TQM

total quality management (TQM)   

Definition

Holistic approach to long-term success that views continuous improvement in all aspects of an organization as a journey

and not as a short-term destination. It aims to radically transform the organization through progressive changes in the

attitudes, practices, structures, and systems. TQM transcends the 'product quality' approach, involves everyone in the

organization, and encompasses its every function administration, communications, distribution, manufacturing, marketing,

planning, training, etc. Coined by the US Naval Air Systems Command in early 1980s, this term has now taken on several

meanings and includes (1) commitment and direct involvement of highest-level executives in setting quality goals and

policies, allocation of resources, and monitoring of results, (2) realization that transforming an organization means

fundamental changes in basic beliefs and practices and that this transformation is everyone's job, (3) building quality into

products and practices right from the beginning doing things right the first time, (4) understanding of the changing needs

of the internal and external customers, and stakeholders, and satisfying them in a cost effective manner, (5) instituting

leadership in place of mere supervision so that every individual performs in the best possible manner to improve quality

and productivity, thereby continually reducing total cost, (6) eliminating barriers between people and departments so that

they work as teams to achieve common objectives, and (7) instituting flexible programs for training and education, and

providing meaningful measures of performance that guide the self-improvement efforts of everyone involved

Total Quality Through Six Sigma

Some argue that many of the tools Six Sigma uses are not new.  However, while Six Sigma uses conventional methods, its application is anything but conventional.  Instead it stresses the importance of searching for a new way of thinking and doing.  In fact, Six Sigma defines a clear road map to achieve Total Quality:

1. Leadership Commitment: Top management not only initiates Six Sigma deployment, it also plays an active role in the whole deployment cycle. Six Sigma starts by providing senior leadership with training in the principles and tools it needs to direct the development of a management infrastructure to support Six Sigma. This involves

reducing the levels of organizational hierarchy and removing procedural barriers to experimentation and change.

2. Customer Focus: Systems are developed for establishing close communications with “external customers” (direct customers, end-users, suppliers, regulatory bodies, etc), and with internal customers (employees). From upstream suppliers to ultimate end-users, Six Sigma eliminates the opportunities for defects.

3. Strategic Deployment: Six Sigma targets a small number of high-financial leveraged items. It focuses the company’s resources: right support, right people, right project, and right tools, on identifying and improving performance metrics that relate to bottom-line success.

4. Integrated Infrastructure: The Leadership Team defines and reviews project progress. The Champion acts as a political leader and removes the barriers for the project team. The Master Black Belt acts as a technical coach and provides in-depth knowledge of quality tools. The Black Belt controls the project while the Green Belt supports the Black Belt - together they form the Six Sigma Project Teams. In addition, the incentive and recognition systems motivate the project teams to achieve the business goals.

5. Disciplined Framework: Six Sigma projects are Implemented using the Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control disciplined road map. This MAIC discipline sets up a clear protocol to facilitate internal communication. In addition, from a business perspective, Six Sigma is also a framework for continuous business improvement.

6. Education and Training: Six Sigma believes that true commitment is driven by true understanding. As a fact-based methodology, it intensively utilizes quality and statistical tools to transform a practical problem to a practical solution. Thus, a top-to-bottom training is conducted in Six Sigma philosophy and system improvement techniques for all levels.

In conclusion, Six Sigma’s approach and deployment makes it distinguishable from other quality initiatives. The Six Sigma approach involves the use of statistical tools within a structured methodology for gaining the knowledge needed to achieve better, faster, and less expensive

products and services than the competition. The repeated, disciplined application of the master strategy on project after project, where the projects are selected based on key business objectives, is what drives dollars to the bottom line, resulting in impressive profits. Moreover, fueled by the bottom line improvement, top management will continuously be committed to this approach, the work culture will be constantly nurtured, customers will definitely be satisfied, and Total Quality will ultimately be achieved.

Six Sigma VS. Total Quality Management (TQM)In some aspects of quality improvement, TQM and Six Sigma share the same philosophy of how to assist organizations to accomplish Total Quality. They both emphasize the importance of top-management support and leadership. Both approaches make it clear that continuous quality improvement is critical to long-term business success. However, why has the popularity of TQM waned while Six Sigma's popularity continues to grow in the past decade?

T. Pyzdek (Why Six Sigma is Not TQM, 2001) stated that the primary difference is management. Unlike TQM, Six Sigma was not developed by technicians who only dabbled in management and therefore produced only broad guidelines for management to follow. The Six Sigma way of implementation was created by some of America's most gifted CEOs - people like Motorola's Bob Galvin, Allied Signal's Larry Bossidy, and GE's Jack Welch. These people had a single goal in mind: making their businesses as successful as possible. Once they were convinced that tools and techniques of Six Sigma could help them do this, they developed a framework to make it happen.

The differences between TQM and Six Sigma are summarized in Table 7.1.

Table 7.1: TQM vs. Six Sigma

TQM Six SigmaA functional specialty within the organization.

An infrastructure of dedicated change agents. Focuses on cross-functional value delivery streams rather than functional division of labour.

Focuses on quality. Focuses on strategic goals and applies them to cost, schedule and other key business metrics.

Motivated by quality idealism. Driven by tangible benefit far a major stockholder group (customers, shareholders, and employees).

Loosely monitors progress toward Ensures that the investment produces the

goals. expected return.

People are engaged in routine duties (Planning, improvement, and control).

“Slack” resources are created to change key business processes and the organization itself.

Emphasizes problem solving. Emphasizes breakthrough rates ofimprovement.

Focuses on standard performance, e.g. ISO 9000.

Focuses on world class performance, e.g., 3.4 PPM error rate.

Quality is a permanent, full-time job. Career path is in the quality profession.

Six Sigma job is temporary. Six Sigma is a stepping-stone; career path leads elsewhere.

Provides a vast set of tools and techniques with no clear framework for using them effectively.

Provides a selected subset of tools and techniques and a clearly defined framework for using them to achieve results (DMAIC).

Goals are developed by quality department based on quality criteria and the assumption that what is good for quality is good for the organization.

Goals flow down from customers and senior leadership's strategic objectives. Goals and metrics are reviewed at the enterprise level to assure that local sub-optimization does not occur.

Developed by technical personnel. Developed by CEOs.

Focuses on long-term results. Expected payoff is not well-defined.

Six Sigma looks for a mix of short-term and long-term results, as dictated by business demands.

Adams Associates using six sigma plus specializes in synergistic combination of strategic planning, leadership and total quality management (tqm) so clients achieve more goals more often. Six sigma plus is a planned use of strategy, total quality management (tqm) and leadership development. It is the plus in six sigma plus that cause people to align for goal accomplishment. This is a major difference between six sigma plus and a statistical approach or a teaching of total quality management (tqm) tools. The plus is often the catalyst

that allows all other concepts to be a success.

Issues are selected for special attention as six sigma plus projects. Projects with significant importance are assigned to Black Belts as six sigma projects. Thus each six sigma plus project is assigned a leader trained in six sigma and total quality management (tqm) tools. These Six Sigma Plus Black Belts' duties include teaching other members of the six sigma plus project team appropriate total quality management (tqm) philosophy,

interfacing with management, coaching,  leadership skills, teaching total quality management (tqm) tools and changing systems to sustain six sigma plus projects improvements.

Senior Leadership is responsible for the strategic plan, and selecting potential six sigma plus project areas. Once a six sigma plus project is understood using total quality management (tqm) tools, total quality management (tqm) techniques generate alternatives. Improvements are then implemented. Six sigma plus projects maintain improvements using control tools of total quality management (tqm). This is the define, measure, analyze, improve and control sequence (DMAIC) of six sigma.

Six sigma training is recommended for the management and champions as well as for any six sigma black belt or green belt.

What is it?

The term TQM was coined by a US Navy Officer in the early 80s. TQM also owes its origin to Dr. Armand Feigenbaum and his book 'Total Quality Control'. This term was immediately taken up in Japan and is to this day, the term used to describe their approach to Quality Management. It is quite different to the interpretation implied in TQM and embraces both Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing. TQM is an approach for continuously improving the quality of goods and services delivered through the participation of all levels and functions of the organization.  

Why is it important? TQM is about building quality in from the beginning and making quality everyone's concern and responsibility. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for higher-quality goods and services. Organizations that employ TQM (or a similar philosophy) work on the premise that any product or service can be improved upon and this improvement equals reduced cost, better performance and higher reliability.

When to use it?

When there is a chance of your product or service becoming a commodity.  

How to use it?

Each organization must tailor its approach to exploit strengths and concentrate on weaknesses. Activities that are necessary include:

1. A realization that in a global marketplace, customer satisfaction is the key to survival and success.

2. Understanding that quality improvement is key to increased customer satisfaction, increased productivity and reduced cost. Have a clear well-defined objective.

3. The commitment of a leader to the philosophy of TQM.

4. A change in the organization's culture to accept the tenets of TQM. Beware of people who use quality to establish fiefdoms and people who remain in powerful positions but don't get with the program.

5. Training from top to bottom. Use the "five-why's". Use statistics wisely and where appropriate.

6. Try not to do too much too soon.

7. Don't take a cookie-cutter approach. Limit the number of consultants and train your employees internally.

8. Focus on the low-hanging fruit.

Basic Principles of Total Quality Management (TQM)

by Ron Kurtus (28 May 2001)

The basic principles for the Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy of doing business are to satisfy the customer, satisfy the supplier, and continuously improve the business processes.

Questions you may have include:

How do you satisfy the customer? Why should you satisfy the supplier? What is continuous improvement?

This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.

Satisfy the customer

The first and major TQM principle is to satisfy the customer--the person who pays for the product or service. Customers want to get their money's worth from a product or service they purchase.

Users

If the user of the product is different than the purchaser, then both the user and customer must be satisfied, although the person who pays gets priority.

Company philosophy

A company that seeks to satisfy the customer by providing them value for what they buy and the quality they expect will get more repeat business, referral business, and reduced complaints and service expenses.

Some top companies not only provide quality products, but they also give extra service to make their customers feel important and valued.

Internal customers

Within a company, a worker provides a product or service to his or her supervisors. If the person has any influence on the wages the worker receives, that person can be thought of as an internal customer. A worker should have the mind-set of satisfying internal customers in order to keep his or her job and to get a raise or promotion.

Chain of customers

Often in a company, there is a chain of customers, -each improving a product and passing it along until it is finally sold to the external customer. Each worker must not only seek to satisfy the immediate internal customer, but he or she must look up the chain to try to satisfy the ultimate customer.

Satisfy the supplier

A second TQM principle is to satisfy the supplier, which is the person or organization from whom you are purchasing goods or services.

External suppliers

A company must look to satisfy their external suppliers by providing them with clear instructions and requirements and then paying them fairly and on time.

It is only in the company's best interest that its suppliers provide it with quality goods or services, if the company hopes to provide quality goods or services to its external customers.

Internal suppliers

A supervisor must try to keep his or her workers happy and productive by providing good task instructions, the tools they need to do their job and good working conditions. The supervisor must also reward the workers with praise and good pay.

Get better work

The reason to do this is to get more productivity out of the workers, as well as to keep the good workers. An effective supervisor with a good team of workers will  certainly satisfy his or her internal customers.

Empower workers

One area of satisfying the internal suppler is by empowering the workers. This means to allow them to make decisions on things that they can control. This not only takes the burden off the supervisor, but it also motivates these internal suppliers to do better work.

Continuous improvement

The third principle of TQM is continuous improvement. You can never be satisfied with the method used, because there always can be improvements. Certainly, the competition is improving, so it is very necessary to strive to keep ahead of the game.

Working smarter, not harder

Some companies have tried to improve by making employees work harder. This may be counter-productive, especially if the process itself is flawed. For example, trying to increase worker output on a defective machine may result in more defective parts.

Examining the source of problems and delays and then improving them is what is needed. Often the process has bottlenecks that are the real cause of the problem. These must be removed.

Worker suggestions

Workers are often a source of continuous improvements. They can provide suggestions on how to improve a process and eliminate waste or unnecessary work.

Quality methods

There are also many quality methods, such as just-in-time production, variability reduction, and poka-yoke that can improve processes and reduce waste.

Summary

The principles of Total Quality Management are to seek to satisfy the external customer with quality goods and services, as well as your company internal customers; to satisfy your external and internal suppliers; and to continuously improve processes by working smarter and using special quality methods.

Quality circle A quality circle is a volunteer group composed of workers (or even students), usually under the leadership of their supervisor (but they can elect a team leader), who are trained to identify, analyze and solve work-related problems and present their solutions to management in order to improve the performance of the organization, and motivate and enrich the work of employees. When matured, true quality circles become self-managing, having gained the confidence of management.

Quality circles are an alternative to the dehumanising concept of the division of labor, where workers or individuals are treated like robots. They bring back the concept of craftsmanship, which when operated on an individual basis is uneconomic, but when used in group form (as is the case with quality circles), it can be devastatingly powerful and enables the enrichment of the lives of the workers or students and creates harmony and high performance in the workplace. Typical topics are improving occupational safety and health, improving product design, and improvement in the workplace and manufacturing processes.

The term quality circles derives from the concept of PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) circles developed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming.

Quality circles are not normally paid a share of the cost benefit of any improvements but usually a proportion of the savings made is spent on improvements to the work environment.[citation needed]

They are formal groups. They meet at least once a week on company time and are trained by competent persons (usually designated as facilitators) who may be personnel and industrial relations specialists trained in human factors and the basic skills of problem identification, information gathering and analysis, basic statistics, and solution generation.[1] Quality circles are generally free to select any topic they wish (other than those related to salary and terms and conditions of work, as there are other channels through which these issues are usually considered).[2][3]

Quality circles have the advantage of continuity; the circle remains intact from project to project. (For a comparison to Quality Improvement Teams, see Juran's Quality by Design.[4]

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Theoretical Foundations of Leadership in Total Quality ManagementAug 3rd, 2009 by ruby_elvira 

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There are some theory to apply to make sure the organization reached its target. Total Quality Management holds true for those managers wishing to implement changes or adopt new styles of management or organizational. The foundations of Total Quality Management rest on the individual workers and their participation, leaders must create the proper environment for their followers to contribute.

Introduction:

Throughout history leaders have emerged to deal with a gambit of needs. A few individuals that come to mind include Napoleon, Churchill, Martin Luther King, Joan of Arc, and perhaps, W. Edwards Deming. Each of these people, independent of their race, sex, creed, religion, or nationality, had a desire to make changes within their (systems) society. Even-though these leaders achieved differing levels of success, each of them had a clear vision, along with a well established, long-range plan for obtaining that vision. This author defines a vision as the desired future position of a system or organization some twenty-plus years in the future. In other words, a vision is where a leader wants to take his followers in terms of philosophy, goals, strategies, and the methodologies to obtain, maintain, and continuously improve this new system of values and management.

Successful leaders throughout history have always had a vision for change from a current or existing state to a new enhanced state. These envisioned situations were developed with not only their followers in mind, but along with the leader's well thought out plan for obtaining, maintaining, and improving the desired change. The same holds true for those managers wishing to implement changes or adopt new styles of management or organizational systems such as Total Quality Management (TQM), the focus of this paper.

Case study

TQM is not a process or procedure, but rather a philosophy. Even though Deming never used the "TQM" term in one of his four-day seminars (Oct. 27-30, 1992 - Charlotte, NC), one could sense Deming's underlying goals on quality. He continually referred to the fact that customers are unaware of what to expect from providers in terms of quality, but "they (customers) are rapid learners" in terms of what to expect. This concept can be applied to both internal and external customers. During this seminar a video was shown entitled "Made in Japan Wholistically", featuring Dr. Yoshida, one of Deming’s students. Dr. Yoshida made a point that the major difference between American and Japanese leadership styles is that while the Americans focus on "acceptability" the Japanese focus on the most desirability" of the goods or services. This applies directly to quality, while Americans are used to "acceptable" standards, the Japanese are

accustomed to "desirable" ones. It became apparent that Deming and Yoshida shared the belief that by reducing performance variations one can improve quality. More specifically, Deming eludes to quality in eight of his fourteen points and reiterated several times that "quality must be everyone's job" and that "quality does not come from inspection, but from improving the process," again the reduction in performance variation. Since quality is in the "eyes of the beholder", TQM can be different things to different people, but our operational definition for this paper will be the philosophy and supporting strategy for continually improving the performance of all areas or levels of the organization or system

According to Peter Scholtes, "TQM implementation takes forever, its never ending." Scholtes also suggests that leaders should not have to sell TQM to their followers, the followers should want to steal it (Scholtes, 1992). The foundations of Total Quality Management rest on the individual workers and their participation, leaders must create the proper environment for their followers to contribute. With this in mind, a brief look at the timing of participative efforts is warranted here.

Summary and Conclusions

Each of the theories investigated have some of the desirable traits required for leading a change or transformation. It may not be conclusive as to whether one style of leadership is most suited for implementing TQM, one which appears to be very close would have to be that of the Transformational Theory by Bass (1985). This style included three very important issues concerning "raising" the consciousness of the workers, their sense of outcomes, and focus on the organization and not the individuals. However, after facilitating and observing the implementation of Total Quality Management into a number of organizations, this author must support the use of the Dissonance Factor Theory as the ideal basis for leading the transformation to TQM. This theory provides a very clear method, while focusing on three key employee related components, the employee's desires, training, and utilizing their skills in fulfilling their roles and responsibilities.

This is not to suggest that the other leadership styles would fail, but that they may lend themselves to a different culture better than that of the TQM environment. None the less, management must give the transformation the utmost commitment or it shall fail, no matter which leadership style is used. Remember, sometimes the simplest ideas foster the greatest performances.

Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/131258_theoretical-foundations-of-leadership-in-total-quality-management#ixzz1CyX1YydS

5 Characteristics of Quality Leaders As companies  around  the  world  struggle   to  stay  afloat,  many are   turning   to   their  managers  when making the tough decisions. A good manager is used to having to deal with these kinds of problems, but probably not on the same scale. Quality leadership can be hard to come by, but there are some things managers can practice daily at work to ensure that they are better, more effective leaders. What follows is   a   brief   list   of   some   of   the   characteristics   of   a   quality   leader.

Earn   the   Respect   of   Others

Good leaders don’t demand respect from others, they earn it through their actions and being consistent with   these  actions.  Only  a  poor   leader  would  demand   respect   from his  workers   through   fear  and intimidation tactics. The situation we now find ourselves in economically is scary enough; there is no reason   to   add   insult   to   injury.   Part   of   earning   the   respect   of   others   is   intertwined   with   other characteristics   listed   within   this   article.

Knowledgeable   and   Capable

A quality leader is both knowledgeable and capable of doing the work he asks of others himself. No one will listen to a supposed leader who has no idea what he is talking about. Good leaders demonstrate their  knowledge through action,  not words.  Those who stand behind good leaders know that he  is capable of doing any task that he ask a member of his team to do, because they have seen him roll up his   sleeves   and   do   the   work   himself   in   the   past.

Fairness

Fairness is a quality that all good leaders possess. They are able to take the facts of a given situation and render a decision based on all necessary information. Good leaders take all sides into account and make a decision that will be most beneficial to all involved. If a punishment is necessary, it is fitting to the transgression.

Excellent   Communication   Skills

The best leaders can effectively communicate in all forms, whether it is written or verbal. A good says exactly  what  he means and  leaves no wiggle  room for   interpretation or  ambiguity.  Directness  with employees and team members is an absolute necessity in ensuring the success of a business, and good leaders   make   sure   to   be   as   precise   as   possible   when   it   comes   to   communications.

High   Expectations

Successful companies are headed up by successful leaders who have high expectations. This is not to say that their expectations are unreasonable by any means, but good leaders know what their people are capable of and expect them to maintain an optimal level of efficiency. This attribute benefits all parties 

involved   and   contributes   to   the   success   of   all   as   well.

By-line:This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of job websites. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com

Posted by Ahmad Sanusi Husain (Kuala Lumpur) at Friday, January 23, 2009 

“A born leader” is a pretty common phrase and there are certain characteristics that are generally associated with the person that is being referred to. These characteristics place them in a position where people look to them for guidance.

If a person is actually born with these leadership characteristics or cultivates them over time is debatable. Either way there are some personality characteristics that clearly define a person as a leader so let’s explore them.

Seven Good Signs of a Quality Leader

1. A person of high character. A leader should have the trust of others and live life with integrity and honesty in order to effectively lead others. They simply live life with the moral compass that will bring respect from most people and earn them the right to guide others. 

2. A leader will embrace their position as a leader and role model with enthusiasm toward their work and cause. That passion and dedication will bring a positive response from others and give them a source of inspiration and motivation. A leader is not afraid of getting down to work and being part of a team.

3. A leader will exude confidence in order to inspire others to work towards and achieve the goals. That confidence inspires confidence, trust and dedication from others to reach their goals. This brings forth the best efforts of the team members.

4. A leader will maintain their sense of purpose through uncertainty which will reassure others and provide a sense of security towards achieving the goal.

5. A leader will remain composed, calm, tolerant in ambiguity and steadfast towards the goal. They will maintain calm even through crisis and emotions.

6. A leader will think analytically while working towards the goal. They will break down the situation from the whole to inspect the different pieces. Then break the task into manageable steps toward success.

7. A leader will not settle for second best, but be committed to excellence with high standards and will proactively pursue excellence by raising the bar.

As a foundation to quality leadership these seven qualities are vital. It is inevitable that some of these characteristics will naturally be stronger than others, but each can be developed and honed. Quality leaders will recognize weaknesses within themselves and work towards strengthening their leadership qualities.

Implementation of TQM:

* The management's contribution is essential in any successful TQM implementation, especially of CEO. * Next step is to form a quality circle, providing a vision, mission and quality statement. Middle managers are needed to be actively involved in the implementation. * If there is any union present in the organization, representatives from it should be involved in the process.

Role of senior management:

Senior management must practice the philosophy of Management provided by Wandering Around or MBWA. They must let the employees think themselves. They must be informed of the topics of quality improvement by generating good reading habits. They must celebrate success in the organization. They must organize seminars, coaching etc. Customer listening is another parameter. Good and regular communication with feedback is again required with employees and consumers.

Characteristics of Quality Leaders

* The quality leaders take the matters with respect to customers and work on the changing requirements of the customers. * Quality leaders are such that they have total control over the work of their sub-ordinates. * Quality leaders believe in improvement more than in maintaining the current position. * These leaders are more likely to prevent any mishap rather than waiting for them to happen. * Quality leaders develop the skill of mutual co-operation rather than mutual competition. * Quality leaders believe in working with the team, helping them from time to time. * They believe in the concept of quality after learning from problems. They strive to improve the ability of dissemination of information.

Leadership Concepts

* A leader is well acquainted with the fact that all employees need independence along with security. * Even though rewards and punishments matter to a large extent, self-motivation is highly followed. * It is a common tendency that people like to hear well about themselves. They should be appreciated for their achievements. * A leader is also required to make things easily understandable. * Self-confidence is more trustworthy than the statistical data. * People don't obey a leader if his words contradict.

The 7 Habits of highly Effective People

* The first of these habits is to be proactive which means to look at alternatives and take decisions rather than wait for things to happen. * Secondly, one must begin keeping the end in mind. One should be true to himself in taking any step in life. * Thirdly, one must put first things first which is an inclusion of self-management. * Fourthly, one must think win-win. This suggests that one should always be optimistic. * Next, one must think such that he can understand what others say rather than seek to be understood by all. * Sixth, one should believe in synergy such that he can achieve a goal with a feeling of togetherness rather than an individualistic approach. * Finally, one must look forward to sharpen the saw. This means that one must enhance the four dimensions of nature namely-physical, spiritual, mental and social or emotional.

Quality Council:

Quality council comprises of CEO, senior managers of functional areas like finance, production etc. A regular meeting should be organized to discuss and plan issues like:

* Developing a vision, mission and quality statement, * Developing a long term goal strategy * Education and training plan * Determining performance plan * Determining processes that improves the present ones * Establishing multifunctional project and group based work culture, developing a reward system etc.

Core Values and concept:

Some core values in TQM include customer driven quality which considers:

* It is end user who determines the quality of the product not any manager * Second is leadership which states that o Leaders need to set directions o Continuous improvement and learning process in the organization and employees o Valuing employees o A more dynamic market response mechanism o Emphasizing design quality and preventing waste through developing quality in the products o Long term orientation rather than seeking short term opportunities o Management by facts o Developing partnership o Understanding corporate and citizen responsibility and focusing on end result.

Shared Values:

Shared values process is composed of eight principles. They are:

* Treating others with truth * plentiful trust on co-workers and associates * Creating learning atmosphere with unselfish mentoring (employee to management and vice versa) * Invites new ideas * Take personal risks for the sake of organizational benefits * Appreciate people wherever possible * Honesty * Put other's interest before your own

Ethics:

Organization must leave cause of unethical behaviour and should manage ethical management program. Quality Statement:

It includes vision statement: It is what an organization will seek to achieve in near future, mission statement: mission statement states that what is the organization is all about, who are the consumer, how it work etc. and the important one that is Quality policy statement: it is a type of guide for everyone in the organization to know how to provide service and service to the consumers. Strategic planning:

Strategic planning is for about three to 10 years. It comprises of

* Goal and objectives: Goals are ultimate aim and objectives are intermediate checkpoints. * Seven steps of strategic planning including consumer need, positioning, predicting future, gap analysis, alignment, closing the gap and implementation. * Yearly quality improvement process

Communication:

Interactive form is best when communication is between workforce and immediate supervisor, formal communication includes printed and electronic communication which includes graph, posters etc. Feedback adds to the soundness of effective communication. Decision making:

Here seven habits are highly efficient:

* Being proactive * Keep the result in the mind * Prioritizing * Think "win/win" * Try to understand first than to be understood * To be in race (sharpen the saw) and * Synergy.

Leadership survey:

This is a tool to evaluate the leader's performance.

Customer Satisfaction

Who are customers?

A person who employs the service or buys the product is often termed as consumer or customer. Two types of customers are identified by the customers: External and Internal.

* Internal customers are those lying within the organization like engineering, order processing etc and * The external customers are those who are outside the organization and buy products and services of the organization.

Consumer perception of quality:

As the customer's need, expectation and values keep on changing, there is no such picture of customer's quality need. As according to ASQ, survey, important factors for purchase for the customer are:

* Features * Performance * Price * Service * Reputation and * Warranty

Feedback:

TQM requires customer feedback to be continuously monitored. It is required to identify costumer dissatisfaction, needs, opportunities for enhancement and comparison with substitute in the market.

Methodology for feedback involves comment card, survey, focus group, toll free numbers, report card, internet, customer visits, employee feedback and using standard indexes like ACSI of "American Customer Satisfaction Index". ASCI allow contrast in between company and industry averages.

Using customer Complaints:

Studies suggest that the customer who did not complain is most prone to switch to another product. Every individual complaint is needed to be entertained. Results also suggest that half of the dissatisfied-customers will buy again if they feel that their complaint had been addressed.

Service Quality:

Research suggests that elements of customer service are:

* Customer care: A firm must revolve around the customers. * Communication: Communication with customers is essential. * Organization: Such that same level of quality can be delivered to everyone. * Front-line people: Only the best employees should be allowed to communicate with the customers. * Leadership: Involvement of management is essential in any quality management process.

Translating needs into requirements:

Kano model is the most basic conceptualization of customer requirement. There are three lines-red, blue and green to explain its ideology. The red line shows innovation, blue shows spoken and expected requirement and green line shows unspoken and expected requirements.

Kano model is based on an assumption that a customer buys when he needs something, however is it not completely true, an organization must overflow the customer needs. This can be understood by "Voice of the customer" concept.

Customer Retention:

It is more powerful and efficient in company's point of view as with customer satisfaction. It is involved with the activities which basically are related to customer satisfaction in order to increase the loyalty of the customers towards the company.

It moves customer satisfaction to next level by determining what is actually important for the customer.

Quality Management Systems

Quality Management Systems like the ISO are required to facilitate the exchange of goods between customers and sellers across different nations worldwide.

Benefits of ISO Registration

* After the inclusion of ISO in the products, it was observed that most of the attributes of internal quality like scrap were measured to be better. * The reliability of the production also increases as a matter of fact. * Even the external qualities that were measured by customers were highly improved after the inclusion of ISO standards. * The time performance of the system also increased vastly as a result of this. * The cost of producing poor quality also decreased after including ISO standards.

ISO 9001 Requirements

* Scope: ISO 9001 is essential to meet the customer's requirements such that customer satisfaction is attainable. * Normative Reference: The fundamentals and vocabulary provide the normative references. * Terms and Definitions: In addition to the standard terms and definition, the chain starting from supply to organization to customer is required in the terms and conditions. * Quality Management Systems (QMS): The organizations should look to establish, document, implement, and maintain a QMS for effectiveness. * Management Responsibility: ISO 9001 guarantees management control, customer focus, quality policy, planning, responsibility, and a review by the management at the general level. * Resource Management: This includes provision of resources, human resources, infrastructure, and a proper work environment in order to achieve the goals. * Product Realization: This section of ISO 9001 secures planning of product realization according to the requirements of the QMS, customer related process, design and development, purchasing, production and service provision, control and monitoring and measuring devices. * Measurement, Analysis and Improvement: In general, the statistical technique and the extent of use should also be reasonable by the concept of ISO 9001. Under the monitoring and control there should be customer satisfaction, an internal audit, monitoring and measurement of processes and also products and services. This also includes control of nonconforming products, analysis of data, and improvement continuously by taking corrective and preventive action.

Implementation

The next important factor to understand in this context is the implementation of the quality management system. This can be done in the following steps:

* Top Management Commitment: It is highly essential that there is total support of the higher level authority of the organization. * Appoint the Management Representative: After the top management is contented with the procedure, it is important that the correct representative is appointed so as to follow the quality system with care. * Awareness: It is also required at this point of time that the organization spreads awareness of the quality systems as it effects all who are attached with the organization. * Appoint an Implementation Team: Once the levels are all made aware of the quality systems, the organization should form an implementation team such that it is kept visible to all the employees in the future. * Training: All the above mentioned teams should be trained in order to produce the best results. * Time Schedule: There should be a time schedule such that the activity is followed in the correct time sequence and the results expected of the implementation of the quality systems are achieved as desired.

The other processes to follow are selecting of the element owners, reviewing the present system, writing the document, installing the new system, internal auditing, and management review, pre-assessment and registration. Documentation

One must appreciate the fact that the quality systems are meant to be recognized by all. This implies that it is very important to have simplicity rather than complexity in understanding. It should follow the following four principles:

* Policy: This defines as to what would be done and why would that be so. This should be done extremely carefully as it is the root of the documentation on which the entire quality system depends. * Procedure: Next, one must decide the methods that would be required in order to achieve the task. It includes making decisions related to when the tasks are to be done etc. * Work instructions: This gives the detail of the documentation. Based on the readings of the work instructions, the readers would come to know of the idea behind the quality systems. * Records: In order to keep an account of the actions on a specific product, it is required to keep the record. * Document Development: In order to provide a proper document, it is required to gather all the policies, procedures, work instructions and forms that are being used presently. This will form the basis of the new work.

Internal Audits

The purpose of internal audits can be seen as follows:

* It will compare the actual performance of the quality system with the one that had been documented. * It would take the corrective measures for the same. * All those items that were non compliant previously, would be followed * It would provide continuous improvement through the feedback to the manager. * It would also create a further chance of improvement by generating a cause to think.

This internal audit would be done by the auditor by using the techniques of examining the documents and following the procedure of the audit plan. Registration

If Quality systems are assessed by a third party called as a registrar, it is referred to as registration.

A registrar is chosen based on the qualifications and experience, certificate recognition like approval from RAB, the registration process according to the organization's needs under the time and cost constraints and the auditor's qualifications.

It is essential to mention at this point that registration is not a compulsion. It is rather a provision such that the nonconformities are solved.

Benchmarking

Finally Benchmarking is done to measure performance as a comparison with those adopted by the best organization in the industry.

Reason for benchmarking:

It is a tool to achieve competition and corporate goals. It is a tool for organizations to reduce its weakness and to enhance its strengths. Benchmarking requires external orientation as it greatly reduces the uncertainty offered by global and external competition.

It is time and cost efficient and provides working model of a better process.

The primary weakness of benchmarking is attaining the best practices is just like catching a moving target. Key threat is continuously improving technology. Process:

Organization that adopts benchmarking, take the process to adjust with the present culture and needs. Six steps that are crucial are as follows:

* Estimate present performance * Decide what the organization can benchmark * Apply a study on others * Try to understand form the data collected * Plan * And utilize the findings

Two famous industrial standards are those of Xerox and AT&T's 12 step process. Let's have a close discussion on the above headings. Deciding what to benchmark:

Most organization has a strategy to decide that which benchmarking strategy to adopt. This is mainly highlighted in terms of vision and mission statement. These statements determine the "critical success factors". Thus when deciding what to benchmark, it is best to start with analyzing vision statement and critical factors. Understanding present performance:

To apply benchmarking that requires applying outside policies in organization, it is essential to analyze own policies and performance first. Current performance can be understood by various methods such as cause and effect diagram and flow diagram.

Exceptions should be identified. Units of measure must be determined and proper documentation is required here. Planning:

After identification of process and documentation, next step is to plan the way to conduct the study. A team known as benchmarking team is needed to be selected. It is the responsibility of the team to decide what kind of benchmarking is to be carried out. The team also prepares time-line for the process to decide the desired result from the study carried out. Studying others:

Studies related to benchmarking concept seek two types of data. They are details of best practices and results that can be measured from these practices. Information needed form others in benchmarking may be present publicly and may not need to research down. But there remain few things that are tough to investigate form open sources. For these kinds of information, team can conduct site visits; questionnaire and can apply the focus group etc to determine the desired information. Learning form data:

Benchmarking studies can reveal 3 basic kinds of outcomes like

* The result of external process's supremacy over the internal process * They may be equal * Internal process can be better than the founded and explored external process

In this analysis, important thing is parameters of judgement of the process. Using the findings:

If the study of benchmarking standards reveal the gap between the internal process and the observed process in negative, the next task to bridge the task by appropriate steps. Pitfall and criticisms:

Most important pitfall is benchmarking is like copying others. Question here is how can an organization become the best if it copies from the best? Innovation is lagging in benchmarking.

Thus benchmarking is not a substitute of innovation but is just a source of successful ideas.

Overall, we can see that if the ultimate motive is customer satisfaction; leadership and benchmarking should be deployed in conformity with Quality Management Systems to manage the system well.

I am a pre final year student at the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior, India pursuing a five year integrated course (dual degree) leading to the award of B.Tech (Information Technology) and MBA. I am currently in the 9th Semester. ABV-IIITM Gwalior, a Deemed University, is an apex Institute, established by the ministry of HRD (Human Resource Development), Government of India.The competitive environment at my Institute coupled with my inherent trait of trying to learn something new from each experience has made me come a long way in these four years. I have not only learnt to work under pressure and intense competition with some of the brightest students in the country but have also worked with an esteemed KPO called CBI Solutions in the meanwhile. This has given me the experience to get exposed to some of the most challenging marketing traits in the business. Moreover, I have been awarded first rank for IT and Entrepreneurship at the end of my 7th Semester.I have been privileged to work at Polaris Retail Infotech Limited, Gurgaon from May to July'08. This taught me the practical application of relationship marketing as I saw the preparation of customer interfaces through their software Smart Store. This is visible at billing counters at retail stores of the fame of Shopper's Stop. Also, I've been in the editorial board of my college

magazine, La Vista for the past 3 years and eventually I hold the responsibility of the Chief Editor.

Tools and Techniques

Total Quality Management tools and techniques are formulated within the past more than 60 years. These tools and techniques are used to identify the potential problems, frequency of their occurrences, and method to control these problems and to adopt world best class practices.

From results of different surveys conducted, it is estimated that more than 100 TQM tools are being used so far. But in different books, different tools are described. This article describes mostly used tools used under the umbrella of TQM. Following are the most commonly used tools and techniques:

1. Benchmarking is method of comparing company’s practices with the practices of best in class organization in the areas of quality, productivity, Human Resources and cost etc.

2. Six Sigma    is business strategy to achieve excellence by applying different statistical, TQM and Project Management tools.

3. Lean Manufacturing   is way of manufacturing that increases speed and reduces unnecessary wastes.

4. Lean Six Sigma   is combination of Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing concept to reduce errors and increase productivity side by side.

5. Total productive Maintenance (TPM)    is a new way of carrying maintenance activities and invented by Japanese.

6. Brainstorming is method of looking for problem solution by a group of people.7. Quality Management System ( ISO 9001 ) is set of standards for Quality Management system for any organization by International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

8. Environmental Management System ( ISO 14001  ) is standard given by ISO to facilitate organization to reduce their wastes that are harmful for the environment.

9. Laboratory management System ( ISO/IEC 17025 ) is a standard for Laboratories for their accreditation.

10. Social Accountability System (ISO/TS 8000-110:2008  ) is a standard developed in the light of International Labor Organization (ILO) and UN Human Rights Conventions, to protect human rights.

11. Kaizen    is a Japanese tool for small but incremental changes in daily business life.12. 5S    is methodology for improvement in daily and business life in five steps.13. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is technique for improving effectiveness and efficiency of business processes.

14. Quality Circles (QC) is group of people, who identify problems and give their solution for improvement in daily life and business.

15. Occupational Safety & Health System (OHSAS 18001)16. Focus Groups 17. Pie Chart and Bar Graph 18. Histogram 19. Run Chart 20. Pareto Analysis 

21. Force Field Analysis 22. Cause & Effect/Fish Bone/Ishikawa Diagram23. Affinity Diagram24. House of Quality/Quality Function Deployment (QFD)25. Triz   26. Theory of Constraints   27. Tree Diagram28. Flow Charts/Flow Diagram29. Scatter Diagram30. Plan Do Check Act (PDCA)31. X bar Chart32. R Charts33. P Charts34. nP Charts35. PI Chart36. Force Field Analysis37. Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award38. Design of Experiment39. Analysis of Variance40. European Quality Award41. Japan's Deming Prize 

Almost all the TQM tools are being used effectively in manufacturing industry, maintenance organizations and Service organizations. Some tools have become an integral part of big philosophies like Six Sigma, Total Productive Maintenance and Lean Manufacturing etc. But one thing must be remembered that every tool should be selected and applied carefully to achieve best results from it.

TQM Tools and Techniques

Total Quality Management Tools and Techniques. When implementing any improvement process within a manufacturing or service environment, you need to have the ability to identify potential improvement opportunities, then systematically implement those opportunities for ongoing improvement. A key requirement in an effective process improvement strategy is that change is based on fact, involves input and buy-in from key stakeholders, is cost effective, timely, measurable and can be maintained.

To achieve the above you need a set of tools and techniques, which you can apply, to problem solving or opportunity achievement.

The best known TQM Tools and Techniques, to name a few are

»  The '5 Whys' - asking 'Why?' at least five times to uncover the root cause of a problem.

» Flowcharts - boxes and arrows method of examining activities, potentially used in brainstorming, also found in business process modelling.

» Fishbone/Ishikawa Diagrams - fishbone-structured diagram for identifying cause/effect patterns, in which primary categories are generally pre-determined according to context.

» Run Charts - a graph which plots data/change along a timeline.

» Pareto Charts - a line and bar graph displaying cause/effect ratios, especially biggest relative cause, based on Pareto theory.

» Histograms - a bar graph displaying data in simple categories which together account for a total.

» Checklists/Checksheets - pre-formatted lists for noting incidence, frequency, etc., according to known useful criteria

» Control/Shewhart Charts - a standard pattern of performance/time for a given process, often in Run Chart format, which acts as a template to check conformance and deviation.

» Scatter Diagram/Scatterplot - a graph which plots points (typically very many individual instances) according to two variables, which produces a useful visual indication of the relationship between the two variables.

» Example process improvement tools :

       FMEA  - Failure Mode Effects Analysis

       PDCA  - Plan Do Check Act

       SIPOC Analysis

       Statistical Control

» Other commonly used techniques:

 Brainstorm analysis • Fault Tree Analysis • Hazop Analysis

Summary Introduction to Total Quality Management 

What is TQM? Total Quality Management is an approach to business that aims to maximise the competitiveness of an organization through continued improvement of it's products, people, processes, services, systems and operating environment.

Total Quality Management is an approach to quality and continuous business improvement which enables an organization through a coordinated strategy of teamwork and innovation to satisfy continually increasing customer expectations, needs and requirements.

What does implementing TQM involve? The implementation of TQM means the empowerment of all employees through increased communication, education and training. Successful implementation requires the use of specialist knowledge. "Experts" are used to set up quality standards, procedures and work practices to effect the cultural change of the organization. While the initial investment is relatively high, the investment pays dividends in the long run. Worker expectations are fulfilled, customer loyalty & satisfaction generated, good operating standards raised. The result is that lower overall operating costs can be expected.

In the TQM organization, the focus of management is directed towards a) meeting customer needs, which are all important and from which sales and profits will follow b) empowering all employees who are seen as resources to be developed, c) treating suppliers as business partners whose success is vital to the success of the business itself and who have invaluable technical expertise which can be utilized in improving the end customer experience.

TQM and Process Variation. TQM places an emphasis on the understanding of process variation, the importance of measurement and diagnosis, the role of the customer and the involvement of employees, at all levels in an organization, in pursuit of continuous improvement.

As part of the continual improvement process a detailed understanding of the various TQM Tools and Techniques is of benefit to all involved within the organisation, visit TQM Tools and Techniques for more information.

You need to approach Total Quality Management via..

· Strategic initiatives · Customer Focus (Internal & External)  · Obsession with Quality · Scientific approach to decision making and problem solving  · Long term commitment · Teamwork · Continual process improvement · Education and Training · Unity of Purpose · Employee involvement and empowerment at all levels

Implementing an effective total quality process should be seen as a long term objective for an organization, however, while the project may be long term, the benefits will start to accrue in the short term and will exponentially increase as the TQM system develops.

Looking briefly at the "Strategic Initiatives" above:

An organization needs to consider the development of plans designed to give a sustainable competitive advantage. What is the organization's Vision Statement (e.g. best in class for cost of goods sold - COGS), what is the organizational Mission Statement? Are the organization's objectives made known to all employees? Have the details of the activities required to achieve these objectives (e.g. quality getting a higher priority than throughput, more frequent production campaigns, etc., etc..) been rolled out throughout the organization? All of the strategic initiatives require effective communication which must be cascaded from management. Has the process for ensuring an effective communication process been considered and clearly defined?

For more detailed information please talk to us about the type of information we can provide you.

Introduction to building a Cause and Effect Diagram.

1) Create a flow chart of the process or product flow, this will help prompt suggestions during the brainstorming that occurs in creating the Cause and Effect diagram.

2)2) Define exactly what is the problem that needs to be addressed.

3)3) Define the scope of the task to be addressed.

4)4) Start the cause and effect diagram, by drawing a box on the right hand side, into this box, describe the problem to be addressed. From this box draw a horizontal arrow going into this box.

5)5) Write the names of categories above and below the horizontal line, standard categories are the 6M’s  - Human (Man), Method, Machine, Environmental (Mother Nature), Measurement and Material.

6) Brainstorm potential causes of the problem

7) As you receive suggestions, add into the Cause and Effect Diagram with the potential cause coming from the categories above. For each cause, start to ask why?

 For example: Why should the measurement cause the final failure? Because of lack of calibration. Why is there a lack of calibration? Because equipment is not all on the calibration database, Why? Because staff use their own equipment? Why, why, why....and so on until you exhaust the potential causes.

8) As this process continues for each category, a tree with branches will form, at the end of the branches will be potential root causes.

9) A general rule is to ask "why" five times for each potential cause, however, this very much depends on the situation.

10) When this process is completed, there will be a large list of potential root causes. Not all can be solved at once, therefore, it will be necessary to categorize the range of potential causes, (many may repeat), assess the relevance of each, assign priority to address.

11) Based on the prioritized problem causes, create corrective action plans, implement the corrective actions, measure the results and implement permanent actions to address (e.g. update standard procedures, specification updates, test updates etc.) to ensure the problem remains permanently addressed.

What do we provide?

Obtain a complete informational presentation on  TQM Tools and Techniques. Detailed information from the basics through to complex analysis, presented in an easy to understand fashion.  

 A name itself is sufficient to describe everything but a bit more clarification will add to a base for the description. Total quality management is a management’s approach towards the quality, it can be in regard to products, customer satisfaction and employees satisfaction. The concept of TQM was developed by an American W. Edwards Deming and i.e. why it is called as Deming’s concept of TQM .He introduced this concept for improving the quality of various products and

services. Earlier it was just related with the quality of products which a organization is producing but now other concepts like marketing, finance design, customer service has also joined the area. Which means that now good number of things are there to manage. TQM works on one belief that mistakes can be avoided and defects can be prevented. And management should believe in watching each and every step.

 TQM  is now a days called as TPM (total productivity management) and an organization needs to consider ABCD for the effective application of TQM where A stands for accident cure , B stands for breakdown , C stands for cost reduction and D stands for damage. This policy of ABCD  is in relation to product and if TQM needs to be introduced a positive attitude from the side of management and employees is required and then a collective effort will come up. TQM should give chance for unleashing employee’s creativity and potential. The aim of TQM is to reduce variations in quality of the products as well as in the working of whole organization. For the successful implementation of TQM, an organization must consider the commitment from all the level of organization. A concept of Six sigma is a part of TQM. It is a strategy developed by Motorola and it helps to detect the defects and to remove them.

  TQM talks about the satisfaction of customer, supplier, employees etc. and it requires continuous improvement. If the workers of an organization are efficiently working then their morale will go up. TQM works effectively if the organization works in a family manner. Here management is like a father, employees are the children and manager is like mother and as father and mother takes care for their home collectively the same way , management  and managers  are supposed to take care for their organization with the help of tool  called TQM. Total quality management is called total because entire organization is involved, Quality means degree of excellence. And management in literal sense means getting things done by others. In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in improving processes, products, services and the culture in which they work. The earlier introduced quality management concept is now taken over by Total quality management. To have effective TQM the first requirement is strong internal motivation and emotional involvement for implementation. So the concept of TQM talks about adopting the new policy, creating quality products, eliminate defects, estimate for breakdown, accidents etc . Hence TQM should be purpose driven so first the whole organization should be willing to accept the change then only TQM can actually affect the organization in a positive way.

What is Total Quality Management (TQM)?

"Long-term commitment to new learning and new philosophy is required of any management that seeks transformation. The timid and the fainthearted, and the people that expect quick results, are doomed to disappointment." (W. EDWARDS DEMING).

Introduction and Implementation of Total Quality Management (tqm): an Overview

Quality control activities remain with us from thousands of years. Born out of management practice, the TQM (Total Quality Management) has had a profound and unparallel impact on modern business history. In this ambitious business province, only the organizations that are quality conscious are considered to be qualified to sustain in the long run. Over the years both academicians and professionals are emphssing on the point of quality improvement and control of both goods and services

Total Quality Management In Libraries

The word Quality has many different meanings ranging from conventional to those that are strategic in nature. Conventional meaning of quality usually describe a quality as one which looks good, works well, which is reliable etc.,

Why Six Sigma Will Outlast Total Quality Management

Companies. Six Sigma can do more. TQM is the development, deployment, and maintenance of systems related to quality-producing business processes. TQM is a strategic approach.

Six Sigma vs. Total Quality Management

Six Sigma and TQM are frequently confused. This article compares and contrasts the two methodologies so you can choose the one best suited to your organization.

Six Sigma Training vs. Total Quality Management

Many are of the view that the Six Sigma Training and Total Quality management is the same; in other words it (TQM) is an old wine in a new bottle (Six Sigma). However, Six Sigma and TQM are two different things, with Six Sigma being relatively newer than TQM.

An Observation of Implementing Total Quality Management In All Sizes of Companies

Numerous large or simply smaller businesses got bounce in to the bandwagon to discover profitable remedy for their organization's becoming successful. The Total Quality Management or simply TQM is truly one of those types of blueprint. Even though it is often an issue to be able to put into action Total Quality Management, there are plenty of accounts of success.

Inventions

Many people these days are coming up with new inventions to make all of our lives easier. Take the success of television programmes such as Dragon's Den; without new inventions from people with extremely creative minds, shows such as this would not

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach that seeks to improve quality and performance which will meet or exceed customer expectations. This can be achieved by integrating all quality-related functions and processes throughout the company. TQM looks at the overall quality measures used by a company including managing quality design and development, quality control and maintenance, quality improvement, and quality assurance. TQM takes into account all quality measures taken at all levels and involving all company employees.

Origins Of TQM

Total quality management has evolved from the quality assurance methods that were first developed around the time of the First World War. The war effort led to large scale manufacturing efforts that often produced poor quality. To help correct this, quality inspectors were introduced on the production line to ensure that the level of failures due to quality was minimized.

After the First World War, quality inspection became more commonplace in manufacturing environments and this led to the introduction of Statistical Quality Control (SQC), a theory developed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. This quality method provided a statistical method of quality based on sampling. Where it was not possible to inspect every item, a sample was tested for quality. The theory of SQC was based on the notion that a variation in the production process leads to variation in the end product. If the variation in the process could be removed this would lead to a higher level of quality in the end product.

After World War Two, the industrial manufacturers in Japan produced poor quality items. In a response to this, the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers invited Dr. Deming to train engineers in quality processes. By the 1950’s quality control was an integral part of Japanese manufacturing and was adopted by all levels of workers within an organization.

By the 1970’s the notion of total quality was being discussed. This was seen as company-wide quality control that involves all employees from top management to the workers, in quality control. In the next decade more non-Japanese companies were introducing quality management procedures that based on the results seen in Japan. The new wave of quality control became known as Total Quality Management, which was used to describe the many quality-focused strategies and techniques that became the center of focus for the quality movement.

Principles of TQM

TQM can be defined as the management of initiatives and procedures that are aimed at achieving the delivery of quality products and services. A number of key principles can be identified in defining TQM, including:

Executive Management – Top management should act as the main driver for TQM and create an environment that ensures its success. 

Training – Employees should receive regular training on the methods and concepts of quality.  Customer Focus – Improvements in quality should improve customer satisfaction.  Decision Making – Quality decisions should be made based on measurements.  Methodology and Tools – Use of appropriate methodology and tools ensures that non-conformances are identified, measured and responded to consistently. 

Continuous Improvement – Companies should continuously work towards improving manufacturing and quality procedures. 

Company Culture – The culture of the company should aim at developing employees ability to work together to improve quality. 

Employee Involvement – Employees should be encouraged to be pro-active in identifying and addressing quality related problems. 

The Cost Of TQM

Many companies believe that the costs of the introduction of TQM are far greater than the benefits it will produce. However research across a number of industries has costs involved in doing nothing, i.e. the direct and indirect costs of quality problems, are far greater than the costs of implementing TQM.

The American quality expert, Phil Crosby, wrote that many companies chose to pay for the poor quality in what he referred to as the “Price of Nonconformance”. The costs are identified in the Prevention, Appraisal, Failure (PAF) Model.

Prevention costs are associated with the design, implementation and maintenance of the TQM system. They are planned and incurred before actual operation, and can include:

Product Requirements – The setting specifications for incoming materials, processes, finished products/services. 

Quality Planning – Creation of plans for quality, reliability, operational, production and inspections. 

Quality Assurance – The creation and maintenance of the quality system.  Training – The development, preparation and maintenance of processes. 

Appraisal costs are associated with the vendors and customers evaluation of purchased materials and services to ensure they are within specification. They can include:

Verification – Inspection of incoming material against agreed upon specifications.  Quality Audits – Check that the quality system is functioning correctly.  Vendor Evaluation – Assessment and approval of vendors. 

Failure costs can be split into those resulting from internal and external failure. Internal failure costs occur when results fail to reach quality standards and are detected before they are shipped to the customer. These can include:

Waste – Unnecessary work or holding stocks as a result of errors, poor organization or communication. 

Scrap – Defective product or material that cannot be repaired, used or sold.  Rework – Correction of defective material or errors.  Failure Analysis – This is required to establish the causes of internal product failure. 

External failure costs occur when the products or services fail to reach quality standards, but are not detected until after the customer receives the item. These can include:

Repairs – Servicing of returned products or at the customer site.  Warranty Claims – Items are replaced or services re-performed under warranty.  Complaints – All work and costs associated with dealing with customer’s complaints.  Returns – Transportation, investigation and handling of returned items. 

What is quality?    Research and reports    Tools and resources   

o Journal of Quality   o The Quality Survival Guide   o Small business standard   o Factsheets   

Introduction to quality    Selecting a certification body    Total quality management (TQM)    Quality awards    Integrated management systems    Continual improvement   

Body of Quality Knowledge    Qualityworld    QW Express    Find a consultant    Find an auditor     Careers    Find a job   

Total quality management (TQM)Total quality management is a management approach centred on quality, based on the participation of an organisation's people and aiming at long term success (ISO 8402:1994). This is achieved through customer satisfaction and benefits all members of the organisation and society.

 In other words, TQM is a philosophy for managing an organisation in a way which enables it to meet stakeholder needs and expectations efficiently and effectively, without compromising ethical values.

TQM is a way of thinking about goals, organisations, processes and people to ensure that the right things are done right first time. This thought process can change attitudes, behaviour and hence results for the better.

What TQM is not

TQM is not a system, a tool or even a process. Systems, tools and processes are employed to achieve the various principles of TQM.

What does TQM cover?

The total in TQM applies to the whole organisation. Therefore, unlike an ISO 9000 initiative which may be limited to the processes producing deliverable products, TQM applies to every activity in the organisation. Also, unlike ISO 9000, TQM covers the soft issues such as ethics, attitude and culture.

What is the TQM philosophy?

There are several ways of expressing this philosophy. There are also several gurus whose influence on management thought in this area has been considerable, for example Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa and Imai. The wisdom of these gurus has been distilled into eight principles defined in ISO 9000:2000.

The principles of quality management:

There are eight principles of quality management:

customer-focused organisation - organisations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations

leadership - leaders establish unity of purpose, direction and the internal environment of the organisation. They create the environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organisation's objectives

involvement of people - people at all levels are the essence of an organisation and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organisation's benefit

process approach - a desired result is achieved more efficiently when related resources and activities are managed as a process

system approach to management - identifying, understanding and managing a system of interrelated processes for a given objective contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation

continual improvement - continual improvement is a permanent objective of an organisation factual approach to decision making - effective decisions are based on the logical and intuitive analysis of data and information 

mutually beneficial supplier relationships - mutually beneficial relationships between the organisation and its suppliers enhance the ability of both organisations to create value

How does TQM differ from the EQA model?

The European Quality Award model is used to assess business excellence. Business excellence is the result of adopting a TQM philosophy and realigning the organisation towards satisfying all stakeholders (customers, owners, shareholders, suppliers, employees and society). The quality award criteria offers measures of performance rather than a methodology.

Why should a company adopt TQM?

Adopting the TQM philosophy will:

make an organisation more competitive establish a new culture which will enable growth and longevity provide a working environment in which everyone can succeed reduce stress, waste and friction build teams, partnerships and co-operation

When should a company adopt TQM?

TQM can be adopted at any time after executive management has seen the error of its ways, opened its mind and embraced the philosophy. It cannot be attempted if management perceives it as a quick fix, or a tool to improve worker performance.

How should a company adopt TQM?

Before TQM is even contemplated

TQM will force change in culture, processes and practice. These changes will be more easily facilitated and sustained if there is a formal management system in place. Such a system will provide many of the facts on which to base change and will also enable changes to be implemented more systematically and permanently.

The first steps

In order to focus all efforts in any TQM initiative and to yield permanent benefits, a company must answer some fundamental questions:

what is its purpose as a business?  what is its vision for the business? what is its mission? what are the factors upon which achievement of its mission depends? what are its values? what are its objectives?

A good way to accomplish this is to take top management off site for a day or two for a brainstorming session. Until management shares the same answers to these questions and has communicated them to the workforce there can be no guarantee that the changes made will propel the organisation in the right direction.

Methodology

There are a number of approaches to take towards adopting the TQM philosophy. The teachings of Deming, Juran, Taguchi, Ishikawa, Imai, Oakland etc can all help an organisation realign itself and embrace the TQM philosophy. However, there is no single methodology, only a bundle of tools and techniques.

Examples of tools include:

flowcharting statistical process control (SPC) Pareto analysis cause and effect diagrams employee and customer surveys

Examples of techniques include:

benchmarking cost of quality quality function deployment failure mode effects analysis design of experiments

Measurements

After using the tools and techniques an organisation needs to establish the degree of improvement. Any number of techniques can be used for this including self-assessment, audits and SPC.

Pitfalls

TQM initiatives have been prone to failure because of common mistakes. These include:

allowing external forces and events to drive a TQM initiative an overwhelming desire for quality awards and certificates organising and perceiving TQM activities as separate from day-to-day work responsibilities treating TQM as an add-on with little attention given to the required changes in organisation and culture

senior management underestimating the necessary commitment to TQM

The CQI

Total quality managementFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search

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Total quality management (TQM) is a management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational functions (marketing, finance, design, engineering, and production, customer service, etc.) to focus on meeting customer needs and organizational objectives [1]. TQM empowers the Total organization, from the employee to the CEO, with the responsibility of ensuring Quality in their respective products and services, and Management of their processes through the appropriate process improvement channels. All types of organizations have deployed TQM, from small businesses to government agencies like NASA [2], from schools to construction firms, from manufacturing centers to call centers, and from dance sequence [3] to hospitals. TQM is not specific to one type of enterprise, it is a philosophy applied anywhere quality is required.

Contents

1     A Tool For Progress    2     TQM is a Strategy    3     Implementation of TQM    4     Seven Tools of Quality    5     Costs    6     Possible lifecycle    7     References   

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8     See also   

A Tool For Progress

TQM aims to go beyond "Meeting customer requirements" and their usual understanding of "Fit for purpose" with respect to products, processes or services that are embraced by the organization. TQM should operate throughout an entire organization. Prior to TQM, quality testing is usually a norm towards controlling quality during the final phases of a product, process or service. If faults are found, then the supplies are held back; reworked or rejected. Additional costs were usually inevitable, to produce the needed quantity and Quality. TQM's aim to "Get it right first time every time" and in interim abate majority of such avoidable costs.

TQM seeks to identify the source of each defect; to prevent it from entering the final product. Using a simple iterative process TQM reinforces quality assurance to meet changes in products and services by way of improved effectiveness of their operational processes[4]. The modus-operandi involves identifying the "root causes" for the most prevalent/costly defects and then implementing solutions to abate, avoid or remove them.

TQM was a term transformed from Japanese policy of 'Total Quality Control'... which was an epilogue to quality assurance. It has since graduated to a new paradigm.

Today TQM is applied to all industries, business, and activities. Be it a Hotel or a Hospital. Be it 'Educational Institution' or 'Engineering Enterprise'. Be it a Paan (Beetle leaves in Hindi language) Shop or a Park (play-garden). Be it an Advocate's office or Aircraft maintenance consultancy organization.

The tool is generic, and terminal to trials(Supreme).{these are individual views of Priyavrat Thareja} Terminal because of the fact that TQM is 'Total' and ultimate. Good TQM (implementation) takes responsibility of Systems in place which must work endogenously [5].

TQM is a Strategy

TQM essentially is a people dependent process. If people are cultured, matured is the organization. To derive full benefit of TQM, people in any organization should be synergized.[6] Thus organizations are expected to maintain a company wide strategy that devolves responsibility to every employee for the quality of their work and the work of their team. TQM calls for bringing the core concept of quality to early transformatory processes, as Quality Guru W. Edwards Deming proposed.[7] Deming's chain reaction advocates starting with Quality of initial design and further systemically operating on Total Quality principles to achieve excellence. When each input from raw materials through resources and design is processed to produce exceedingly and continually improved finished goods, TQM is said to be operational.

Implementation of TQM

To improve any organization, activities are deployed for all of the objectives, namely:

1. Continual quality improvement (CQI)

2. Total customer satisfaction

3. Total employee involvement

4. Integrated process management

5. Holistic Approach to processes

Some steps to success are:

(a) TQM Tools The popular terms are Seven QC tools and Seven PC tools.

The Tools are used for Generating Ideas: Check Sheet, Scatter Diagram, Cause and Effect Diagram,

The Tools for Identifying Problems: Histogram, Statistical Process Control Chart, and

The Tools to Organize the Data: Pareto Charts, Flow Charts (Process Diagram)

The Tools to control processes: Affinity Diagrams, Matrix Charts, Process Display Program charts,

The Tools to control projects: Program Evaluation Review Techniques (PERT), Critical Path Method (CPM).

(b) Quality Management system (QMS) per ISO 9001:2008

(c) Working on a continuous improvement model.

Seven Tools of Quality

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Tools_of_Quality

Costs

While use of TQM methodologies reduce the cost of failure e.g. scrap; factory (re-work) and customer dissatisfaction; it may, unavoidably, add new costs for staff training, educating suppliers etc. However, net benefit of implementing TQM is in the quality, brand value, decreased time to market, higher customer confidence and return, and harmony, as is provided in an orchestra. Above all it facilitates sustainable development faster [8]. It is asserted that business enterprises are always confronted with the challenge of increasing shareholder value, which includes both Quality and profits.

Possible lifecycle

Today, total quality management is common in modern business, with a big accent on education, industry, army and so on. Many colleges are offering courses in TQM at graduate and undergraduate levels.

Abrahamson (1996) argued that fashionable management discourse such as quality circles tends to follow a lifecycle in the form of a bell curve, indicating a possible management fad. TQM normally takes a long 10 year period to administer change. It will take many years to mature. The decline is generally a result of commitment lacking at top management level.[9]

American businesses have been noticing the Japanese improve their market share, assigned to Quality management. Quality control costs money, and gives due advantage at a cost. Americans organizations who have adapted TQM concepts since the 1980s have demonstrated its potential for excellence. With the efforts becoming more standardized and applied around things like the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Europe's EFQM Excellence Award and Japanese Internationally awarded Deming Prize in brief. There are several winners of this Deming Application Quality prize, and some of these have contributed to Quality through Energy conservation, environmental upgradation, signifying service to society,[10] which is quite essential for any TQM implementer. Also benefit ISO 9000 series standard's implementation and Six Sigma in a journey to TQM

quality managementquality management history, gurus, TQM theories, process improvement, and organizational 'excellence'

The history of quality management, from mere 'inspection' to Total Quality Management, and its modern 'branded interpretations such as 'Six Sigma', has led to the development of essential processes, ideas, theories and tools that are central to organizational development, change management, and the performance improvements that are generally desired for individuals, teams and organizations.

These free resources, materials and tools are an excellent guide to the quality management area, for practical application in organizations, for study and learning, and for teaching and training others.

These free pdf materials are provided by permission of the UK Department of Industry - now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform - which is gratefully acknowledged. The materials listed and linked from this page are subject to Crown Copyright.

Please note that since the replacement of the UK Department of Industry by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the branding on the materials is now obsolete. Nevertheless, since the Quality Management technical and historical content is unaffected by the DTI branding the materials remain relevant for training, learning and reference.

It is appropriate to note the passing a little while back now, of Joseph Juran, a seminal figure in the history of quality management, who died 28 February 2008, age 103. Juran did more than teach the Japanese about quality management. He was also arguably the first quality expert to emphasise that no quality management system works unless people are empowered and committed to take responsibility for quality - as an ongoing process - effectively for quality to become part of part of people's behaviour and attitudes - an ethos. The section below on Kaizen explains the connections between the true ethos of quality management, and the positive ethical management of people.

Further total quality management information and quality management terminology explanations are on the Six Sigma page.

history of quality management

The roots of Total Quality Management can be traced to early 1920's production quality control ideas, and notably the concepts developed in Japan beginning in the late 1940's and 1950's, pioneered there by Americans Feigenbum, Juran and Deming... More about Quality Management and TQM history.

quality management gurus and theories

Quality Management resulted mainly from the work of the quality gurus and their theories: the American gurus featured in the 1950's Japan: Joseph Juran, W Edwards Deming, and Armand Feigenbum; the Japanese quality gurus who developed and extended the early American quality ideas and models: Kaoru Ishikawa, Genichi Taguchi, and Shigeo Shingo; and the 1970-80's American Western gurus, notably Philip Crosby and Tom Peters, who further extended the Quality Management concepts after the Japanese successes... More about the Quality Management gurus and their theories, including the development and/or use of the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle, Pareto analysis, cause and effect diagrams, stratification, check-sheets, histograms, scatter-charts, process control charts, system design, parameter design, tolerance design ('Taguchi methodology'), Quality Improvement Teams (QIT), Just In Time (JIT), Management By Walking About (MBWA), McKinsey 7-S Framework, etc.

total quality management (TQM)

Total Quality Management features centrally the customer-supplier interfaces, (external and internal customers and suppliers). A number of processes sit at each interface. Central also is an organizational commitment to quality, and the importance of communicating this quality commitment, together with the acknowledgement that the right organizational culture is essential

for effective Total Quality Management.... More about the fundamentals and structures of the TQM model, including the people, processes and systems in the organization.

processes - understanding processes and methods for process improvement

Understanding processes is essential before attempt is made to improve them. This is a central aspect to Total Quality Management, and also to more modern quality and process improvement interpretations and models such as Six Sigma.... More about Total Quality Management process and process improvement methods.

quality process improvement tools and techniques

A wide range of tools and techniques is used for identifying, measuring, prioritising and improving processes which are critical to quality. Again these ideas and methods feature prominently in modern interpretations of Total Quality Management methodology, such as Six Sigma. These process improvement tools and techniques include: DRIVE (Define, Review, Identify, Verify, Execute), process mapping, flow-charting, force field analysis, cause and effect, brainstorming, Pareto analysis, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Control charts, bar charts, 'dot plot' and tally charts, check-sheets, scatter diagrams, matrix analysis, histograms..... More about tools and techniques for process evaluation and improvement.

A summary of quality tools is below.

The Kaizen methodology is also described below in some detail.

developing people and teams

People are a fundamental component within any successfully developing organization. Take away the people and the organization is nothing. Take away the people's motivation, commitment and ability to work together in well-organised teams, and again, the organization is nothing. Conversely, inspire the people to work well, creatively, productively, and the organization can fly. Logically therefore, the development and proper utilization of people are vital to the success of all quality management initiatives. There are a wide range of models that are used in selecting, assessing, training and developing and motivating people, among which are classical models such as Belbin, Myers Briggs Type Indicator (see the personality models section), Bruce Tuckman's 'Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing' model, John Adair's Action Centred Leadership model.... More about people and culture within quality management.

quality management systems

A 'Total Quality organization' generally benefits from having an effective Quality Management System (QMS). A Quality Management System is typically defined as: "A set of co-ordinated activities to direct and control an organization in order to continually improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its performance." Customer expectations inevitably drive and define 'performance' criteria and standards. Therefore Quality Management Systems focus on customer expectations and ongoing review and improvement.... More about Quality Management Systems, what they are, and how to set up a good QMS.

performance measurement and management

There are many ways to measure organizational performance other than financial output or profit. Modern measurement focuses on the essential activities, resources and other factors - many less intangible than traditional indictors - that impact on final outputs. These include modern methods such as Balanced Scorecard... More about performance measurement, and cost of quality.

excellence and the European Quality Management Model

The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model® is a useful framework for developing quality and excellence within an organization... More.

TQM self-assessment and awards using the EFQM® model

Any organization can assess itself provided it has the commitment to so so, and a framework for the self-assessment... Here are some ideas, and a process for quality and excellence self-assessment.

TQM benchmarking and questionnaire (readiness for benchmarking)

Benchmarking is a widely used term within the field of organizational measurement and management .... Here is an explanation of benchmarking, and a questionnaire by which an organization (or a department or process team) can assess its readiness for benchmarking.

TQM implementation framework and blueprint

Here is a framework and 'blueprint' for the implementation of a quality improvement or 'excellence' initiative. It includes the following elements:

TQM Processes  Tools and techniques  People and teamwork  Quality management system  Performance measurement  EFQM Excellence Model®  Self-assessment 

This blueprint for achieving organizational excellence is based on many years of research, education and advisory work in the European Centre for Business Excellence (ECforBE), and the research and education division of Oakland Consulting plc. It is, along with the other resources in this section, information and advice initially from the UK Department of Industry, now replaced by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

TQM case studies

Here are a number of case studies featuring organizations that have implemented quality management and process improvement initiatives. These case studies illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the various methodologies, tools, techniques and concepts included within quality management and quality process improvement theory.

Airedale Springs Limited case study    (people, team work, skills recognition) Appor Limited case study    (continuous improvement, culture change) BAE Systems/Waer Systems Limited case study    (supply chain process improvement, project champions, supplier partnerships)

British Telecom Plc case study    (quality framework, strategy, systems, self-assessment, balanced scorecard)

GSM Group case study    (mission statement, strategic planning, Kaizen, partnerships) Hydrapower Dynamics Ltd case study    (teamwork, quality bubbles, systems, common sense quality) 

Lakeside Engineered Systems Division, Aeroquip Group case study    (quality, excellence, Kaizen, process improvement)

Mortgage Express case study    (business excellence, stakeholders, teamwork, quality awards, measurement) 

Spembly Medical Limited case study    (design for manufacture, projects, concurrent engineering, innovation, millennium products)

Springfarm Architectural Mouldings Limited case study    (values, surveys, recognition, communication system)

Vista Optics Limited case study    (business excellence, self-assessment, benchmarking, quality awards, statistical process control [SPC] )

kaizen

Kaizen is a very significant concept within quality management and deserves specific explanation:

Kaizen (usually pronounced 'kyzan' or 'kyzen' in the western world) is a Japanese word, commonly translated to mean 'continuous improvement'.

Kaizen is a core principle of quality management generally, and specifically within the methods of Total Quality Management and 'Lean Manufacturing'.

Originally developed and applied by Japanese industry and manufacturing in the 1950s and 60s, Kaizen continues to be a successful philosophical and practical aspect of some of the best known Japanese corporations, and has for many years since been interpreted and adopted by 'western' organizations all over the world.

Kaizen is a way of thinking, working and behaving, embedded in the philosophy and values of the organization. Kaizen should be 'lived' rather than imposed or tolerated, at all levels.

The aims of a Kaizen organization are typically defined as:

To be profitable, stable, sustainable and innovative.  To eliminate waste of time, money, materials, resources and effort and increase productivity.  To make incremental improvements to systems, processes and activities before problems arise rather than correcting them after the event. 

To create a harmonious and dynamic organization where every employee participates and is valued. 

Key concepts of Kaizen:

Every is a key word in Kaizen: improving everything that everyone does in every aspect of the organization in every department, every minute of every day. 

Evolution rather than revolution: continually making small, 1% improvements to 100 things is more effective, less disruptive and more sustainable than improving one thing by 100% when the need becomes unavoidable. 

Everyone involved in a process or activity, however apparently insignificant, has valuable knowledge and participates in a working team or Kaizen group (see also Quality Circles below). 

Everyone is expected to participate, analysing, providing feedback and suggesting improvements to their area of work. 

Every employee is empowered to participate fully in the improvement process: taking responsibility, checking and co-ordinating their own activities. Management practice enables and facilitates this. 

Every employee is involved in the running of the company, and is trained and informed about the company. This encourages commitment and interest, leading to fulfilment and job satisfaction. 

Kaizen teams use analytical tools and techniques to review systems and look for ways to improve (see Quality Tools below).

At its best, Kaizen is a carefully nurtured philosophy that works smoothly and steadily, and which helps to align 'hard' organizational inputs and aims (especially in process-driven environments), with 'soft' management issues such as motivation and empowerment.

Like any methodology however, poor interpretation and implementation can limit the usefulness of Kaizen practices, or worse cause them to be counter-productive.

Kaizen is unsuccessful typically where:

Kaizen methods are added to an existing failing structure, without fixing the basic structure and philosophy.

Kaizen is poorly integrated with processes and people's thinking. Training is inadequate. Executive/leadership doesn't understand or support Kaizen. Employees and managers regard Kaizen as some form of imposed procedure, lacking meaningful purpose.

Kaizen works best when it is 'owned' by people, who see the concept as both empowering of individuals and teams, and a truly practical way to improve quality and performance, and thereby job satisfaction and reward. As ever, such initatives depend heavily on commitment from above, critically:

to encourage and support Kaizen, and  to ensure improvements produce not only better productivity and profit for the organization, but also better recognition and reward and other positive benefits for employees, whose involvement drives the change and improvement in the first place. 

Interestingly, the spirit of Kaizen, which is distinctly Japanese in origin - notably its significant emphasis upon individual and worker empowerment in organizations - is reflected in many 'western' concepts of management and motivation, for example the Y-Theory principles described by Douglas McGregor; Herzberg's Motivational Theory, Maslow's Needs Hierarchy and related thinking; Adams' Equity Theory; and Charles Handy's motivational theories.

Fascinatingly, we can now see that actually very close connections exist between:

the fundamental principles of Quality Management - which might be regarded as cold and detached and focused on 'things' not people, and 

progressive 'humanist' ideas about motivating and managing people - which might be regarded as too compassionate and caring to have a significant place in the optimization of organizational productivity and profit.

The point is that in all effective organizations a very strong mutual dependence exists between:

systems, processes, tools, productivity, profit - the 'hard' inputs and outputs (some say 'left-side brain'), and 

people, motivation, teamwork, communication, recognition and reward - the 'soft' inputs and outputs ('right-side brain')

Kaizen helps to align these factors, and keep them aligned.

quality tools

'Quality Tools' refers to tools and techniques used in support of Kaizen and other quality improvement or quality management programmes and philosophies.

Based mainly on statistical and manufacturing process tools, Quality Tools are used at all levels of an organization - typically in 'quality circles' or Kaizen work teams to analyse and review activities and uncover inefficiencies.

The main Quality Tools are:

The '5 Whys' - asking 'Why?' at least five times to uncover root cause of a problem. Flowcharts - boxes and arrows method of examining activities, potentially used in brainstorming, also found in business process modelling.

Fishbone/Ishikawa Diagrams - fishbone-structured diagram for identifying cause/effect patterns, in which primary categories are generally pre-determined according to context. See fishbone diagram and usage examples for project management. 

Run Charts - a graph which plots data/change along a timeline. Pareto Charts - a line and bar graph displaying cause/effect ratios, especially biggest relative cause, based on Pareto theory. 

Histograms - a bar graph displaying data in simple categories which together account for a total. Checklists/Checksheets - pre-formatted lists for noting incidence, frequency, etc., according to known useful criteria

Control/Shewhart Charts - a standard pattern of performance/time for a given process, often in Run Chart format, which acts as a template to check conformance and deviation. 

Scatter Diagram/Scatterplot - a graph which plots points (typically very many individual instances) according to two variables, which produces a useful visual indication of the relationship between the two variables.

Some quality tools, like flowcharts and checklists, have become part of mainstream management.

Others tools such as the Fishbone diagram have stayed quite specific to the engineering and manufacturing disciplines, which traditionally have a strong focus and expertise in Kaizen, 'Lean' management and other quality management methodologies.

quality circles

Quality circles, similar to Kaizen teams, are a key part of any continuous improvement programme.

In this context the word 'circle' refers to a team of people.

Teams or small groups (the circles) meet to analyse, and review working practices with a view to making suggestions for improvement in their work and the systems.

As with many Quality Tools, the specific use of Quality Circles is chiefly concentrated among manufacturing and engineering organizations or in technical departments of this sort.

The term Quality Circles may be found in more general use outside of these traditional areas, in which case the name tends to imply or symbolise that teams are working in an empowered, cooperative way, especially focused on problem-solving and improvements, rather than a strict adherence to technical Total Quality Management or related processes.

(With acknowledgements to Melanie Allen.)