Introduction:

TQM is broadly defined below:

"Total Quality management refers to a management process and set of disciplines that are coordinated to ensure that the organization consistently meets and exceeds customer requirements. TQM engages all divisions, departments and levels of the organization. Top management organizes all of its strategy and operations around customer needs and develops a culture with high employee participation. TQM companies are focused on the systematic management of data of all processes and practices to eliminate waste and pursue continuous improvement. "

- Bacal, R. 2009

In traditional management quality was defined internally. (Leanmanufacturing. 2008.). This means that standards for products were designed by the firm and if the product functioned as designed, or met the internal requirements then the product would be deemed of good quality. Today operations managers all over the world are becoming clued up on Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM, differs from traditional management practices in that the concept of quality is defined externally, that means that the quality of a product would be defined by the potential consumer. Instead of firms creating their idea of a product they are now receiving input from customers as to what they require in a product. TQM requires customer driven standards through extensive market research. (Hashmi, K. 2010). Since the 1950 s when TQM first came about there have been numerous and vastly differing definitions and concepts relating to TQM. This project aims to analyze the different perceptions of quality and formulate a universally used definition of quality, which may be able to combat all quality hurdles that firms may experience. This will be done through a critical evaluation of all currently used and known TQM philosophies. The gurus who shaped these philosophies will also be examined. Finally a company facing issues with quality control will be examined and the theories discussed in this project will be utilized to help repair the problems the company faces and hopefully eradicate any future discrepancies in quality control.

A History of TQM:

The primary objective of any organization, whether delivering a service or a good, is to increase their bottom line. Traditionally managers believed that the only way to increase profits and decrease overheads was to cut costs at any and all phases of production. They believed that this was the only way to achieve high profit margins, not taking into account the added costs of rejects and servicing of faulty products that this method brought about. In recent times it is becoming increasingly

important for firms to adopt TQM strategies as they are no longer competing on a local scale. The world is becoming a smaller place due to the increasing speed of revolutionary technology such as the internet, and organizations like the World Trade Organization breaking down previously invisible barriers hindering cross country trading. All these factors mean every firm is now expected to keep up to date with global standards and a worldwide view of quality. In order for a firm to stay competitive they no longer need to have just the lowest price but also the highest quality. Firms first used TQM, to differentiate themselves from other companies, but now it has become a standard practice, where if TQM philosophies are not in place a firm will find it difficult to stay in the market. So, TQM may have originated due to the increasing demands of customers but it has stayed around due to the fact that quality is seen as an important factor to consumers.

The birth of many supply chain philosophies came about during World War II, such as logistics. It was develop as a means to ensure faster recognition of the positioning of the armies weapons and military units. TQM is no different; it started to take form in the 1940 s. In the late 1920 s Dr. W Edwards Deming discovered that motivation systems for workers were unproductive as incentives were related to the quantity of output each worker produced, completely ignoring the number of rejects and standard of quality. He also found that post production inspection systems were used to find flawed goods, meaning that wastage could not be avoided as the flawed productwas already completed. This meant extensive funds were used on remaking products that should have been completed correctly in the first place. (answers. 2010.). Every person familiar with management techniques has heard of Deming, but not many people are aware of the fact that it was only because of his partnership with Walter A. Shewart that he discovered that statistics control methods could be used to in conjunction with traditional management techniques to make business processes more efficient. Deming s statistical control techniques were first put to test in World War II, when he easily taught engineers and workers that statistical process control could be implemented in overburdened war production plants.

Deming is most commonly known for his 14 points for quality improvement. His basic philosophy teaches us that quality and productivity increase as process variability (the unpredictability of the process) decreases. (Stack, N. et al. 2001). His 14 points were designed to reduce, or ideally eliminate any variance in a given system. This means that there should be no surprises or unknown hurdles in a system. He believed that if there are no unknown variables then there would be reduced wastage. Deming has gained great acclaim, especially from the Japanese with his techniques on how to streamline manufacturing plants, but he has been criticized for not lending any tools to complete these objectives that he sets out for managers and firms. In other words although he does not offer the means to accomplish the steps he has put in place for a smoother running firm the points he developed do work if managers are able to successfully implement them. (Cohen, H. 2008.) Deming also seems to take great effort to ensure that employees are well treated and put at ease. He blames mistakes in production on the processes that created the product rather than the individual. Deming is a strong believer in motivating ones workers and offering them training and education in order to increase a firm s human capital and thus increase the quality of products. Deming s points, although revolutionary are just a start off point on a firms way to TQM and control in an organization. As

discussed before Deming offers no tools of use to ensure deliverables are met. There are many definitions of what quality is, as we discussed earlier and Deming s 14 points has a transcendent approach to quality, this means that quality is described as a condition of overall excellence. This approach describes quality as too broad and indefinite to be used in practical purposes. The idea behind transcendent quality is that quality is based on individual perception and is external to the firm. (Seawright, K. et al. 1996).

To summarize, Deming is considered to be the father of modern quality. He set in motion a quality revolution that many firms followed and many people tried to better or extend on. The main points of quality to take from Deming are constancy leads to an increase in production, which can be achieved through statistical process control. The next point to take into consideration is that employees should be treated with respect and not assigned blame as historically; poor quality was always blamed on workers, due to their supposed lack of productivity, laziness and carelessness. (Deming, E. 1990). Deming showed that workers have little, if no control over less than perfect processes which is the cause of inefficiency. He also brought into peoples minds for the first time, the idea of continuous improvement. Continuous improvement is a recurring theme in TQM, and will be mentioned in greater detail later on in this text. It was found that the inadequacies that arise from the 14 Deming s points are limited guidance and lack of standardized techniques on how to follow through with each step.

The Evolution of TQM:

After Deming, Joseph M. Juran was considered to have the greatest impact on quality management. Juran believed that, unlike Deming, an organization need not go through an entire transformation to adopt quality management but rather that quality should be embedded into an organization without the need of such dramatic changes. (Skymark. 2009). Jurans greatest contribution to quality management is the quality trilogy. These are: quality planning, quality control and quality improvement. He was very focused on what the customer required in terms of quality. And the user based approach to quality stems from his philosophies. (Swinton, L. 2009.). This is an approach where quality is about providing goods and services that are fit for their purpose. The problems surrounding this approach are that each consumer has a different use for each product supplied. Because preferences vary so widely among consumers, this leaves the firm the choice to either market solely to a niche market or identify product attributes that appeal to the largest number of consumers. (Ross, J. 2009). The strengths of Jurans philosophies are that communication between a firm and potential consumer is extensive so the firm is fully aware of what specifications their product should possess. Rewards are based on results not just on quantity produced. What can be taken from Juran is that he first introduced the concept of improvement and continuously inspecting processes to ensure that they are efficient and relevant. He also created the Pareto Principle (80% of errors come from 20% of the production process). The Pareto principle is very useful and eliminated a lot of time and effort spent on smaller insignificant areas of quality or production issues. By quickly being able to pinpoint the majority of discrepancies, or the area from which they stem, Juran made

finding and correcting these errors more manageable. It allows managers to prioritize quality improvements. He stresses that quality does not mean best but best for the customer use and selling price. This is currently known as the value based approach to quality where quality is decided on the fact that a consumer is getting what they paid for. In other words the quality of a product may be seen as high, even if it is just standard due to a low product price.

The next TQM guru that will be discussed is Armand V. Feigenbaum. He introduced the concept of total quality control. Feigenbaum had a more overall process which he created. His quality principles consist of 40 steps. Feigenbaum believed that the success of a quality control programme depends on its ability to encompass more employee involvement as it progresses. He promoted the idea that quality control should be integrated into the whole organization and that employees should play a large part in quality control, which differs from Deming s philosophy of quality which is derived from the systems processes. (Huggins, L. 1998). Feigenbaums greatest success is recognized through his work at General Electric, where he transformed the company s complex management structure from centralized to decentralized. He managed to achieve this through his extensive knowledge of practical techniques for quality management. He coined the term Total Quality Control and believed that quality does not happen by accident. Quality must be planned and controlled. He borrows philosophies of the quality trilogy from Juran and adds on to it. The word control in quality control represents a management tool with 4 steps: Setting quality standards. Appraising conformance to these standards. Acting when standards are exceeded. Planning for improvements in the standards. (Geekswithblogs. 2003.)

Feigenbaums definition of quality relates to the user based definition of quality, as well as the manufacturing based approach as he believes quality should come both from efficient processes as well as extensive consumer input.

Philip B. Crosby developed the phrase Do it right the first time . He strongly believed in zero defects. He believed that quality is essentially free and that it is failure that costs a company unnecessary expenditure. Zero defects is not about being perfect. Zero defects is about changing your perspective. It does this by demanding that you: Recognize the high cost of quality issues; Continuously think of the places where flaws may be introduced; and Work proactively to address the flaws in your systems and processes, which allow defects to occur. (Mindtools. 2010.).

Zero defects require a proactive rather than reactive approach. Crosby s philosophy of quality can be related to the product based approach to quality. This aspect of quality measures how well the product meets the target, this means that even if the targeted specification is of low quality, it can be still be seen as a high quality product if the specifications have been met. Example if a 40 watt bulb is able to give off 40 watts of power it is thought to be of good quality, even though a standard bulb should give off 60 watts of power. Kaoru Ishikawa believed that quality improvement is a continuous process, and it can always be taken one step further. He urged managers to never be content with a products quality and that improvement could constantly be made. This meant that quality and service should continue even after the customer purchases a product. Continuous improvement is one of the main themes of his philosophies. Ishikawa brought to us the cause and effect diagram (fishbone diagram). With the use of his new diagram, users are able to see all possible causes of a result, and hopefully find the root of process imperfections. (Skymark. 2009.). The cause and effect diagram is the first tool of quality management which Deming later took an interest to. He was the first person to introduce the idea of the internal customer, which essentially is the next person in the production process; this method of management ensures that quality is pursued at every level and step of the process. It also ensures that no faulty or reject components are used in the production process because if each person believes the next step of production to be the final consumer of a component then quality will be built into the processes. He also developed quality circles. A quality circle is similar to a focus group, but members of the group are all from the same organization and discuss management issues, work related problems and discuss potential solutions to problems employees may face. Quality circles were designed in order to support the improvement and development of a company, to respect human relations in the work place and to increase job satisfaction, as a satisfied employee is a more productive employee. Finally quality circles help to draw out employee potential, employees are given a chance to voice their opinion and management can determine more accurately the potential levels of employees in smaller more informal groups, where job pressure, stress and other factors don t affect their behavior. (tutor2u. 2010). Ishikawa also highlighted the importance of the seven quality tools: control chart, run chart, histogram, scatter diagram, Pareto chart, and flowchart. The significance of highlighting the importance of the use of these charts is exceedingly vast as his contribution has allowed managers to simplify statistical techniques for quality control; this in turn makes managing and controlling quality vastly more efficient. Ishikawa has revolutionized the way managers look at quality management, making it simpler and more manageable through his use of the quality tools. His fishbone diagram, probably being the most notable of his contributions to TQM, has once again streamlined the process of identifying problems and errors of interest in processes and systems. The final TQM guru discussed in this text is Genichi Taguchi. Taguchi is best known for 2 concepts, these are: robust design and the Taguchi loss function. Taguchi stated that: "quality is the loss a product causes to society after being shipped, other than losses caused by its intrinsic functions." He believed that loss could only be derived from two things which were loss caused by variability of function (similar to Deming s view of variability), and loss cause by harmful side effects. He basically believed that a product is of a god quality if it conforms to specification and that does specifications do not cause harmful side effects. He emphasizes a lot on loss and hence he created the loss function. It is a way to show how each non perfect part produced in a process results in a loss for the

company. (Webb, P. 2010.)

[pic]

The loss function is also able to calculate the decline of a customer's perceived value of a product as its quality declines. (Skymark. 2009). Robustness by definition means sturdy and strong in form, constitution, or construction. Taguchi meant robust in terms of his operations process, he does so by improving the engineering and design of the whole process and the elimination of any variability is ideal. The system in place should be error free suing a collection of past knowledge. Now that all the great TQM gurus, and their philosophies on quality managed have been fully evaluated and examined this project now aims to create an al inclusive definition of quality that can potentially be used to combat any quality problem that a firm may have. Quality Definition: Before a definition of quality can be created it is important to know why TQM fails in some aspects in order to fully understand the limitation and of this theory. TQM fails because most firms see it as a philosophy rather than a practical approach. The most common reason for failure of a TQM initiative is that TQM is mounted as programs within the organization with no connection to actual business strategy. Firms generally set up a quality department to create small scale successes to be used in the organization. This method of integrating TQM methods into an organization seldom works as quality must become the religion and culture of the firm in order for it to work effectively. (Balestracci, D. 2007). In general TQM will fail when there is lack of overall culture of quality in the firm and when top management fails in providing sufficient support and commitment. Another reason for failure is the over or under reliance of SPC, it should be known that statistical process control is not a substitute for continuous improvement. (Kelada, J. 2006).Now that we have looked both at successes and failures of TQM, adequate knowledge is known to create a definition of quality. From the extensive research done on all quality aspects the ideal definition of quality is below: Quality should be proactive rather than reactive; solving a problem after it has already happened will create unnecessary waste and expenditure. Quality should be defined based on both customer requirements and conformance to specifications. Customer requirements should be found out by extensive market research and consistently monitoring changing trends in consumers behaviors. Quality should be taken up by not just top management but by employees from all levels of the organization, this ensures that quality is embedded within an organization. Workers should be constantly trained and educated on processes and methods of improvement, employees should be motivated to work hard and learn new philosophies. The idea of the internal customer should be used as this ensures internal quality. The idea that service continues even after a consumer purchases a product must be indoctrinated into the firms culture. Continuous improvement should be employed and the idea that nothing is ever good enough should be taken up to ensure processes and systems are being constantly monitored and modified as required. (Govender, T. 2010)

Case Study:

Seeing as though this text aims to create a quality definition that can solve even the greatest quality disasters, the first thing that came to mind was the poor quality of roads in South Africa. Appendix one shows a report from 2008 about the unacceptable quality of roads in South Africa and the amount of money required to fix this quality problem. Some extracts have been taken from the text to illustrate the use of the definition of quality formulated in this text.

Inadequate capacity and the poor condition of the road network in the country are adding an additional or avoidable R200 billion cost factor to the collective transport bill of South African road users. With this definition of quality the government would have been able to know what car capacity was being used on the roads, which would have enabled them to determine that roads would not be able to withstand the increased capacity, and then they could have reactively resurfaced the roads before they started to crumble and develop pot holes. As can be seen from the above excerpt R200 billion extra is now needed in order to solve a problem that could have been prevented. The cost to resurface a road before it crumbles is far cheaper than having to replace roads post damage.

Saice, however a year ago also warned that there is serious concern

that 72% of the

national road network is nearing the end of its design life, placing the health of the entire national network at risk. The parliamentary portfolio committee on transport was recently told by the South African National Road Agency (Sanral) that 12 000km of the 16 000km paved national roads are older than 20 years. Research into the problem would have been able to alert Sanral about the impending danger of having over used roads in use by citizens.

Some provinces have very little quality information on which to base managerial performance evaluation and need-identification processes, they stated. Once again research should play an important role in management of quality. If the correct and relevant research was conducted the government could have started work on the improvement of the quality of the roads much sooner.

While funding remains a continuous challenge the lack of skills remain the biggest single problems at all levels of jurisdiction. It is however most acute at provincial and especially

municipal level. The Saice survey indicated that more than a third of all 231 local municipalities do not have a single civil engineer, technologist or technician. There are more than 1 000 vacancies in local government for engineering practitioners. If staff were trained and motivated they would not be lacking in skilled workers. If the working environment was also more productive with more motivated employees they would attract a higher quality of employer. Human capital is vital for the successful running of any organisation.

The SARF says in their statement the lack of adequate maintenance and the non implementation of planning is leading to a situation not dissimilar to the current energy crisis involving Eskom, where our road infrastructure is rapidly failing to meet the demand. If continuous improvement was utilized there would be constant improvements on techniques and processes on how to fix the roads, as well as sufficient after purchase service.

In South Africa, as users will attest, potholes often are not attended to for up to 6 months or longer. An excuse often given is the rainy season, when the incidence of potholes accelerates. However all over the world rainy seasons occur and are handled appropriately by competent road authorities, the statement claims. Service should be delivered timeously to ensure that the customer is constantly satisfied, and that the customers perception of the products quality does not dwindle over time.

Resurfacing should ideally be carried out every 8-12 years, and total rehabilitation every 20-25 years, depending on the volume and intensity of traffic, and geographical features. If they conform to specifications, in this case resurfacing the road every 8-12 years and doing a total rehabilitation every 20-25 years, they would find that they could manage the quality of roads vastly better as they would have time to make changes, and improve processes instead of funnelling all their funds and resources on trying to fix a problem that could have been avoided in the first place.

Conclusion:

TQM has evolved over the last century from abstract thoughts to full documented philosophies. Their contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of management is vast. This assignment has given a very broad view of all the noteworthy TQM gurus, evaluated their methods and techniques.

It has critically analyzed any areas in which the philosophies were lacking and provided suitable suggestions to correct them. Over the years we have watched TQM evolve from inspection through to the present day concepts of total quality. Quality and the various perceptions of it, were examined through the use of the gurus philosophies and finally a new philosophy was created in this text through extensive research and evaluation of the already known philosophies of quality management.

References:

answers. 2010. Total Quality Management. [2 May 2010]

http://www.answers.com/topic/tqm

Bacal, R. 2009. TQM- What Is It? http://performance appraisals.org/Bacalsappraisalarticles/articles/tqm1.htm [1 May 2010]

Balestracci, D. 2007. Why Did TQM Fail? May 2010]

http://www.dbharmony.com/article.php?ID=21 [4

Cohen, H. 2008. WE Deming: Deming s 14 points-Statistical quality control. http://www.hci.com.au/hcisite2/articles/deming.htm [1 May 2010]

Deming, E.1990. Deming 14 Point Plan for TQM. http://www.1000advices.com/guru/quality_tqm_14points_deming.html [2 May 2010]

Geekswithblogs. 2003. Quality Gurus. http://geekswithblogs.net/srkprasad/archive/2003/10/27/276.aspx [2 May 2010]

Hashmi, K. 2010. Introduction and Implementation of Total Quality Management. http://www.isixsigma.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1489:introduction-andimplementation-of-total-quality-management-tqm&Itemid=179 [1 May 2010]

Huggins, L. 1998. Total quality management and the contributions of A.V. Feigenbaum. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextA rticle/Articles/1580040105.html [3 May 2010]

Kelada, J. 2006. Integrating Reengineering with Total Quality. http://books.google.co.za/books?id=Zc3VRHVHpfcC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=why+do+tqm+efforts+f ail++SPC&source=bl&ots=RGRgOspfYL&sig=72GRYd8Kiy0juTKiAWoMa75_4gU&hl=en&ei=vQ7hS4TULNC ksAaVlIHeAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBEQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=why %20do%20tqm%20efforts%20fail%20-%20SPC&f=false [4 May 2010]

Leanmanufacturing. 2008. Total Quality Management vs Traditional Management Style. http://www.leanmanufacturingconcepts.com/TQMVsTraditionalManagementStyle.htm [1 May 2010]

Mindtools. 2010. Zero Defects. May 2010]

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_87.htm [2

Ross, J. 2009. Definition of Quality. http://totalqualitymanagement.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/definition -of-quality/ [3 May 2010]

Seawright, K. and Young, S. 1996. A Quality Definition Continuum . http://www.jstor.org/stable/25062136?seq=2 [2 May 2010]

Skymark. 2009. Genichi Taguchi and Taguchi Methods - Practical, Rapid Quality. http://www.skymark.com/resources/leaders/taguchi.asp [4 May 2010]

Skymark. 2009. Joseph, M. Juran. http://www.skymark.com/resources/leaders/juran.asp [3 May 2010]

Skymark. 2009. Kaoru Ishikawa: One Step Further. http://www.skymark.com/resources/leaders/ishikawa.asp [2 May 2010]

Stack, N. Chambers, S. and Johnston, R. 2001. Operations Management. London: Pitman Publishing.

Swinton, L. 2009. Joseph Juran. juran.html [3 May 2010]

http://www.mftrou.com/joseph -

Tutor2u. 2010. Quality Circles and Kaizen Teams. http://tutor2u.net/business/production/quality_circles_kaizen.htm [4 May 2010]

Webb, P. 2010. Taguchi Methods. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/StrThe/Taguchi-Methods.html [4 May 2010]

Appendix: servivepublication. 2008. Roads Go Downhill. http://www.servicepublication.co.za/index.php/breaking-news/77-roads-go-downhill [4 May 2010]