallone Universita degli Studi di Bergamo - Italy
• Dr Mohammad Chowdhury Monash University - Australia
• Dr Nicola Cobelli Universita Degli Studi Di Verona - Italy
• Dr Emanuela Conti University of Urbino Carlo Bo - Italy
• Dr Silvia Cosimato University Frederico II of Naples - Italy
• Dr Jacqueline Douglas Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University - UK
• Dr Maria Fedele University of Cassino and Southern Lazio - Italy
• Professor Jan Frick University of Stavanger - Norway
• Associate Professor Barbara Gaudenzi University of Verona - Italy
• Associate Professor Niki Glaveli University of the Aegean - Greece
• Professor Katerina Gotzamani University of Macedonia - Greece
• Dr. Ina Heine RWTH Aachen University - Germany
• Dr Ihsan Kaya Yildiz Technical University - Turkey
• Dr Hadi Akbarzadeh Khorshidi University of Melbourne - Australia
• Dr Vrassidas Ioannis Leopoulos National Technical University of Athens - Greece
• Associate Professor Line Lervik-Olsen BI Norwegian Business School - Norway
• Assistant Professor Isabel Lopes University of Minho - Portugal
• Prof. Dr Vidosav Majstorovic University of Belgrade - Serbia
• Dr Noor Hazilah Abd Manaf International Islamic University Malaysia - Malaysia
• Dr. Olivia McDermott National University of Ireland - Ireland
• Dr Kai Meng Tay Universiti Malaysia Sarawak - Malaysia
• Dr Antigoni Papadimitriou Johns Hopkins University - USA
• Professor Paulo Sampaio University of Minho - Portugal
• Dr Manuel Gilberto Freitas Santos Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave - Portugal
• Dr Ashok Sarkar Indian Statistical Institute - India
• Dr Rajiv Kumar Sharma National Institute of Technology - India
• Prof. Dr Tatjana Sibalija Metropolitan University - Serbia
• Dr Lukasz Skowron Technical University of Lublin - Poland
• Dr Evangelos Tsoukatos Hellenic Mediterranean University - Greece
• Associate Professor Sven Tuzovic Queensland University of Technology - Australia
• Professor Vania Vigolo Universita degil Studi di Verona - Italy
• Assistant Professor Adel Zairi Faculty of Business, Higher Colleges of Technology - UAE
• Dr Dominik Zimon Rzeszow University of Technology - Poland

Citation metrics

CiteScore 2023

Further information

CiteScore is a simple way of measuring the citation impact of sources, such as journals.

Calculating the CiteScore is based on the number of citations to documents (articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers) by a journal over four years, divided by the number of the same document types indexed in Scopus and published in those same four years.

For more information and methodology visit the Scopus definition

CiteScore Tracker 2024

(updated monthly)

CiteScore Tracker is calculated in the same way as CiteScore, but for the current year rather than previous, complete years.

The CiteScore Tracker calculation is updated every month, as a current indication of a title's performance.

2023 Impact Factor

The Journal Impact Factor is published each year by Clarivate Analytics. It is a measure of the number of times an average paper in a particular journal is cited during the preceding two years.

For more information and methodology see Clarivate Analytics

Publication timeline

Time to first decision

Time to first decision , expressed in days, the "first decision" occurs when the journal’s editorial team reviews the peer reviewers’ comments and recommendations. Based on this feedback, they decide whether to accept, reject, or request revisions for the manuscript.

Data is taken from submissions between 1st June 2023 and 31st May 2024

Acceptance to publication

Acceptance to publication , expressed in days, is the average time between when the journal’s editorial team decide whether to accept, reject, or request revisions for the manuscript and the date of publication in the journal. 

Data is taken from the previous 12 months (Last updated July 2024)

Acceptance rate

The acceptance rate is a measurement of how many manuscripts a journal accepts for publication compared to the total number of manuscripts submitted expressed as a percentage %

Data is taken from submissions between 1st June 2023 and 31st May 2024 .

This figure is the total amount of downloads for all articles published early cite in the last 12 months

(Last updated: July 2024)

This journal is abstracted and indexed by

• Business Source Alumni Edition/Complete/Government Edition/Corporate Plus/Elite/Premier,
• Cabell's Dictionary of Publishing Opportunities in Management and Marketing,
• Education Research Complete/Education Source,
• Emerald Management Reviews,
• Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)
• Ergonomic Abstracts,
• Research Trends in Advanced Manufacturing,
• ReadCube Discover,
• Technical Education and Training Abstracts,
• TOC Premier (EBSCO)

This journal is ranked by

• ANVUR GEV13's List (Rank B),
• ANVUR ASN's List (Rank A),
• Association of Business Schools (ABS) Academic Journal Quality Guide,
• AERES (France),
• Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) Quality Journal List,
• Australian Research Council (ERA Journal List),
• CNRS (France),
• NSD (Norway),
• Polish Scholarly Bibliography (PBN),
• The Publication Forum (Finland)

Reviewer information

Peer review process.

This journal engages in a double-anonymous peer review process, which strives to match the expertise of a reviewer with the submitted manuscript. Reviews are completed with evidence of thoughtful engagement with the manuscript, provide constructive feedback, and add value to the overall knowledge and information presented in the manuscript.

The mission of the peer review process is to achieve excellence and rigour in scholarly publications and research.

Our vision is to give voice to professionals in the subject area who contribute unique and diverse scholarly perspectives to the field.

The journal values diverse perspectives from the field and reviewers who provide critical, constructive, and respectful feedback to authors. Reviewers come from a variety of organizations, careers, and backgrounds from around the world.

All invitations to review, abstracts, manuscripts, and reviews should be kept confidential. Reviewers must not share their review or information about the review process with anyone without the agreement of the editors and authors involved, even after publication. This also applies to other reviewers’ “comments to author” which are shared with you on decision.

Resources to guide you through the review process

Discover practical tips and guidance on all aspects of peer review in our reviewers' section. See how being a reviewer could benefit your career, and discover what's involved in shaping a review.

More reviewer information

Calls for papers

Addressing technological innovations, health events, and social needs to achieve quality in education.

Introduction Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are complex service organizations with multiple stakeholders (e.g., students, parents, faculty, administrative personnel, and the community); each of them with a distinct m...

Thank you to the 2022 Reviewers of The TQM Journal

The publishing and editorial teams would like to thank the following, for their invaluable service as 2022 reviewers for this journal. We are very grateful for the contributions made. With their help, the journal has been able to publish such high...

26th Excellence in Services International Conference

The 26th Excellence ...

Thank you to the 2021 Reviewers of The TQM Journal

The publishing and editorial teams would like to thank the following, for their invaluable service as 2021 reviewers for this journal. We are very grateful for the contributions made. With their help, the journal has ...

Literati awards

The TQM Journal - Literati Award Winners 2023

We are pleased to announce our 2023 Literati Award winners. Outstanding Paper Digital technologies and circular econom...

The TQM Journal  - Literati Award Winners 2022 

We are pleased to announce our 2022 Literati Award winners. Outstanding Paper Quality 4.0 and its impact on ...

The TQM Journal - Literati Award Winners 2021

We are pleased to announce our 2021 Literati Award winners. Outstanding Paper Internet banking service quali...

The TQM Journal seeks high quality international submissions from academics, researchers and practitioners. The journal aims to publish papers that report research that addresses real-life industry and management challenges and contribute to developing real solutions.

Aims and scope

Generally, contributions should cover the theoretical development and the practical application of both the “hard” and “soft” aspects of TQM. Research can be from the private sector or the public sectors of industry – including manufacturing, health, education, local government, professional and other service organisations.

Specifically, contributors can address, inter alia, the following areas:

• The TQM philosophy, including the quality gurus
• Leadership and management issues including people and process issues
• Internal and external customer issues
• The measurement of quality
• Costs of quality
• Continuous improvement
• ISO management standards including implementation and integration issues
• Quality management and related systems including implementation and integration issues
• Excellence models including implementation and management issues
• Process management and improvement including Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, and Business Process Management
• Tools and techniques for quality management and improvement including, inter alia, kaizen, 5S, Kano analysis, the seven tools of quality control
• Problem-solving
• Strategical, tactical and operational issues for quality management implementation and sustainability
• The 4th Industrial revolution impact on all aspects of manufacturing and services (people, products and processes) - including robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• The use of smart technologies to improve the customer experience - particularly in retail, hospitality and tourism
• The use and impact of social media on quality management and the customer-supplier relationship
• Management and employee wellbeing, mindfulness and happiness and its impact on productivity, performance and quality
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Book description

Total Quality Management: Key Concepts and Case Studies provides the full range of management principles and practices that govern the quality function. The book covers the fundamentals and background needed, as well as industry case studies and comprehensive topic coverage, making it an invaluable reference to both the novice and the more experienced individual.

Aspects of quality control that are widely utilized in practice are combined with those that are commonly referred to on University courses, and the latest developments in quality concepts are also presented. This book is an ideal quick reference for any manager, designer, engineer, or researcher interested in quality.

• Features two chapters on the latest ISO standards
• Includes an introduction to statistics to help the reader fully grasp content on statistical quality control
• Contains case studies that explore many TQM themes in real life situations

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Table of Contents
• About the Author
• Acknowledgments
• About the Book
• 1.1 What Is Quality?
• 1.2 Quality Definitions
• 1.3 Quotes on Quality
• 1.4 The Scale of Quality
• 1.5 The Paradigm of TQM
• 1.6 How can Effective TQM Change the Situation?
• 1.7 Quality of Design Versus Quality of Conformance
• 1.8 Changing Criteria of Quality
• 1.9 The Five Approaches to Quality
• 1.10 PDCA Cycle
• 1.11 When to Use the PDCA Cycle
• 1.12 Variations of PDCA Terminology
• 1.13 Deming’s Fourteen Points to Improve Quality
• 1.14 Deming System of Profound Knowledge
• 1.15 Juran Quality Trilogy
• 1.16 Conclusion
• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 The Historical Development of TQM
• 2.3 Quality Management in the Japanese Scenario
• 2.4 Post-Deming/Juran Quality Scenario
• 2.5 Conclusion
• 3.1 Wilfredo Pareto
• 3.2 Walter A. Shewhart
• 3.3 Edwards Deming
• 3.4 Joseph Juran
• 3.5 Armand Feigenbaum
• 3.6 Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis
• 3.7 Shigeo Shingo
• 3.8 Taichi Ohno
• 3.9 Kaoru Ishikawa
• 3.10 Genichi Taguchi
• 3.11 Phillip B. Crosby
• 3.12 Yoshio Kondo
• 3.13 Shigeru Mizuno
• 3.14 Yoji Akao
• 3.15 Noriaki Kano
• 3.16 Masaaki Imai
• 3.17 Claus Möller
• 3.18 Blanton Godfrey
• 3.19 Clarence Irwing Lewis
• 3.20 David Garvin
• 3.21 Dorian Shainin
• 3.22 Edward de Bono
• 3.23 Eliyahu M. Goldratt
• 3.24 Eugene L. Grant
• 3.25 Bill Conway
• 3.26 Yasutoshi Washio
• Further Reading
• 4.1 What is Leadership?
• 4.2 Definitions for Leadership
• 4.3 Theories of Leadership
• 4.4 Leadership Categories
• 4.5 Leadership and Goal Setting
• 4.6 Characteristics of Quality Leaders
• 4.7 Warren Bennis Principles of Great Teams
• 4.8 The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Leaders
• 4.9 The Ten Commandments of cGMPs (Current Good Manufacturing Practices)
• 4.10 Fifty Insights for CEOs
• 4.11 Fifteen Thoughts of Chanakya
• 4.12 Wilkie’s Leadership Qualities
• 4.13 Leadership Responsibilities
• 4.14 Moral Leadership
• 4.15 Contributors for Moral Leadership
• 4.16 Role of Top Management in Quality Management
• 4.17 Leadership and Knowledge of Psychology
• 4.18 Case Studies on Leadership Qualities
• 4.19 Some Quotations on Leadership
• 4.20 Conclusion
• 5.1 TQM and Scientific Management
• 5.2 The Industrial Revolution
• 5.3 Evolution of Management Thinking
• 5.4 Phases of Growth of Management Thinking
• 5.5 Early Pioneers in Management Thinking– Pre-19th Century
• 5.6 Concepts of Scientific Management
• 5.7 Specific Aims of Scientific Management
• 5.8 Advantages of Scientific Management
• 5.9 Misconceptions of Scientific Management
• 5.10 Resistance to Scientific Management
• 5.11 Conclusion
• 6.1 Development of System Approach
• 6.2 What is a System?
• 6.3 Definition of a System
• 6.4 Types of Systems
• 6.5 Components of a System
• 6.6 Elements of Control in System Approach
• 6.7 Effect of Environment on the Systems
• 6.8 Open and Closed Systems
• 6.9 Systems and Subsystems
• 6.10 Relationship Between the Systems and Subsystems
• 6.11 Combination of Subsystems
• 6.12 The Management Cube
• 6.13 Planning Pyramid
• 6.14 Summary of the Features of Management as a System
• 6.15 Decision Theory
• 6.16 Problem Analysis and Decision-Making
• 6.17 Characteristics of Decision-Making
• 6.18 Situations Under Which Decisions are Taken
• 6.19 Classifications of Decisions
• 6.20 Different Approaches to Decision-Making
• 6.21 Bias in Decision-Making
• 6.22 Decision Tree
• 6.23 Systematic Decision-Making
• 6.24 Proper Management Decision and Proper Engineering Design
• 6.25 Conclusion
• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Business Plans
• 7.3 Strategic Planning
• 7.4 Methodologies for Strategic Planning
• 7.5 Situational Analysis
• 7.6 Hoshin Kanri
• 7.7 Definitions of Strategic Planning
• 7.8 Strategic Planning Elements
• 7.9 Besterfield’s Seven Steps of Strategic Planning
• 7.10 Strategy Development and Strategy Deployment
• 7.11 Effectiveness of the Strategic Planning
• 7.12 The Four Perspectives for Translating Strategy into Operating Process
• 7.13 Quality Planning
• 7.14 Contingency Theory
• 7.15 Organizing for Strategic Planning
• 7.16 Leavitt's Diamond
• 7.17 Mission and Vision Statements
• 7.18 Caution in the Application of Strategic Planning
• 7.19 Conclusion
• 8.1 Introduction
• 8.2 Forces Leading to the Concept
• 8.3 The Categories of Quality Costs
• 8.4 Hidden Quality Costs
• 8.5 Cost of Lost Opportunities
• 8.6 Service Costs
• 8.7 Tangible and Intangible Costs
• 8.8 Visible Costs and Invisible Costs
• 8.9 Quality Cost Data
• 8.10 Case Studies on Research Done in the Area of Quality Costing
• 8.11 Suggested Model for Quality Costing
• 8.12 Sources for Collecting Quality Cost Data
• 8.13 Uses of Quality Cost Analysis
• 8.14 Pareto Principle
• 8.15 Quality Conformance Level
• 8.16 Top Management Role in Containing Quality Costs
• 8.17 Quality and Safety
• 8.18 Responsibility of Top Management for Product Safety
• 8.19 Case Study on Quality Cost
• 8.20 Conclusion
• 9.1 Why Organization?
• 9.2 What Needs to Be Organized in the Quality Function?
• 9.3 Principles of Organization
• 9.4 Classes of Organizational Structures
• 9.5 Organization for the Quality Function
• 9.6 Centralized Organization
• 9.7 Decentralized Organization
• 9.8 Matrix Type of Organization
• 9.9 Factors to Be Considered in Deciding the Manpower Requirement
• 9.10 Size and Type of an Organization
• 9.11 Conclusion
• 10.1 Sellers’ Market Versus Buyers’ Market
• 10.2 Customer is King
• 10.3 Position of the Customer in an Organization
• 10.4 Customer’s Perception of Quality
• 10.5 Types of Customers
• 10.6 Internal Customers
• 10.7 Customer Satisfaction
• 10.8 Customer Delight
• 10.9 Kano Model of Customer Satisfaction
• 10.10 American Customer Satisfaction Index
• 10.11 Customer Retention
• 10.12 Customer Loyalty
• 10.13 Factors for Establishing Loyal Customers
• 10.14 Customer Attrition
• 10.15 How Companies Lose Their Customers
• 10.16 Customer Surveys
• 10.17 Customer and Quality Service
• 10.18 The Key Elements of Service Quality
• 10.19 Customer Retention Versus Employee Morale
• 10.20 Action to be Taken to Handle Customer Complaints
• 10.21 Healthy Practices by Customer Focused Organizations
• 10.22 Customer Code of Ethics to be Followed
• 10.23 Recently Held International Quality Symposia
• 10.24 Conclusion
• 11.1 What is Total Employee Involvement?
• 11.2 Motivation
• 11.3 Employee Involvement Strategies
• 11.4 Teamwork
• 11.5 Empowerment
• 11.6 Participative Management
• 11.7 Effect of Worker Representation on Productivity
• 11.8 How to Successfully Implement a Change
• 11.9 Theodore Kinni’s Eight Tips for Achieving Motivated Workforce
• 11.10 Benefits of Employee Involvement
• 11.11 Role of Senior Management in Employee Involvement
• 11.12 Recognition and Rewards
• 11.13 Forms of Recognition and Rewards
• 11.14 Criteria for Effective Recognition of Employees
• 11.15 Advantages of Effective Rewarding Systems
• 11.16 Conclusion
• Appendix A Case Study on Worker Involvement
• 12.1 Introduction
• 12.2 Traditional Versus TQM Oriented Vendor Relations
• 12.3 Partnership Definition
• 12.4 Strategic Partnership
• 12.5 Principles of Customer/Supplier Relations
• 12.6 The Three Primary and Necessary Requirements for Partnering
• 12.7 Multiple Supplier Partnership
• 12.8 Advantages of Supplier Partnership
• 12.9 Supplier Selection
• 12.10 Vendor Rating
• 12.11 Criteria for Evaluation
• 12.12 The Partnership Indices
• 12.13 Supplier Certification
• 12.14 Benefits of Supplier Rating
• 12.15 Lean Inspection Through Supplier Partnership
• 12.16 Vendor Managed Inventory
• 12.17 Retailer Supplier Partnership
• 12.18 Impact of Supplier Partnership on Inventory Norms
• 12.19 Conclusion
• 13.1 Introduction
• 13.2 The Meaning of TPM
• 13.3 Evolution of TPM
• 13.4 Definitions of TPM
• 13.5 TPM is an Extension of TQM
• 13.6 TPM Starts With Cleaning
• 13.7 The Seven Types of Abnormalities
• 13.8 The Eight Pillars of TPM
• 13.9 The Five Zeros of TPM
• 13.10 Why Operatives Fail to Adapt TPM as a Way of Life?
• 13.11 What Can TPM Achieve?
• 13.12 Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
• 13.13 The Six Losses From Poor OEE
• 13.14 The Three Levels of Autonomous Maintenance in TPM
• 13.15 The Five Goals of TPM
• 13.16 Procedure for the Implementation of TPM
• 13.17 Maintenance Work Sampling
• 13.18 Conclusion
• Checklist for JIPE’s Productive Maintenance Excellence Award
• 14.1 Why Quality Awards?
• 14.2 International Quality Awards
• 14.3 International Quality Award Trio
• 14.4 Deming Application Prize
• 14.5 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
• 14.6 European Quality Prizes
• 14.7 Australian Business Excellence Award
• 14.8 Canadian Award for Business Excellence (CABE)
• 14.9 Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award
• 14.10 Golden Peacock National Quality Award
• 14.11 IMC-Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality Award (IMCRBNQA)
• 14.12 China Quality Award
• 14.13 National Quality/Business Excellence Awards in Different Countries
• 14.14 Basic Differences Among the Award Trio
• 14.15 Conclusion
• Appendix 14.1 Recipients of Deming Application Prizes From 1998
• Appendix 14.2 Some International Awards Including Quality Awards
• Appendix 14.3 Recipients of Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award
• Appendix 14.4 Recipients of NIQR Awards in 2014
• Appendix 14.5 Recipients of Golden Peacock Awards
• 15.1 What is a Quality Circle?
• 15.2 Origin of Quality Circles
• 15.3 The American Scenario
• 15.4 The Indian Scenario
• 15.5 Significance of Quality Circles
• 15.6 Objectives of Quality Circles
• 15.7 Nature of Problems That Can be Solved by Quality Circles
• 15.8 Ten Conditions for Successful Quality Circles
• 15.9 Road Map to be followed in a Quality Circle Meeting
• 15.10 Characteristics of an Effective Quality Circle Meeting
• 15.11 Structure of a Quality Circle
• 15.12 Conclusion
• 16.1 Definition of Statistics
• 16.2 Role of Statistics in Analysis
• 16.3 Limitation of Statistics
• 16.4 Elements of Statistical Techniques
• 16.5 Methods of Collecting Data
• 16.6 Data Classification
• 16.7 Data Presentation
• 16.8 Population Versus Sample
• 16.9 Attributes and Variables
• 16.10 Graphs
• 16.11 Single Dimensional Diagrams—Bar Charts
• 16.12 Innovative Graphs
• 16.13 Frequency Graphs
• 16.14 Ogive
• 16.15 “Z” Chart
• 16.16 Lorenz Curves
• 16.17 Frequency Distribution
• 16.18 Central Tendency
• 16.19 Measures of Central Tendency
• 16.20 Mean or an Average
• 16.21 Arithmetic Mean
• 16.22 Geometric Mean, Quadratic Mean, and Harmonic Mean
• 16.23 Median
• 16.25 Dispersion
• 16.26 Range
• 16.27 Mean Deviation
• 16.28 Standard Deviation
• 16.29 Skewness
• 16.30 Kurtosis
• 16.31 Conclusion
• 17.1 Correlation
• 17.2 Regression
• 17.3 Relation between Correlation and Regression
• 17.4 Sampling Theory
• 17.5 Probability
• 17.6 Laws of Probability
• 17.7 Conclusion
• 18.1 Statistical Process Control
• 18.2 Why Control Charts?
• 18.3 Reasons for Variations
• 18.4 Process Capability
• 18.5 Process Capability Index
• 18.6 One-Sided and Two-Sided Specifications
• 18.7 Taguchi Capability Index
• 18.8 Recommended Minimum Values of Cpk
• 18.9 Conclusion
• 19.1 Definitions of Inspection
• 19.2 Objectives of Inspection
• 19.3 Steps Involved in Inspection
• 19.4 Classifications of Inspection Methods
• 19.5 Source Inspection
• 19.6 Inward Inspection
• 19.7 Single and Double Sampling Inspection
• 19.8 In Process Inspection and Final Inspection
• 19.9 Tools of Inspection
• 19.10 Normal Jobs of a Quality Control Inspector
• 19.11 Requirements of an Inspector
• 19.12 Conclusion
• 20.1 Introduction
• 20.2 Check Sheets and Checklists
• 20.3 Histogram or Bar Graph
• 20.4 Scatter Diagram
• 20.5 Control Chart
• 20.6 Pareto Principle
• 20.7 Cause and Effect Diagram
• 20.8 Flow Charts
• 20.9 Conclusion
• Process Chart
• Outline Process Chart
• Flow Process Chart
• Flow Diagram
• 21.1 The Seven Traditional Tools of TQM
• 21.2 The Seven Modern TQM Tools
• 21.3 Affinity Diagram (KJ Method)
• 21.4 Interrelationship Diagraph
• 21.5 Tree Diagram
• 21.6 Prioritization Matrix
• 21.7 Process Decision Program Chart
• 21.8 Activity Network Diagram
• 21.9 Single Minute Exchange of Dies
• 21.9.3 Factors Stressed Upon by Shigeo Shingo, the Originator of SMED
• 21.10 Force Field Analysis
• 21.11 Criteria Rating Form
• 21.12 Models That Can be Used to Represent a Problem
• 21.13 Other Analytical Testing Methods for Safety
• 21.14 Conclusion
• 22.1 What is Kaizen?
• 22.2 Significance of Kaizen in Continuous Improvement
• 22.3 Why Continuous Improvement?
• 22.4 Some Illustrations of the Continuous Process Improvements
• 22.5 Kaizen is the Umbrella
• 22.6 Requirements for Continuous Improvement
• 22.7 Industrial Engineering Principles vs. Kaizen Principles
• 22.8 Importance of Creativity
• 22.9 Creative Methodology
• 22.10 The Principles of Creativity
• 22.11 Brainstorming
• 22.12 Six Thinking Hats
• 22.13 Primary and Secondary Questions
• 22.14 Develop
• 22.15 Define
• 22.16 Install
• 22.17 Maintain
• 22.18 Checklist for Operation Examination
• 22.19 Other Continuous Improvement Techniques
• 22.20 Case Studies on Kaizen Applications
• 22.21 Some Quotations on Change
• 22.22 Conclusion
• 23.1 Introduction
• 23.2 Explanation of the 5Ss
• 23.3 9-Step Procedure for Implementing 5S
• 23.4 5S Audit Sheet
• 23.5 An Easy Way of Remembering the 5S Terms
• 23.6 Conclusion
• 24.1 Introduction
• 24.2 Definitions of Six Sigma
• 24.3 History of Six Sigma
• 24.4 Required Skills for Black Belted Experts in Six Sigma
• 24.5 The Concept of Six Sigma in the Context of TQM
• 24.6 Origin of This Confusion Between Statistical 6σ and TQM Six Sigma
• 24.7 Six Sigma According to General Electric
• 24.8 The Values of the Defect Percentages
• 24.9 Methodologies for Six Sigma
• 24.10 DMAIC Methodology for Six Sigma
• 24.11 DMADV
• 24.12 Detailed Methodology of DMAIC
• 24.13 Organizing for Six Sigma
• 24.14 Software Used for Six Sigma
• 24.15 The Case Study of Mumbai Dabbawalas
• 24.16 Conclusion
• 25.1 What is Lean Management?
• 25.2 Components of Lean Management
• 25.3 Definitions on Lean Management
• 25.4 Evolution of Lean Concept
• 25.5 The House of Lean Management
• 25.6 What can Lean Management Achieve?
• 25.7 Increased Reliability with Lean Management
• 25.8 The Eight Losses in Manufacturing Leading to Lean Management
• 25.9 The 5 Key Drivers in Lean Management System
• 25.10 The 8 Ps of Lean Thinking
• 25.11 Lean Enterprise Implementation Processes and Tools
• 25.12 Road Map for Lean Management
• 25.13 Illustration of a Pit Shop Maintenance Situation
• 25.14 Conclusion
• 26.1 Uncertainties During Development
• 26.2 Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
• 26.3 History of the Development of FMEA
• 26.4 Multiple Causes and Effects Involved in FMEA
• 26.5 Types of FMEA’s
• 26.6 When to Use FMEA
• 26.7 Basic Terms of Reference in FMEA
• 26.8 Risk Priority Number
• 26.9 Procedure for FMEA
• 26.10 Responsibility for Action
• 26.11 Benefits of FMEA
• 26.12 FMEA Software
• 26.13 Conclusion
• 27.1 Functional Reliability
• 27.2 General Causes for Poor Reliability
• 27.3 Distinguishing Between Quality and Reliability
• 27.4 What is RBM?
• 27.5 Bath Tub Characteristics
• 27.6 Basics of RBM
• 27.7 Principles of Reliability Engineering
• 27.8 House of Reliability
• 27.9 Types of Failures
• 27.10 Severity of Failures
• 27.11 Statistical Distribution Curves of Failures
• 27.12 Probability Density Function
• 27.13 Procedure of Establishing Reliability Based Product Quality
• 27.14 Reliability Prediction
• 27.15 Monte Carlo Simulation
• 27.16 Markov Analysis
• 27.17 Conclusion
• 28.1 History of Business Process Reengineering
• 28.2 Definitions of Business Process Reengineering
• 28.3 Business Process Reengineering as a TQM Technique
• 28.4 The Role of Information Technology
• 28.5 Methodology for BPR (Fig. 28.1)
• 28.6 Process Reengineering Life Cycle Approach for BPR
• 28.7 Criticism Against BPR
• 28.8 Satisfactory Underperformance
• 28.9 The Sweet and Sour Cycle
• 28.10 Business Process Management
• 28.11 Conclusion
• 29.1 What is Benchmarking?
• 29.2 Definitions for Benchmarking
• 29.3 Types of Benchmarking
• 29.4 Some of the Parameters That Can be Benchmarked
• 29.5 General Concept of Benchmarking
• 29.6 Phases of Benchmarking
• 29.7 Stage of Benchmarking
• 29.8 Different Approaches to Benchmarking
• 29.9 Tips for the Consultants
• 29.10 Costs of Benchmarking
• 29.11 Advantages of Benchmarking
• 29.12 Limitations of Benchmarking
• 29.13 Professional Associations and Institutions Exclusively for Benchmarking
• 29.14 Conclusion
• 30.1 Why Quality Function Deployment?
• 30.2 Definitions of QFD
• 30.3 History of QFD
• 30.4 Issues That Would be Addressed by QFD
• 30.5 The Four Phases of QFD
• 30.6 Building a House of Quality
• 30.7 Voice of the Customer
• 30.8 Voice of the Organization
• 30.9 Framework for House of Quality
• 30.10 Building Up of House of Quality
• 30.11 Procedure for QFD
• 30.12 Benefits of QFD
• 30.13 Conclusion
• 31.1 What is Quality Loss?
• 31.2 Precision vs. Accuracy
• 31.3 History of the Development of the Concept of the Loss Function
• 31.4 Taguchi Philosophy
• 31.5 Quality Loss Function
• 31.6 Off-Line Quality Control Rule for Manufacturing
• 31.7 Design of Experiments
• 31.8 Robustification
• 31.9 Noise Variables
• 31.10 Case Study
• 31.11 Conclusion
• 32.1 Design for Quality
• 32.2 Design for Six Sigma
• 32.3 Acronyms for Methodologies Akin to DMAIC
• 32.5 Scope of DFSS
• 32.6 Six Sigma Versus DFSS
• 32.7 Benefits of DFSS
• 32.8 Conclusion
• 33.1 What is Value Engineering?
• 33.2 Definitions of Value Engineering
• 33.3 History of Value Engineering
• 33.4 What is Value?
• 33.5 Value Analysis
• 33.6 Objectives of Value Engineering
• 33.7 Typical Benefits of Value Engineering Projects
• 33.8 Functions of a Product as the Customer Wants It
• 33.9 Functional Value of a Product Versus Other Values
• 33.10 Methodology of Value Engineering
• 33.11 Function Analysis System Technique
• 33.12 Case Study
• 33.13 Conclusion
• 34.1 Need for Quality Management Systems
• 34.2 International Organization for Standardization
• 34.3 ISO 9000 Series of Quality Standards
• 34.4 Evolution of ISO 9000 Family of Standards
• 34.5 ISO/TS16949
• 34.6 QS-9000 Series
• 34.7 Requirements as Specified by ISO 9000
• 34.8 Bureau of Indian Standards
• 34.9 Vision and Mission Statement
• 34.10 Mission Statement
• 34.11 Objectives, Goals, and Action Plans
• 34.12 SOP—Standard Operating Procedures
• 34.13 Specific Features of ISO 9004
• 34.14 Steps to be Followed for Getting ISO Certification
• 34.15 Benefits of ISO 9001-2000 and TS 16949 Quality Systems
• 34.16 ISO 9000:2005
• 34.17 2015 Revision of ISO 9000 Series
• 34.18 The Six Stages of the Release of the 2015 Revision
• 34.19 Revision of ISO 9000 in 2015
• 34.20 Conclusion
• 35.1 Introduction
• 35.2 Evolution of the ISO Standards on Environmental Issues
• 35.3 Global Environmental Issues
• 35.4 Magna Carta on Environment
• 35.5 International Initiatives on Environmental Issues
• 35.6 Evolution of ISO 14000 Series
• 35.7 Water Footprint
• 35.8 The Benefits of ISO 14000
• 35.9 Engineer’s Role in Environment Protection
• 35.10 Principles of Green Design
• 35.11 Basic Approaches for Resolving Environmental Problems
• 35.12 Guidelines for Social Responsibility
• 35.13 5 Rs of Wastage Utilization
• 35.14 Conclusion
• 36.1 Introduction
• 36.2 Some of the Terminologies Cited in This Chapter
• 36.3 History of Development of Japanese Management Practices
• 36.4 Quality Circles
• 36.5 Kaizen
• 36.6 GenchiGenbutsuGenjitsu
• 36.7 Monozukuri and Hitozukuri
• 36.8 Nemawashi
• 36.9 Heijunka
• 36.10 3 Mu Checklists
• 36.11 Four Wives and one Husband
• 36.13 5 Management Objectives of Factory Management
• 36.14 5 Zus
• 36.15 Poka Yoke
• 36.16 Andon and Hanedashi
• 36.17 Jidhoka
• 36.18 ChakuChaku
• 36.20 Six Sigma
• 36.21 Gemba Walk
• 36.22 WarusaKagen
• 36.23 Single Minute Exchange of Die
• 36.24 Just in Time
• 36.25 Kanban
• 36.26 HoshinKanri
• 36.27 NichijoKanri
• 36.29 Total Productive Maintenance
• 36.30 Pecha-kucha
• 36.31 DakaraNani
• 36.32 Kanso, Shizen, and Shibumi
• 36.33 OkyaKusoma
• 36.34 Conclusion
• 1 Anna University – BE (MECH/PROD) - GE 406 - Total Quality Management
• 2 Anna University for MBA - GE2022 - Total Quality Management
• 3 Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University – Hyderabad
• 4 Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum - 06IM72 Total Quality Management
• 5 Pune University - 406D - Quality Management
• 6 Sivaji Univ. Kolhapur, BE MECH, Total Quality Management
• 7 Uttar Pradesh Technical University - EME-041: Total Quality Management
• 8 M.J.P. Rohilkhand University, Bareilly: MBA(GEN.) CN-405 Total Quality Management
• 9 VTU - Total Quality Management
• 10 Mahatma Gandhi University, Meghalaya
• 11 West Bengal University - ME 821: Total Quality Management
• 12 Madras University for Master of Business Administration
• 13 Tamil Nadu Open University MBA - MSP 61 - Total Quality Management Paper
• 14 Indian Institute of Plant Engineers - Diploma in Plant Engineering & Management
• 15 Middle East Technical University
• 16 Prince Sultan University
• 17 St. Martin University, Washington State
• 18 University of Kokybės Vadybos (Lithuanian University)
• 19 University of Hradec Kralove & University of Pardubice (Czechoslovakia)
• 20 Cork Institute of Technology
• 21 A. AU & BPGTQM as a Course with 3 Quality Related Papers
• 22 B QE 9112 Total Quality Management
• 23 C QE 9122 Quality by Design
• Bibliography

Product information

• Title: Total Quality Management
• Author(s): D.R. Kiran
• Release date: October 2016
• Publisher(s): Butterworth-Heinemann
• ISBN: 9780128110362

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Introduction

Gillette gets employees to take on the new system, involving teams in the tqm process, the working culture.

Gillette began its global operations in 1905 when it opened a manufacturing plant in Germany. This global strategy and success saw the firm extending its operation to Latin America. Argentina was a potential market after tariffs and business policies were revised. Having operated under unfavorable regime, the firm perceived future competition and decided to create competitive advantages.

Key figures in the firm such as Carlos Rotundo and Jorge Micozzi suggested better quality as the solution to the market issues. The management had to change the organizational culture which was not strategic for the future market circumstances. Rotundo had already began creating a new organizational culture when Micozzin came up with the idea of total quality management (TQM) that made Gillette Argentina the most successful affiliate in Latin America.

Due to the great success of Gillette’s TQM system, this research was commenced to do a case study on “quality at Gillette Argentina”. The paper begins by evaluating the ways in which the firm got its employees to take on the new TQM system. It proceeds to discuss the importance of getting the teams involved in TQM process as well as identifying the ways in which the teams improved the process.

The paper also explains the meaning of the phrase “Beyond the hanging fruits, the most important outcome of this effort was a different way of working with sales” and highlights how Gillette changed the way it looks at its customers. Finally, there is a description of the working culture before and after the implementation of TQM as well as the economic benefits of the system.

In a firm where decision making is solely the responsibility of leaders such that the employees have to act as the subjects to them, it is likely that the employees would not readily accept the adoption of total quality management (TQM). This is because TQM requires them to take elevated roles, become self-dependent and consider themselves as the owners of the firm.

It is apparent that Gillette had earlier managed its activities in a manner that left the managerial roles such as decision making and steering initiatives exclusively to the leaders. Therefore, the effort to adopt TQM compelled leaders to take measures that would prepare the employees better for the change. These measures involved several initiatives especially triggered by several key figures in the firm.

The very first initiative Gillette took was to hire the Organizational Dynamics Inc (ODI) as a consulting and training firm. The firm became the key source of information and motivation for the Gillette Latin America management. It can be argued that the source of a successful organizational change begins with leaders who in turn transfer it to employees.

This means that the employees would rarely have accepted an initiative that their leaders did not support appropriately. The consulting firm played a central role in preaching the benefits of TQM to the leaders. Indeed, the firm reinforced the idea Rotundo had already started to instill in Argentina. Organizational Dynamics Inc. developed the quality initiative and recommended the creation of a quality structure.

Secondly, Gillette offered training to the employees as a way of preparing them for TQM system. One of the landmark training was FADE that prepared employees for quality action teams. The specialized training involved four phases of problem solving: focus, analyze, develop and execute.

The focus phase was concerned with the development of a problem statement; the analyze phase dealt with the use of data to understand the magnitude of the problem; the develop phase involved the determination of a solution and implementation plan; and the execute phase was about implementing the plan and measuring its impact. In addition to FADE training, the employees received training in seven basic quality tools as well as brainstorming, force field analysis and cost benefit analysis.

Furthermore, training was extended to management and leadership levels. The Argentine directors, managers and other officials were trained by ODI as trainers of the rest of the organization. The teams were allocated facilitators who received training on leadership development.

Team leaders were trained in areas relating to group dynamics, effective meetings, leadership skills and group conflicts (Donnellon & Engelkemeyer, 1999). As a matter of fact, training was the backbone of the TQM process. Most of the members who got training became experts in their respective areas and eventually steered the process towards success.

Another way that Gillette used to prepared employees for the TQM process was through workshops. Through the leadership of Walker, workshops were conducted with all employees to inform them about the changes that would take place. The staff got information about the new working style and culture to be attained through TQM.

Team sponsors were identified and their roles explained to the staff. They were to support the teams in any way needed including helping them to attain their objectives with recognition of their empowerment. Other workshops that Walker would offer involved problem-solving and statistical analysis, and at the same time inspiring everyone.

Finally, Gillette endeavored to meet the challenges of quality that the employees faced. Initially, Rotundo responded quickly to the employee complaints about the contract approach by delegating responsibility to investigate them to Victor Walker. The newly hired quality manager emerged to be a successful preparer of the team members and organizer of TQM process.

Through his stewardship, teams were guided in their TQM process by sponsors and ODI methodology. In addition, a steering committee was formed in an effort to respond to quality challenges.

The council systematically supported the employees towards TQM process and formed the backbone in the creation of a new working culture. Through such support, the employees were assured of the leaders’ commitment to the process and ultimately embarked on the mission whole-heartedly.

Team involvement was paramount for the success of Gillette TQM process. The initiative was adopted by the firm in an effort to enhance overall performance and position better in the Argentine market. As Jorge Micozzi observed, the market was opening and thus the firm perceived the entry of new competitors from United States and Europe (Donnellon & Engelkemeyer, 1999).

In that respect, team involvement was important to create a competitive advantage. This would allow for creativity and emergence of new ideas as the team members presented diverse suggestions. There was need to improve decisions and processes ahead of competition trough team work. Therefore, the new competitive advantage was to assist Gillette to compete and keep their market share.

Team involvement was important in consolidating individual interests with the interest of the company as a whole. Before the implementation of TQM, the employees pursued their interests with no chance for a broader perspective on the organizational goals and objectives. This working culture was not particularly strategic for the creation of customer value through quality services. Therefore, team involvement was a way of changing this individualistic culture as well as the focus of the workforce towards goal attainment.

Organizational Dynamics Inc which was hired to develop the quality initiative recommended the creation of teams. With the success history of the firm in Mexico, it was very important for Gillette to abide with this recommendation.

Team involvement was the only way to achieve the quality structure suggested by ODI. In addition, the basis of TQM being total participation, customer focus, systematic support and continuous improvement relied completely on team involvement for success.

Team involvement was important in enriching business ideas within Gillette. It can be argued that when employees are offered the chance to contribute to decision-making process, more and better ideas are achieved. Indeed, individuals are challenged to bring new ideas and suggestions when they are members of a team.

The individualistic working culture which existed prior to implementation of TQM process was a huge obstacle to the generation of new ideas. Decisions were entirely made by the top leaders who had little knowledge about the challenges at the operation level. Therefore, team involvement as Walker observed was a way of creating a conduit through which ideas would flow up and down the hierarchical structure.

The other importance of involving teams was to eliminate departmental barriers that the previous system had created. As a manufacturing firm, Gillette had denied employees the necessary interaction between departments. Rarely could the design team interact with the production team or the assembly team which gave in to low quality products and wastage of materials.

As much as the implementation of TQM process was to succeeds, so was the effort to involve teams. This involvement of diverse teams gave the need to understand what other departments did and how they were related to each other. Therefore, for the success of the TQM processes, interaction and coordination among departments was very crucial.

Team involvement in the TQM process was also important in improving customer satisfaction. Although it was more relevant to the sales team, it permeated through all other teams. The sales team had the direct contact with the customer and when involved in the TQM process could offer the needed feedbacks to the rest.

The other teams chipped in when responding to these feedbacks especially those which related to product offered. The involvement of these teams enabled Gillette to meet customer expectations and ultimately increase their satisfaction. Moreover, the increased strength and commitment of the sales team made the customers to feel more satisfied when transacting with the team members.

The TQM process at Gillette was greatly improved by teamwork. It enabled the management to identify and meet challenges of quality. Team involvement increased employee participation in which they launched their complaints. For instance, the assignment of Victor Walker who emerged to be the cornerstone in the processes was triggered by complaints from the employees (Donnellon & Engelkemeyer, 1999). In addition, team involvement allowed the steering committee to turn to TQM problems that barred the success of such programs.

Team involvement also allowed for the creation of the necessary working culture. As the team members increased their participation, new ideas emerged and departmental coordination became a reality. The roles of team leaders and members were defined and the members focused more on the organizational goals and objectives. Autonomy and efficiency increased such that each employee became a significant contributor to the success of the process.

Team involvement in the TQM actually speeded up the implementation. The firm was able to make quick, but effective decisions on how to go about implementing the components of the process. The process that had earlier faced challenges picked up as the teams increased their participation. Micozzi offers the success example of the administrative building (Donnellon & Engelkemeyer, 1999).

The building was designed and built in ten months by nine teams. Therefore, it can be argued that team involvement was the key factor that contributed to the success of TQM process within such a short time.

“Beyond the hanging fruits, the most important outcome of this effort was a different way of working with sales”

This statement was coined by Rotundo when he moved to interface sales with cross-functional teams after succeeding in managing inventories. According to him, customer focus was more important than anything in Gillette. After all, the manufacturing operations undertaken by the firm were determined by its capacity to make sustainable sales.

He likened other achievements of the effort to hanging fruits pointing sales focus as the most important attainment. The sales focus Rotundo had in mind was that of changing the way Gillette looked at its customers. This change was that which responded to the needs of the customers despite their nature or demands. It was a change that the firm could make while looking at things from the perspective of a customer and responding to customer demands without question.

Actually, the quality effort had to be focused on the enhancement of customer satisfaction. According to Daft, Murphy and Willmott (2010), customer is the most crucial stakeholder of an organization as he defines the reason for its existence and eventual success. Other achievements could be important, but lie far below the capacity to drive sales (hanging fruits).

As Rotundo highlights, this driving force could only be achieved by changing the way the firm worked with sales. The fact that customer needs could be clearly understood, the quality management program necessary would automatically be defined. The changed perspective about the customer would actually allow the customer needs to act as the roadmap towards continuous improvement of the quality management practices. Therefore, in spite of the achievement made by quality effort, the influence it could have on sales was paramount.

In response to the call made by Rotundo, Gillette completely changed the way it looked at its customers. First, customer satisfaction became the main purpose of TQM process as Micozzi noted (Donnellon & Engelkemeyer, 1999).

The teams were encouraged to align their goals with the corporate goals in order to drive sales. Starting from the design department to production department to sales department, all teams were involved in TQM process with a focus on their contribution towards customer satisfaction. In fact, the continuous improvement component of the TQM process involved responses to the changing needs of the customers. This is confirmed in the various team projects undertaken in the implementation of the process.

Gillette Argentina also changed the way it looked at the customers by having a special focus on the sales department. The sales teams were encouraged to be more proficient in working together and increase their efficiency to make customers more satisfied. The emphasis on customer needs was real and made the sales team more compelling.

As the local sales manager observed, the emphasis on sales department made people to like working with the team as they learned about the entire firm, gaining a global perspective (Donnellon & Engelkemeyer, 1999). Nonetheless, Gillette conducted continuous survey on customer satisfaction to ensure that the teams were delivering the expected results.

Immediately the teams were formed, the firm conducted customer surveys and customer critiques were assigned to each group. The success was clear-cut in these surveys suggesting the complete change of the firm’s way of looking at the customer.

Initially, Gillette’s organizational culture was characterized by individualism in which there were leaders and subjects to lead. Apparently, the employees got orders from above and had to act upon them without question. Decisions were solely made by the management without any input from the lower ranks.

Each department was assigned to specifically defined roles that were only approved by the management. There were few linkages to other departments with no interaction between departmental employees. Coordination between the departments was the role of managers whereby they advised rather than discussing on the work-related issues.

The employees focused on completing tasks rather than meeting goals and objectives. It can be argued that customer focus was not a crucial factor when working in the company. Workers pursued their interest and the interest of the company had little relevance when performing the assigned tasks.

Even before the implementation of TQM process, Carlos Rotundo had attempted to change the existing working culture. He introduced a quality-focused culture that supported team work with special emphasis on sales. The culture assigned many of the responsibilities to team leaders, but did not give individual employees much autonomy. Clearly, leaders made many of the decisions without any contribution coming from team members.

Each team pursued a specific task that was defined by the customer’s critique identified in the customer survey. Also, the management was responsible for most of the decisions that were beyond teams’ jurisdiction. Departmental interaction was not supported by this culture which ended prematurely after the introduction of TQM process.

The working culture that emerged from the adoption of TQM process was characterized by team work. Each activity that was accomplished in the firm including product design, development, production and offering was the cumulative efforts of individual teams. The team formation involved both the employees and the management. As a result, decision-making at department level as well as corporate level involved all team members.

The culture allowed each employee to contribute to any undertaking of the firm regardless of the source department. The ultimate goal in the new culture was customer satisfaction and all teams endeavored to achieve this goal.

Therefore, working to achieve this goal was the “sign post” of teams’ activities and leaders were not there to give orders but to discuss issues with members. In fact, Rotundo acknowledged that the new culture did not allow for orders, but consensus whereby the management listened to others’ problems and worked jointly to solve them.

The new culture was a supportive culture where tasks were shared among teams as well as team members. Individual employees became more responsible and industrious as they perceived assistance from other members. There was new confidence in their decisions and satisfaction in the tasks completed, especially when they were acknowledged with gifts.

The support formed a platform for knowledge creation and acquisition by the employees due to the focus on identifying problems and solving them. The cooperative working culture gave way to efficiency in the services offered to customers. Employees were willing more than ever to launch their complaints which allowed the managing team to act upon them on time. Thus, the working culture gave room for continuous improvement of the TQM process and eventually improvement on services offered to customers.

The TQM process implemented by Gillette had great tangible and intangible benefits. Perhaps, the economic benefits that came about due to improved performance and wastage elimination are most important. The high performance resulted from increased customer satisfaction which by 1994, the firm topped the list with 8 on a ten-point scale.

The higher economic performance could also have stemmed from the creativity and innovativeness of the firm as the team members acquired new knowledge and ideas. It can be argued that the larger part of the firm’s performance revolved around the capacity to bring new products to the market. The creative culture established by TQM process was clearly described in the rapid growth of financial determinants.

Some of the economic benefits include growth in sales, higher profits, POE decrease, inventory turns increase, and ROA increase. Between 1993 and 1998, sales grew by 19 percent while average profits increased by 22 percent. Period operating expense (POE) decreased by 40 percent while inventory turns increased from 4.8 to 8.7 in that period.

Return on assets (ROA) rose by 60 percent between the years. Profitability attributed to TQM was forecasted at $17.8 million by the turn of the millennium. Another economic benefit directly related to TQM was the expansion of the firm’s facilities. Clearly, the development of the new professional and administrative building was an outcome of the TQM process. The firm was also able to decrease material wastage and increase employee output per unit cost of the labor input.

As competition threat continued to intensify in the Argentine market, Gillette embarked on a TQM system to counter the competition. The challenge the firm faced of getting the employees to take on the system was solved by extensive training, workshops, consultation and proper response to the quality challenges perceived.

Teams were formed and involved in the process for various significances including: to create competitive advantage, to consolidate individual interests with the interest of the company, to act on the recommendations made by ODI, to enrich business ideas within firm, to eliminate departmental barriers, and to improve customer satisfaction.

This involvement allowed for the creation of the necessary working culture and speeded up the implementation of TQM. A different way of working sales that Rotundo had suggested led to the firm changing the way it looked at its customer by having a special focus on the sales, making customer satisfaction the main purpose of TQM process and conducting continuous survey on customer satisfaction. The working culture which changed from individualistic culture to team-working culture benefited the firm economically.

Daft, R., Murphy, J. & Willmott, H. (2010). Organization Theory and Design . Florence, KY: Cengage Learning EMEA.

Donnellon, A. & Engelkemeyer, S. (1999). Quality at Gillette Argentina . Web.

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Organizational approach to Total Quality Management: a case study

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Home » Management Case Studies » Case Study: TQM Initiatives by Carcom

Case Study: TQM Initiatives by Carcom

‘Carcom’ is a supplier of automotive safety components employing around 700 staff which is located on two sites in Northern Ireland. The company was originally American owned but after a joint venture with Japanese partner in the late 1980s, it was eventually bought out by the latter.

The quality initiative began in 1988-89 with a five-year plan based on the Kaizen philosophy , this concept having been picked up from the Japanese partner. This was driven by senior management in response to what they saw as increasing customer demand and operating considerations. The achievement of ISO 9001 registration in 1990 brought together processes carried out by departments which had previously been undertaken in isolation. The company is now focusing on Kaizen with the principles of improvement , customer delight, systems focus and participation. A range of quality management tools and techniques are used. A TQM steering committee is responsible for overall direction but there is also a further steering committee to oversee implementation of the Quality Improvement Teams (QITs) as well as a full time coordinator. There are teams of shop floor operators based on natural workgroups, and these tend to focus on product problems and environmental issues (such as working conditions). In contrast, Kaizen teams focus on process improvements (for example, die change) and problem-solving workgroups are established in response to specific customer concerns (for example, warranty claims).

The Impact of the TQM Initiative

While it is still early days, the initiative is already felt to have had a major impact. The management structure has been reduced by one layer, shop floor layout has been improved, and scrap rates, stock, work-in-progress and inspection times have been reduced, so too have the numbers of inspectors, whose role is now seen as one of analysts. Employee response to these changes has generally been positive, and the company as spent considerable effort in relating ‘quality’ directly to employees’ work, particularly through the use of measures which are displayed adjacent to the workstation and maintained by staff themselves. The unions were assured that there would not be job losses as a result of Kaizen, although they continue to have concerns about this and also raise the issue of payment for changes in job roles – particulate in relation to SpC. The company has adopted an open information policy to foster greater trust at the workplace, and business-related issues are given greater prominence at the joint works committee meetings. Management also believe that the quality initiative has led to a reduction in union influences although this was not an original objective.

The human resource function has emerged from a welfare to a more strategic role in recent years. This has been assisted by an MD who is regarded as a ‘people’ s person’ claiming that ‘you can’t divorce people from quality,’ and by the appointment of a personnel director to the boated together with a new industrial relations manager. This has broadened the role of human resources and enhanced its status. The appointment of a training manager was significant, since under the previous regime little off-the-job training was conducted. Training budgets have actually increased in volume and monetary terms despite the company’s recently recorded trading losses. Recruitment and selection are becoming more sophisticated as the company wish to identify team workers.

The links between human resources and quality were made explicitly by the MD : “We cannot separate HR from TQM, and without HR the QIP will not work effectively.” In addition to the issues mentioned above, the function was also seen as being important in building the people aspect into the strategic quality planning process. Addressing the problem of absenteeism , and supporting line management by helping to change employee attitudes/ organizational culture . In addition, the function has provided appropriate training programmers for quality, in which there has been considerable investment in time and resources, it has counseled the mentors to the QIT, and ensured that managers communicate with staff by providing advice on the best means of doing this. Quality principles are also being developed in relation to the human resource function, with specific targets being set (for example, for absenteeism) as well as more general aims (for example, on training).

(a) Analyze the links between TQM and HRM with reference both to this case study and more generally.

(b) What does the case study demonstrate about the contribution a personnel/HRM function can make to the development of TQM in an organization ?

(d) What general implications does TQM have for industrial relation?

Download the Answers for the above questions: Case Study Solution

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International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management

ISSN : 0265-671X

Article publication date: 1 May 1993

Most quality professionals recommend a core set of attributes as the nucleus of any quality improvement process. These attributes include: (1) clarifying job expectations; (2) setting quality standards; (3) measuring quality improvement; (4) effective super‐vision; (5) listening by management; (6) feedback by management; and (7) effective training. Based on a survey of employees at a medium‐sized manufacturing firm in the United States, it was found that management philosophy and actions can undermine even a proven total quality management (TQM) programme. For the many firms which hire outside consultants to set up a TQM programme, makes recommendations to management to ensure its successful implementation.

• MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY
• QUALITY ASSURANCE
• QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Longenecker, C.O. and Scazzero, J.A. (1993), "Total Quality Management from Theory to Practice: A Case Study", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management , Vol. 10 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/02656719310040114

Copyright © 1993, MCB UP Limited

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Implementation of total quality management Case study: British Airways

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Abstract: Total Quality Management (TQM) has an important role in any company, since the implementation of this program companies can continuously improve their performance. Thus, organizations will be able to considerably meet their internal and external clients' needs in terms of services and products quality, and they will also be able to develop an efficient and profitable business. The paper analyzes how this concept was implemented by the British Airways airline, since it is among the first companies that have implemented such a program.

Key-words: quality, management system, services, products, efficiency.

1. Introduction

The methods to ensure the quality of products and services have evolved continuously in accordance with the rapid technological and socio-cultural changes, that have marked the evolution of society, especially in this century. (Baltescu, C.A., Boscor, D., 2014, 65)

Also, in the European Union, the consumer protection policy should be regarded as a horizontal policy aimed to promoting consumer interests. In addition, this policy has significant effects on other EU policies such as: Common Agricultural Policy, environment, transport and energy policy which include rules regarding consumer rights. (Neacsu N.A. 2011, 52)

These requirements taken into account, integrated quality assurance concepts have been implemented since the 80s. The starting point of these strategies was the "new philosophy" defined by Feigenbaum: Total Quality Control.

Of these, particular interest is the concept of total quality managemt used in parallel, or in relation to the "total quality."

In the definition of total quality management (TQM) more guidelines can be highlighted.

a) The vast majority of authors agree that TQM is, above all, a new philosophy, a new model of enterprise culture, with the aim to orient towards customers all its activities and processes and optimize them so that they could bring long-term benefits.

According to Drummond (Drummond, H 1992, 13), for example, TQM is a business philosophy based on customer satisfaction through quality orientation of the entire organization.

Koller (Koller, J., K 1995) defines TQM as representing a systematic way of managing an organization's results. TQM involves new management strategies, changes in culture and infrastructure, tools and techniques to determine all members of the organization to collaborate and enable continuous improvement of quality defined by the client.

b) A number of authors point out, defining TQM, besides its philosophical dimension, the technical and social aspects that are involved in this philosophy.

In Oess's opinion (Strauss, B. 1994, 202), for example, TQM must be approached as a two-component system, including a technical and a social subsystem of inter-relationships being established between them.

c) According to another orientation (Kélada, J. 1990, 36-37), TQM is a three-dimensional concept, a management philosophy based on a certain logic that involves the use of specific methods and techniques, resulting its third dimension, the technical one.

In essence, TQM is a philosophy of business management dealing with getting continuous improvement of customer satisfaction through quality management products and services, led in the entire company. TQM is a new approach to corporate management by applying total quality ideas across the organization.

The advantages of implementing TQM are:

- Improving the company's reputation - faults and problems are identified quickly (the "zero defects");

- Significant improvement in quality of products or services;

- Customer satisfaction increase, which leads to additional sales;

- A significant decrease of resources waste;

- Increased productivity because the staff use the time more efficiently;

- Increasing the market share on the long term;

-The workforce is motivated by additional responsibilities, teamwork and involvement in decision-making on TQM;

- Lower costs;

- Focus on continuous improvement.

2. British Airways overview

British Airways is the national airline of the United Kingdom, the operational headquarter being based in Waterside. The airline is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. British Airways is one of seven airlines that fly to all six inhabited continents.

British Airways carry passengers, cargo and letters from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports. It has expanded its network in more than 500 destinations through joint business agreements with American Airlines and Oneworld alliance members. The carrier manages a fleet of over 240 aircrafts, consisting primarily of Airbus and Boeing. In 2013, British Airways has taken delivery of its first of 42 Boeing 787s, with the first of its 12 Airbus A380s due to touch down in the UK July 4. British Airways is the largest Boeing 747-400 operator in the world. (Low Teacher)

In 2010 British Airways and Iberia have merged and created International Airlines Group.(Slideshare, 2013)

To survive both short-term and long-term on global market, where there is fierce competition between airlines, British Airways had to focus on a variety of goals and objectives.

In this respect, the general objectives of the company are divided into three categories: (UK Essays)

Global - for all passengers - whether they are traveling just for pleasure or on business.

Premium - ensure that passengers receive the highest quality services.

Air - focuses on aviation; owning the best equipment, products and services. Also, British Airways is considering four strategic objectives:

First airline customers top choices - to remain the first choice when it comes to premium international flights, cargo, economy or short flights.

Quality service - to provide the best service to passengers on all routes and in all classes of aircrafts during flight and to improve online services.

Global expansion - to continue to expand its list of destinations, through partnerships with other airlines.

Satisfying customer needs - to explore the latest features and products to enhance customer loyalty.

The main competitors of British Airways are:

1. Deutsche Lufthansa AG - Air Ambassador of Germany, Lufthansa offers flights to 209 destinations in 81 countries worldwide. (Bilete-avion). It manages a fleet of over 300 aircraftsfor passengers.(eSKY) It is also a market leader in international air transport through Lufthansa Cargo. Other major segments of the group are the maintenance, repair and overhaul by Lufthansa Technik services, air catering services by LSG Sky Chefs, and IT services through Lufthansa Systems. (Tourismguide) Lufthansa is a founding member and leader of the Star Alliance, the largest alliance of airlines.

2. Continental Airlines, Inc.-Continental Airlines is the world's fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,600 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 132 domestic and 137 international destinations. Continental is a member of Star Alliance. (Makemytrip, 2015)

3. United Air Lines, Inc. - A leading passenger and cargo airline, United serves more than 230 destinations in some 30 countries. The airline, which also offers regional services via subsidiary United Express, operates a fleet of some 700 mainland aircraft. In addition, it leads the Star Alliance, a marketing and code-sharing group that includes Continental and Lufthansa. (Hoovers, 2015)

3. Implementation of total quality management at British Airways

In order to practice TQM, the main focus was on the British Airways transformation from an engineering based company in one dictated by the market. There are four key factors that contributed to the success of the company, namely:

1. Continuous reduction of costs;

2. Focus on providing excellent customer service at a premium price;

3. Cover growing market through alliances and partnerships;

4. Maximize return on individual flights by investing in computerized reservations. (Law Teacher)

In 1987, the year when the company was privatized, the company management believed that to be the best and to be a world-class organization, they have to use the strategies and processes that should create vision and inspire the employees to gain their trust. This could only be possible by implementing TQM program. It was implemented in British Airways' Technical Workshops. The Technical Workshops (hangars) of British Airways are responsible for the overhaul and the repair of aircraft components.

In order to be the best in this industry, the management team of British Airways Technical Workshops decided that they must win through teamwork, customer satisfaction, profitability and reputation.

Along the "path" to implement TQM, there were identified the following key steps:

1. Conducting a study to diagnose the current position within the technical workshop and reporting results;

2. Obtaining support and a full commitment to TQM concept from all levels of management;

3. Educating staff according to the principles of TQM and facilitate necessary changes in management style;

4. Changes in policies, procedures and work practices that would fit and would facilitate new organizational culture required;

5. Starting the quality improvement process;

6. Reviewing progress made and fostering a sustained commitment from all levels of the organization.

In order to examine the controversial issues and problems facing the staff, a survey was distributed among employees from technical workshops, among customers and in supplying areas. To do this, an analysis of the cost of quality was made.

The approach taken by the company in collecting quality costs was the breakdown of employees activities related to quality in three main activities, namely:

1. Anticipation - activities that provide performance "right first time";

2. Assessment -activities that check if the concept of "right first time" is done;

3. Failure - activities resulting from the failure of the concept "right first time".

Each manager or team leader was asked to make an assessment of how their subordinate staff spent time during activities related to quality. Knowing how to bear the cost of quality has had a significant contribution in educating staff on the concept and principles of TQM. It also helped of strengthening and justification of need for training personnel in accordance with TQM, to overcome any skepticism about TQM, to promote considerable debate on this issue and to ensure that the improvement of individual projects activity can be measured. (Rawlins A. R. 2008)

Data collected from the survey was introduced in a diagnostic report and seven improvement activities have been identified:

1. The way the employees view the company's management;

2. Managerial style;

3. Implementation of changes;

4. Communication;

5. Systems and procedures;

6. Facilities and conditions;

7. Attitude of employees.

They held some courses for managers for three days. These courses have conceptually explained TQM philosophy and revealed findings of the report. Managers were encouraged to submit ideas and action plans for staff involvement in improvement process. This required some changes in managing style.

Similar courses were held for all employees. Delegates of each course were taken from different areas of workshops to facilitate the exchange of ideas between departments. Quality improving groups, each involving up to 12 people, actively conducted projects for improvement.

Examples of projects: improved methods for sorting aircraft test equipment to ensure ease localization and certification control, an improved library for storing approved technical publications and a design of new measures regarding the workshop performance, so that the figures which provide performance to be meaningful and easy to understand.

British Airways Technical Workshops are recognized as the best in the aviation industry, by customers, competitors and even by British Airways itself. Benefits began to appear Two years after the launch of TQM. There have been positive changes in measures of higher level, which were used to report progress to the directorate. These measures included the proportion of components which are in good condition, the number of units that are not in good condition in the workshop and the number of units produced per month. British Airways launched their TQM program in September 1988 and by the end of 1999 the benefits of the program were visible. (Law Teacher)

It is important to note that after implementation of TQM, British Airways continued to apply total quality management on employees, the processes and customers, and the result was successful, as shown in Table 1: turnover increased by 23%, the number of employees fell by 3.153 people, increased the number of passengers who used the company's services, passenger load factor increased from 79.1% to 81.3% and aircraft fleet has grown to 33 aircraft. Although profit has declined and losses were recorded in the period 2008 - early 2010, after this date there is an important increase of this indicator.

4. Conclusions

British Airways, founded in 1935, which is the subject of the case study, is the national airline of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, founding member of the Oneworld Alliance and one of the seven airlines that fly to all six inhabited continents.

The carrier manages a fleet of over 240 aircraft, consisting primarily of Airbus and Boeing.

Total Quality Management was implemented by British Airways in September 1988 from the technical workshops in the desire to improve and contribute to the success of the organization.

TQM program was characterized by customer focus, full participation, process improvement and process management and planning. TQM implementation process was a very long-term procedure.

Thus, in only two years of program implementation, benefits began to appear (e.g. positive changes took place in the top-level measures).

The company also had to experience many changes made on TQM program requirements and extensive market research that identified customer expectations for the standards to be served by an international airline known as British Airways.

5. References

Baltescu, Codruta Adina, and Dana Boscor. 2014. "The Assessment of Hotel Services in Poiana Brasov Resort". Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov, Series V, Vol. 7(56), 17-22.

Drummond, H. 1992. The Quality Movement. What Total Quality Management is Really All about! London: Kogan Page.

Kélada, Joseph. 1990. La gestion intégrale de la qualité. Pour une qualité totale. Québec: Edition Quafec.

Koller, J. K. 1995. Total Quality Management in Service Industry, European Masters Programme in Total Quality Management. Germany: University of Kaiserslautern.

Neacsu, Nicoleta Andreea. 2011. Protectia Consumatorului (Consummer Protection). Brasov: Transilvania University Publishing House.

Rawlins, Ashley R. 2008. Total Quality Management (TQM). Author Publishing House.

Strauss, B. 1994. Qualitätsmanagement und Zertifizierung. Von DIN ISO 9000 zum Total Quality Management. Wiesbaden: Gabler Verlang.

British Airways should focus on their quality standards http://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/business-law/british-airways-should-focus-on-their-quality-standards-business-law-essay.php#ixzz3VbvNLWht. Accessed on: 6.03.ora 19.38

Strategic management in services organizations. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/ilyasbouhad/case-study-british-airways. Accessed on: Accessed on: 6.03.ora 19.33

British airways. Available at: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/aviation/british-airways.php. Accessed on: 6.03.ora 19.40

Information about Lufthansa. Available at: http://www.bilete-avioane.ro/bilete_avion_companie_lufthansa.html. Accessed on: 6.03.ora 19.30

About Lufthansa. Available at: http://www.tourismguide.ro/x/lufthansa/. Accessed on: 6.03.ora 19.35

Airline Lufthansa. Available at: http://www.esky.ro/companii-aeriene/Lufthansa. Accessed on: 6.03.ora 19.46

Continental Airlines. Available at: http://us.makemytrip.com/flights/continental-airlines-co.html. Accessed on: 6.03.ora 19.49

United Airlines Inc .Company Information. Available at: http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.United_Air_Lines_Inc.5ea6fd1816caf8ab.html. Accessed on: 6.03.ora 19.52

British Airways. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways. Accessed on: 6.03.ora 19.55

Anca MADAR1

1 Transilvania University of Bras ov, [email protected]

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Copyright Transilvania University of Brasov 2015

Total Quality Management (TQM) has an important role in any company, since the implementation of this program companies can continuously improve their performance. Thus, organizations will be able to considerably meet their internal and external clients' needs in terms of services and products quality, and they will also be able to develop an efficient and profitable business. The paper analyzes how this concept was implemented by the British Airways airline, since it is among the first companies that have implemented such a program.

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Irrigation infrastructure quality management system toolkit for Sub-Saharan Africa using Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda as a case study: technical report

• From International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
• Published on 31.07.24

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Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have identified small-scale irrigation development as a priority to ensure food security and improve agricultural production. However, they have encountered challenges related to inadequate planning, study, design and inferior-quality construction of irrigation infrastructure. To bridge these quality gaps, the concept of developing a quality management system (QMS) toolkit was initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The objective of the toolkit is to establish a management framework that directs and controls small-scale irrigation development processes in SSA as per contractual requirements, quality standards and governing regulations to ensure quality outputs in all development phases. Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda were chosen as focal countries. Two approaches were employed to develop the toolkit. A literature review on quality management practices in irrigation development within the focal countries and global experiences was conducted to learn lessons and identify parameters that have key roles in quality management practices. This was followed by case studies and analyses of irrigation development practices in each focal country through stakeholder consultations, project site observations and focus group discussions. Based on the findings, a toolkit with a comprehensive set of guidelines, checklists, templates and resources was developed. The toolkit is presented in two volumes. Volume I is the toolkit guidelines, which cover the goals and scope of the toolkit along with details of the approaches employed and the findings from the development process. It also presents the proposed checklists, tools, templates and forms. It briefly explains how to use them to conduct quality management in small-scale irrigation project (SSIP) development. Volume II includes the key parameters and to-do lists segregated by development phases, stages, components and subcomponents of the SSIP development process. It also includes proposed institutional arrangements for implementing the QMS initiative by the focal countries. Furthermore, a user-friendly webpage was developed to allow for quick access to various additional open-source resources, including guidelines, standards and best practices. The toolkit aims to help governments and other implementers introduce an effective quality management system in the irrigation development process adapted to country-specific irrigation regulations and standards. For effective implementation of the toolkit, the commitment of the implementing organizations, institutionalizing quality management in project development and regular capacity building of implementing agents are recommended.

Hailu, H.; Abdella, Y.; Seid, Abdulkarim; Haileslassie, Amare. 2024. Irrigation infrastructure quality management system toolkit for Sub-Saharan Africa using Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda as a case study: technical report. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 27p. [doi:   https://doi.org/10.5337/2024.221 ]

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