Abstract
Total quality management is an approach steeped in scientific management. It involves an attempt to cut down on defects and meet what consumers require of a firm. TQM is based on the formulation of a system to monitor and control affairs and set and meet quality targets through a generalist framework. This is done through several approaches and systems including Six Sigma, Toyota Production System and ISO-9001.
This paper focuses on ISO-9001. It is an accreditation system that is utilized by registering with a global monitoring system that is applied over an extended period of usually 6 months. ISO-9001 is strong and requires leadership to be exhibited at all levels. This includes setting proactive standards and targets and dealing with them as and when they come up. This provides a strong approach to problems and strong documentation systems that guarantees a higher quality of service provision and quality management.
Introduction
There are different approaches for the managing operations and performance quality. Two of the most popular methodologies are the Total Quality Management (TQM) and ISO 9001. TQM is identified to be a process management tool because it always seeks to ensure remedial measures and continuous improvement. TQM identifies issues and problems and tries to fix them. On the other hand, ISO 9001 manages quality in all stages of the process and provides quality management standards in all levels. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the two principles of quality management and how they operate in corporate world.
Total Quality Management
TQM has its root in Taylor’s scientific method which sought to create a system of mass production whereby the resources of a company is put to the best use to ensure consistent and continuous quality. This included systems that were instituted and inspected regularly to ensure they were meeting their goals. In the 1940s, the statistical sampling method became common and this was followed by organizational quality focus in the 1960s to a customer focused system after the 1980s. This was a move from quality control to quality management and TQM brings out innovation and quality matters.
Total Quality Management is defined as “TQM is a systems approach to management that aims to continuously increase value to customers by designing and continuously improving organizational processes and systems”. It is focused on employees and extends back and forth to include the integration of considerations relating to the supply chain system of the organization and the views and desires of the consumers.
TQM is viewed as a philosophy rather than a quality implementation process. It is a process that is instituted to police the operations systems of a company and ensure there are no limits. In order to institute TQM, the following steps are considered essential:
Commitment from employees;
Quality improvement culture;
Continuous improvement in process;
Cooperation from the employees;
Focus on customer requirements;
Laying down effective controls.
There are numerous tools or implementing TQM. This includes tools like Six Sigma, Lean Management, Toyota Production System and ISO-9001. The most popular system used in the writer’s region is the ISO-9001. This will be discussed in-depth below.
ISO-9001
The history of ISO-9001 Accreditation goes back to 1987 when the ISO-9000 system was put together as a means of training and preparing companies to ensure that their production system was to an appreciably high standard. This was a global and international set of standards based on a series of studies and research works which laid the foundation for objective and transparent quality control.
The ISO system is propounded by the International Standards Organization with representatives from different countries’ standardization entities. The ISO-9001 system is based on quality management systems that provide a universal system that involves eight management standards that must be observed in ensuring management controls that can be used to ensure quality. The eight areas are:
Customer focus
Leadership
Involvement of people
Process Approach
System approach to management
Continual improvement
Factual approach to decision making
Mutually beneficial supplier relationship
The fundamental difference between ISO-9001 accreditation and any other system is that although customer focus is important and vital, the central focus of ISO-9001 is leadership. Leadership is central because it is about giving the obligation to someone to ensure that there is the implementation of major pointers that will be discussed. Thus, unlike TQM which is remedial, ISO-9001 is preventive and it is based on the exercise of strong leadership to create a framework for prevention, monitoring and quick responsive action which is independently verifiable.
In the process of implementing ISO-9001, there is the need for management to define potential problems and provide appropriate practices to prevent them for each stage. This is done through a systematic step-by-step approach that must be applied in all times and in all situations.
Thus, the entire focus is on leadership and ensuring that there is the definition of process metrics and targets for each stage of production. Customer focus is the defining standard for the formulation of quality management targets. There is a definite plan and it is futuristic in outlook and seeks to deal with issues that come up. This is opposed to TQM which relies on historic data.ISO-9001 utilizes a proactive approach which forecasts and defines solutions to potential issues before they occur.
Implementation of ISO is based on an ISO certification by an accredited agency in a given country. It can take just about 6 months to install and operate an ISO-9001 system of quality management but TQM takes no less than 1 year.
ISO-9001 is self-policing and has continuous improvement inherent in it. ISO-9001 includes corrective actions, internal audit and management reviews. Other systems are based on complaining and it takes a long time and a lot of bureaucracy to deal with matters that come up. Therefore, ISO-9001 is based on anticipated matters and these matters are given prompt and a rather personalized response from the leadership of an organization.
ISO-9001 requires documentation and record keeping. This is not the case for TQM which is very general and does not support various forms of executive control and management. Furthermore, ISO-9001 opens up for supervision and audits by external parties.
There are regular independent audits when a firm installs and utilizes and ISO-9001 system. These are audits conducted by registered agents. A robust program is employed which includes auditing built into it and creates a robust quality management system
There are 130,000 firms worldwide with 20,000 firms in the US who are ISO-9001 certified. The number keeps increasing which gives credence to the fact that ISO-9001 is considered to be superior to other systems of quality management and control.
Once installed, the monitoring of the ISO-9001 system is done over time by the agency that is assigned to monitor the system. It changes and is adjusted in Year 2 – 5 to train workers to adjust to matured and efficient systems. This means that quality control is institutionalized and entrenched further in the system over time.
The downside is that application and implementation could be expensive. This is because registering and acquiring membership is quite costly. Proving returns on investment might take time when ISO-9001 is implemented. It is difficult to find the links and might have no direct attribution.
Conclusion
Total quality management developed over the years as the concept of work gained prominence in the western world. It started with the scientific management and is now customer oriented and innovation based. ISO-9001 is a form of total quality management. Unlike conventional TQM, it is well structured and can be entrenched over a period of time through insistence on a strong leadership and apparent controls that is proactive. It involves predicting issues and dealing with these issues as and how they come up.
References
Bishop, B. (2014, June 4). Why ISO 9000 Should Be A Company's Guidepost, And Not TQM. Retrieved from Manufacturing and Technology News: http://www.manufacturingnews.com/news/editorials/bishop.html
Davis, J. W. (2012). Fast Track to Waste-Free Manufacturing: Straight Talk from a Plant Manager. New York: CRC Press.
Kanji, G. (2013). Total Quality Management: Proceedings of the first world congress (2nd ed.). London: Springer.
Macario, R. (2015). Managing Urban Mobility Systems. London: Emerald Group.
Purcărea, V. L., Gheorghe, I. R., & Petrescu, C. M. (2013). The Assessment of Perceived Service Quality of Public Health Care Services in Romania Using the SERVQUAL Scale. Journal of Economics and Finance, 6, 573-585.
Schlickman, J. J. (2003). ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System Design. Norwood, MA: Artech House Inc.
Westcott, R. (2013). Stepping Up To Iso 9004: A Practical Guide For Creating A World-class. Chico, CA: Paton Professional Publishing.
