Introduction
Total Quality Management practitioners believe in aligning mega trends with available opportunities in their surroundings. These companies are focused on research and analytics for the long term; at least a considerable time in advance. In the case of some companies, it could be some lesser years. This is where these companies have a competitive advantage.
The companies which follow the TQM guidelines have their own quality definition of growth. Any kind of economic transformation would mean a step towards growth for them. Research-based data shows that the revenue of companies that have good TQM practices can be increased up to 10 times compared to the ones that do not. This being based on the western world context, we could realize from the renovation of TQM by closely monitoring the companies operating around the world in the past decade.
Whatever be the main focus of TQM practices, the objectives of companies that believe in total quality management are more or less the same. The primary element to contemplate for ruling the common point between both types of companies is the growth purposes. The size of the market and the strategies implemented may be dissimilar, but the demand for growth is common. In the case of certain companies, there exists no clear strategy in place though the vision seems to be quite clear. In this case, there should be rooting for TQM practices, which allow strategies to be out into place and the techniques to guarantee the strategy implementation.
History of TQM/TQM gurus
The evolution of quality management has seen three major milestones; from being a simple scrutiny to being TQM implementation, and from TQM to being the modern interpretations such as the notion of Six Sigma. This fruition has enhanced stimulus to the evolvement of important ideas, theories, and processes, which create great results for the development of the organization, management of change and enhancement in implementations, which are desired by all classes of groups, individuals and organizations.
The inception and development of quality management have been shaped because of works from gurus of quality and their related theories. The US gurus that were active in the Japanese quality management evolution in the 1950s were Armand Feigenbaum, Joseph Juran, and W Edwards Deming. There were also quality gurus of the Japanese origin who helps expand the TQM concepts in the American context: Genichi Taguchi, Kaoru Ishikawa, and Shigeo Shingo.
The 1970s also saw the rise of many western gurus in the field of quality management such as Philip Crosby and Tom Peters, who again extended the concepts of Quality Management after the successes in the case of Japanese organizations. After that, the total quality management field has seen evolution in leaps and bounds, thanks to the many people who contributed for the same.
Main body:
Analysis of selected area one, including case study for an events organization that represents good practice: Participative Management
Allure management is a company of model management which was established in the January of 1988 by the fashion photographer, Tibi Clenci. It is a representation of limited range and high quality boys and girls of the industry of fashion. The contain clients such as Loreal and others, meaning that they have wide range of experience.
Participative management means that all the stakeholders are involved in the varied decision-making processes of the organization. Allure Management is one of the Companies that have given a platform where the organizational members can have a say in all forms of decisions. There is a chance for the junior employees as well for participation in the process of decision-making. This is crucial as the subordinates become responsible for the adherence and implementation of these directives. These measures are a source of motivation for the subordinates as they feel a sense of recognition and appreciation within the organization. They also instill a controlled feeling over the decisions made in the business. There will thus be a willingness to take over responsibilities that have been assigned to them in a positive manner to perform their best. The clients thus become happy as a sense of appreciation. It also creates the opportunity for higher management for delegation of duties to workers.
The implication of improvement in gradual processes is that there will be an acknowledgment of minor gains in line with the objectives of total quality. Such stable perfections entail that there is an appreciation of TQM from the subordinates as well as executives, and they have full confidence in it. As there is gradual progress, there is a realization from the management that there is an improvement in the quality of services. Thus, the level of satisfaction in most of the clients is high and also, there is loyalty to the organization for the associated clients.
There is the introduction of team culture in the Allure Event Corporation in the form of TQM practice. It is crucial for all the employees to work as a team in an event management company to be able to meet goals as other departments in the enterprise can suggest the efforts as well. The synergy created by inter-department team efforts will make the employees able to identify the opportunities and problems to share the knowledge and march towards the goals. The clients are thus assisted in gaining quality service so that together the employees can create better work.
One of the factors that have been given a great amount of focus for the attainment of desired goals and objectives is the customer focus. The satisfaction of demands of the clients is a sign that the corporation operations are on a path to improvement.
The execution of the total quality management (TQM) system was improvised by Allure events Management Company with the use of a five-phase plan which assisted them in effectively implementing the systems of TQM in the operations. The plan includes the following elements:
Preparation is the stage when there is a decision in the management that there should be pursuing of the TQM systems and the introduction of the same to the business. There is involvement of consultant acquiring for the development of goals and the indication of all requirement necessities for the system development.
In the planning stage, an estimated budget included the plan which supported the total program of TQM. The estimation of resources use was included in the plan.
The assessment part implies the conduction of evaluation and also getting the information from business clients as well as the customers.
Implementation is the phase where ROI is determined by the Enterprise in a TQM. The workforce was trained in this stage for the requirement of TQM and the organization expectations for the same.
Diversification is the stage in which the TQM skills were used by the administration to bring the members of the Company to the process of excellence.
The activities here made an involvement of reward inclusion and training in the staffs of Allure management for ensuring that the phases are adhered to. There will be assurance of the TQM plan’s execution successfully by following the strategies and steps required for the implementation. For the identification of the success rate of the system, there is a gathering of information by the organization management from workers considering the contribution of a system for the success of the business and notice of the changes. The information has ben analyzed at qualitative and quantitative levels to understand the effects of TQM on business. The competitiveness of the company has increased because of TQM approach in the Company.
There has thus been the contribution of varied traditions for aiding the enterprise improvement. Using this system, there is the training of workers for performing in innovative ways so that new methods can be used for task execution. A new tradition is thus developed for the transfer of workers who join an enterprise.
Analysis of selected area two, including a case study for an events organization that represents good practice: Tools/ systems adopted to obtain continuous improvement.
The range of corporate events that Evolve Events conduct is wide. They are particularly involved with gala dinners, ceremonies of awards and conferences for wide range of people, from a low 50 to maximum 1500. They also provide tailored service designs, with the delivery of such events which match the brand of the organizers so that their aspirations can be reflected.
Evolve event management can be taken as an example which follows the adoption of tools and systems for obtaining improvement at continuous levels. Be it the service provided to their clients or the confidentiality part that they maintain in their works, Evolve event management keeps a point that all factors are well considered for high-quality work. The company has ensured that whatever be the proximity with their clients, the confidentiality part will be taken care of. As a team, they agree and acknowledge to the following points, as one of the processes for quality management:
That during the course of their service there may be disclosed to them certain trade secrets, confidential and proprietary information of the Company, consisting but not necessarily limited to:
Technical information: Methods, processes, formulae, compositions, systems, techniques, computer programs and research projects.
Business information: Client lists, financial data, and marketing systems or plans and other proprietary and confidential information relating to assignments, operations, management of the Company.
And regardless of the medium (electronic/paper) and/or the format in which the information exists.
They agree that they will not during, or at any time after the termination of their service with a Company, disclose or divulge to others including future employers, any trade secrets, confidential information, business sensitive or any other proprietary data of the Company in violation of the trade agreement.
They will promptly report to their superiors, any unauthorized use, disclosure, release or reproduction of any data or any portion thereof, which they may become aware of in the course of managing an event.
For the time and date promised for their service to the Company, they will not accept any offer for service or any other contractual engagement with any other party for the expressed time period of service.
Upon the termination of their service from the Company, they will return all the documents back to the Company along with the company's property, including but not necessarily limited to the blueprints, drawings, reports, handbooks, customer lists, correspondence, computer programs, and all other documents, information and copies of information that are related to the business of the company, or in any way obtained by me during the course of service. They do not mind the publicizing of any of their works or agreements with other clients.
They undertake that any unauthorized use, disclosure, release or reproduction of any data or any portion thereof by exploring management may result in substantial criminal, civil and/ or administrative liabilities to me.
These processes involved in service dealing with their clients helps them make a good company in the eyes of the clients. Let us understand how the journey of TQM was started for the Company. In the past, most of the manufacturing and production of the events related materials were highly imported and outsourced by the company. There were many other owned business units in the area that worked for event management. People willing to start a business in events had to understand the varied dynamics and only then enter the business with full support. Then there was the arrival of the formulation of favorable practices such as quality management. At first, implementation was where the problem lied. If the vision translated into action, they would have much better conditions in trade and business. As per the company vision, the infrastructure and Governance were developed to suit the quality management prerequisites in the Company. There was thus tremendous scope for the company. The three best practices that the company did differently from competitors that supported the organization’s growth in terms of quality management would be:
A. Maintenance of business values
Evolve management believes in moral values. The organization doesn’t divulge into activities or ventures that are not morally right, although it is profitable.
B. Continuous consideration and compassion for employees
This is also the result of strong business values that the organization maintains. Furthermore, most employees remain in the organization until they retire and hence, they have been able to retain good and able employees.
C. Effective management of all its stakeholders
with employees, suppliers, partners or principles is long-term. They have been associated with various clients for a long time. Thus, there are no immediate switches when it comes to their stakeholders. The cultivation of a long-term relationship may be the best policy for today’s business environment, and in those days too, this focus worked wonders for the company.
Ease of doing business in the event management sector has improved significantly compared to yesteryears. The competition has however increased to a great level, and the use of TQM is one of the most effective means of establishing a competitive advantage for greater good. Although the bureaucratic system is installed in the company still, with concentrated powers, the intensity and extent of the system have lessened to an extent as many understanding and knowledgeable people have entered into the system. As the consequence of this, one does not have to go through multiple loopholes. Also, various understandings and treaties with partners and clients have helped business organizations in doing business in Nepal. In addition, the regulations have been liberalized compared to previous years. This has opened all sorts of doors and windows for private businesses in event management to indulge in global trade.
The company is following global practices and hence believes that if services are to be given it should be for all without any discrimination and biases to certain business owners. Thus, there is standardization of the service quality. Further, the Company also believes in the free competition, which means that the quality is only bound to increase. The Evolve management’s vision for future would be to continue and elaborate on the foundation of its core business, that is, in the event management sector itself. Also, the company wants to create a focus on domestic market, where it has maintained a niche for itself. There needs to be additional focus on business and promotion of practices that has beneficial and positive impact on surrounding neighborhood and community.
Conclusions
Service quality is one of the major sources for competitive advantages taken up by the modern event companies. But, the challenges in quality management in case of special events are in association with wide issue range caused by many reasons. The partial relation to these challenges is with the service characteristics and nature which includes ownership; perishability, intangible behaviors, separable behaviors, and heterogeneity.
Additionally, the difficulties that the managers of special events face in terms of endurance of events high quality includes maintenance of high-level employee motivation, the dealership with unexpected circumstances that is in close relation with special events, the endurance of original elements for every special event, along with heightened deadline importance of special events.
Recommendations
The recommendation to event managers in the general and special range would include holistic approach use of total quality management and Six Sigma, along with importance of factors such as teamwork integration and concentration, the use of both intangible and tangible techniques for ensuring that employees are motivated and engagement in concentrated communications with varied stakeholders that are involved in the planning and execution of the planned special events.
Since the Company is a service provider, there are three main Ps that they should focus on, People, Process and Physical Evidence. In managing People in their events, they should hire consultant for marketing strategy, for managing processes they should do marketing research for competitor’s strategy and develop Management Information System (MIS) to analyze market competition. For managing the physical evidence, preparation of service blueprint and development of physical and other infrastructures as per customer satisfaction maximization objective should be present.
Additionally, there is recommendation for the event managers for devising and implementing development and training programs, which fall under TQM, for employees based a systemized nature, paying higher considerations to aspects of business related to crowd management and also having an approach that is institutionalized, if it intends to deal with issues of quality, which means that all the aspects of TQM are to be considered proportionately throughout the institution for better results.
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