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Summary
- Take note of the unique messages of all the Quality Gurus in considering
introducing TQM to your organisation.
- There are contradictions between
Guru approaches, but also many common features.
- Purpose build for your
own company.
- Good luck!
When considering the introduction of
TQM to your organisation it is advisable to take note of the unique messages of
all the Quality Gurus. Between them they have influenced most areas of TQM as
this document aims to outline. - Management
commitment and employee awareness are essential from the early stages for implementing
TQM. Deming's philosophy, Peters' Top Twelve Traits, Crosby's Zero Defects and
Moller's Personal Quality are possibly the most useful for encouraging these necessary
attitudes.
- The awareness should be backed up by facts and figures. Planning
and data collection are important. Costs of Quality can be used to measure the
progress of improvement and Juran is perhaps the Guru who has made the most impact
in this area, although Crosby has also contributed.
- TQM programmes normally
employ teamwork to facilitate improved communication and problem-solving. Cross-functional
teams are particularly advocated by Peters and Crosby. Quality Circles, in addition,
were advocated widely by Ishikawa, and can be very successful if other TQM structure
is in place.
- Simple tools for problem-solving and improvement to be used
by all employees are outlined in the Ishikawa section.
- Tools also include
more technical tools to control industrial design and manufacturing. Taguchi methods
can be used to reduce prototyping, and Shingo's work has been associated with
successful Just-in-Time systems.
- Management tools should be studied to
achieve quality. These include Crosby's Zero Defect approach, and the concepts
of Company-Wide Quality and Total Quality Control associated with Ishikawa and
Feigenbaum.
- In order to move from an inspection to a prevention culture
characteristic of TQM, emphasis is normally placed on the identification of internal
customers and suppliers. This implies the understanding necessary to meet the
external customers' requirement. This customer focus is probably emphasised most
strongly by Juran, Crosby (internal customers), Peters' and Deming's recent teachings
(external customers).
ContradictionIt is perhaps equally important
to note the contradictions between the different philosophies. For instance Juran
has severely criticised quality awareness campaigns which lack substance, whilst
Crosby and Juran have criticised the naive use of quality circles. Company-specific
not Guru-specificFinally, of vital importance is the need to develop a company-specific
quality system. It is impossible to rely naively on lifting an approach out of
context. It is likely that different companies will have different priorities
and targets, since TQM is so fundamental and all-embracing. The Quality Gurus
have an important contribution to make to TQM, but it can only be planned and
driven by the senior management of the organisation itself. ![[Go to top of page]](http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/graphics/up.gif)
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