Quality and Total Quality Management

Although quality and quality management does not have a formal definition, most agree that it is an integration of all functions of a business to achieve high quality of products through continuous improvement efforts of all employees. Quality revolves around the concept of meeting or exceeding customer expectation applied to the product and service. Achieving high quality is an ever changing, or continuous, process. As such, quality management emphasizes the ideas of working constantly toward improved quality. It involves every aspect of the company: processes, environment, and people. The whole workforce from the CEO to the line worker must be involved in a shared commitment to improving quality. Quality and total quality management (TQM for short) can be defined as directing (managing) the whole (total) production process to produce an excellent (quality) product or service.

Quality management differs from other management techniques in the attitude of management toward the product and toward the worker. Older management methods focused on the volume of production and the cost of the product. Quality was controlled by using a detection method (post production inspection), problems were solved by management and management's role was defined as planning, assigning work, controlling the production. In contrast, quality management is focused on the customer and meeting the customer's needs. Quality is controlled by prevention, i.e., quality is built in at every stage. Teams solve problems and everyone is responsible for the quality of the product. Management's role is to delegate, coach, facilitate, and mentor. The major quality management principles are: quality, team-work, and proactive management philosophies for process improvement.

The U.S. Department of Defense's

Definition of Total Quality

Total Quality (TQ) consists of continuous improvement activities involving everyone in the organization—managers and workers—in a totally integrated effort toward improving performance at every level. This improved performance is directed toward satisfying such cross-functional goals as quality, cost, schedule, missing, need, and suitability. TQ integrates fundamental management techniques, existing improvement efforts, and technical tools under a disciplined approach focused on continued process improvement. The activities are ultimately focused on increasing customer/user satisfaction.

ORIGINS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Quality management is not derived from a single idea or person. It is a collection of ideas and has been called by various names and acronyms: TQM, total quality management; CQI, continuous quality improvement; SQC, statistical quality control; TQC, total quality control, etc. However each of these ideas encompasses the underlying idea of productivity initiatives that increase profit by improving the product.

Though most writers trace the quality movement's origins to W. Edwards Deming, Joseph M. Juran, and Philip B. Crosby, the roots of quality can be traced even further back, to Frederick Taylor in the 1920s. Taylor is the “father of scientific management.” As manufacturing left the single craftsman's workshop, companies needed to develop a quality control department. As manufacturing moved into big plants, between the 1920s and the 1950s, the terms and processes of quality engineering and reliability engineering developed. During this time productivity was emphasized and quality was checked at the end of the line. As industrial plants became larger, post-production checks became more difficult and statistical methods began to be used to control quality. This was called reliability engineering because it moved quality control toward building quality into the design and production of the product. Taylor was the pioneer of these methods.

The ideas of W. Edwards Deming, Joseph M. Juran, and Philip B. Crosby had the biggest impact on the development of the quality management movement. The individual contributions of these and several other “quality gurus” are fully detailed in the article on “Quality Gurus.” Therefore, only a brief outline will be provided here.

Deming relied heavily on “statistical process control” methods, though his philosophy went beyond statistical quality control and encouraged building quality into the product at all stages. He put forward the concept of the quality chain reaction: as quality improves, costs go down and productivity goes up; this leads to more jobs, greater market share, and long-term survival. He stressed worker pride and satisfaction and considered it management's job to improve the process, not the worker. Quality circles, a central Deming theme, are based on the importance of employees meeting regularly in groups to comprehensively discuss product quality.

Deming's ideas were encapsulated in several important doctrines, including his fourteen points for management, the Deming Cycle, and the Seven Deadly Diseases. The Deming Cycle involves five steps: consumer research and planning of the product (plan), producing the product (do), checking the product (check), marketing the product (act), and analyzing how the product is received (analyze.) The Seven Deadly Diseases are:

1. Lack of constancy of purpose to plan products and services
2. Emphasis on short-term profits
3. Personal review systems for managers and management by objectives
4. Job-hopping by managers
5. Using only visible data in decision making
6. Excessive medial costs
7. Excessive costs of liability driven up by lawyers who work on contingency

Joseph M. Juran was another influential quality guru. Like Deming, Juran emphasized planning, organizing, and controlling. However he emphasized customer satisfaction more than Deming did and focused on management and technical methods rather than worker satisfaction. Juran developed basic steps that companies must take, however he believed there was a point of diminishing return, a point at which quality goes beyond the consumer needs. For example, if the consumer trades his car in after 50,000 miles, the car need only be built to perform trouble-free for 60,000 miles. Building a better car would drive up costs without delivering the expected product. This is called the Pareto Principle, or the Juran 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the trouble comes from 20 percent of the problems. The rule is named for Vilfredo Pareto, an economist, but it was Juran that applied the idea to management. It can be expressed as: “concentrate on the ‘vital few’ sources of problems; don't be distracted by less important problems.”

Like Deming, Juran developed a number of reinforcing doctrines, including Juran's trilogy—quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement—and his ten steps to quality improvement:

1. Build awareness of opportunities to improve.
2. Set goals.
3. Organize to reach goals.
4. Provide training.
5. Carry out projects to solve problems.
6. Report progress.
7. Give recognition.
8. Communicate results.
9. Keep score.
10. Maintain momentum by making annual improvement part of the systems and processes of the company.

Philip Crosby, author of Quality Is Free, was the third major quality guru. Crosby emphasized meeting customer requirements by focusing on prevention rather than correction. He claimed that poor quality costs about 20 percent of the revenue; a cost that could be avoided by using good quality practices. Crosby's method does not dwell on statistical process control and problem-solving techniques that the Deming method uses. He stated that quality is free because prevention will always be lower than the costs of detection, correction, and failure.

Looking at the history of quality management, we see several stages of development. The first was quality control, which involved setting up product specifications and then inspecting the product before it leaves the plant. The second state is quality assurance, which involved identifying the quality characteristics and procedures for quantitatively evaluating and controlling them. The next phase is the true total quality control, a term actually coined by Feingenbaum in 1983. At this stage the quality became a total organization effort. It effected production, profit, human interaction and customer satisfaction. The fourth stage is total quality management. In TQM the customer is the center and quality is an organization-wide effort.

QUALITY IN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES

Firms in the United States were slow to see the advantages of quality management. In the decades that followed World War II, demand was so high that U.S. manufacturers had no trouble selling everything they made. This situation drove U.S. industry to emphasize increasing production, which resulted in less quality control. U.S. manufacturers became complacent, thinking that they could sell any product and that the consumer did not want or demand quality. The situation in Japan after World War II was just the opposite. The war had left the country devastated, and it needed to rebuild its means of production. In addition, Japanese manufacturers needed to

counteract the reputation they had that products “made in Japan” were of low quality.

Japan began focusing on serious quality efforts. Japanese teams went abroad to visit foreign countries to learn how other countries managed quality, and they invited foreign experts, including Deming and Juran, to lecture in Japan on quality management. It took twenty years of concerted effort to revamp Japan's industrial system. The strategies used involved high-level managers as leaders. All levels and functions were trained in managing for quality, continuous progress was undertaken, quality circles were used, and the entire workforce was enlisted. By the early 1980s Japanese products, particularly automobiles and electronic products, were superior in quality to U.S. products. U.S. companies lost markets in the United States and in the western world to the Japanese and went in search of the Japanese secret. They found the concept of quality management.

One of the first companies in the United States to grasp and utilize quality management was Motorola. In 1981 Bob Galvin, Motorola's chairman, called for an across-the-board improvement of 10:1 in five years. To accomplish this they needed a breakthrough technique. This breakthrough is detailed in the Six Sigma process:

• Faith that the improvement target could be achieved
• Total customer satisfaction
• Powerful new tools, especially design of experiments
• Cycle-time reduction
• Designing for ease of manufacturing
• Manufacturing innovations
• True partnerships with key suppliers
• Training for all employees

Within five years Motorola had achieved their goal. In 1988 they were awarded the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award for their impressive Six Sigma process. Keki R. Bhote nurtured the Six Sigma project for eleven years at Motorola and then went on to consult with other companies.

In the early 1980s when Donald Petersen was CEO of Ford, Ford executives were investigating the secret of the Japanese success. They discovered W. Edwards Deming's holistic blend of statistics and management. Deming's ideas came to Detroit. Ford was in serious trouble because of Japanese competition. Deming introduced the statistical methods needed to improve processes. These are the foundation of what became known as Six Sigma, a statistical measure that refers to 3.4 defects per million. Besides this scientific method of improving quality, Deming emphasized that all employees needed to work toward quality. He advocated teamwork and cross-department collaboration, close work with suppliers and employee training. Other companies that adopted the Deming quality methods were General Motors, Florida Power & Light, and Procter and Gamble.

IMPLEMENTING TQM

Although different authorities on total quality management emphasize different techniques and use different terminology, all share three common ideas: quality, team-work and process improvement. Although many books have been written to guide U.S. companies through TQM, one of the major writers was Joseph Jablonski. In Implementing TQM, he identified three characteristics: (1) participative management; (2) continuous process improvement; and (3) utilization of teams.

Participative management is the opposite of the hierarchical management style of the early twentieth century businesses. It involves all employees in the management process and decision making by having managers set policies and make key decisions based upon the advice and ideas of subordinates. This method provides management with more information from the front line and motivates the workers as they have some control of the decisions. Continuous process improvement is one of Deming's major ideas and involves small steps toward the ultimate goal. This involves patience on the part of management. Teamwork refers to cross-functional teams of workers that share in problem solving.

In Implementing TQM, Jablonski lists six attributes necessary for success: (1) customer focus; (2) process focus; (3) prevention versus inspection; (4) employee empowerment and compensation; (5) fact-based decision making; and (6) receptiveness to feedback.

U.S. companies have long relied upon company organization by functions. TQM emphasizes a decentralized structure to encourage leadership and creativity. The purpose of this change in structure is to change the behavior of the employees. This is a major change for most U.S. companies. However, successful companies have more functional integration and fewer layers of hierarchy.

QUALITY FAILURES

Not all attempts at quality improvement have been successful. Frequently cited reasons for failure are poor leadership, team-mania (setting up teams before management or employees have been trained in team work), and lack of integration of quality efforts into the whole organization. Obstacles and barriers to success have been researched by Robert J. Masters. He lists eight common problems that lead to failure:

1. Lack of management commitment. Management must commit time and resources and clearly communicate the importance and goals to all personnel.
2. Inability to change the organizational culture. Change takes time and effort. In order for the culture to change, the employees need to want change and be willing to participate. This requires reasons that management must convey. The change will only occur if the employees trust the management. It cannot occur from a state of fear.
3. Improper planning. Planning must involve all parts of the organization and be communicated clearly to employees.
4. Lack of training. The most effective training comes from senior management. Informal training needs to occur on a continual basis.
5. Organizational structure problems and isolated individuals or departments. Multi-functional teams will help break down some of these barriers. Restructuring is another method.
6. Ineffective measurement and lack of data. Effective decisions require that the employees have access to the necessary data.
7. Inadequate attention to internal and external customers.
8. Inadequate empowerment, lack of teamwork. Teams require training. Their recommendations should be followed whenever possible. Individuals need to be empowered to make decisions.

QUALITY INTO THE 2000s

Since its initial introduction, TQM has gained wide acceptance in the United States. Quality management principles have had a remarkable influence on every sector of American business and are spreading to non-profit organizations and universities.

Beginning in the 1980s, many U.S. companies implemented total quality management systems in order to be competitive in the global market place. Successes lead them to be interested in hiring managers and engineers with some TQM training. This prompted universities to start teaching quality methods. To help universities in this, the University Challenge program was developed by a group of companies that had implemented TQM successfully. Their goal was to encourage universities to commit to integrating TQM in their own operations and courses. Initially eight universities with both business and engineering schools were chosen. Milliken worked with North Carolina State University and Georgia Institute of Technology. IBM worked with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Rochester Institute of Technology. Motorola worked with Purdue University. Procter & Gamble Company worked with University of Wisconsin at Madison and Tuskegee University. Xerox worked with Carnegie Mellon.

Work on quality management concepts and tools has continued into the twenty-first century. Works such as Process Improvement and Quality Management in the Retail Industry, Quality Management In Construction, and Quality Management in Health Care have appeared in recent years to apply quality management techniques to areas such as retail, construction, healthcare, software development, and more. While quality may no longer be the hot new management idea that it was in the 1980s, the quality revolution has succeeded, making quality management techniques a permanent part of the global business world.

SEE ALSO Continuous Improvement; Japanese Management; Management Awards; Participative Management; Quality Gurus; Teams and Teamwork

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