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considered in order to survive in this competitive environment. Almost everyone has the
experience of poor quality. Poor quality is intensified when employees are not empowered to
correct quality inadequacies or they are not willing to do so.
There are various ways of defining quality. Some of the most common definition of quality
are as follows:
Conformance to specifications: Measures how well the product or service meets the target
and tolerance determined by its designer (Crosby,1979)
Fitness for use: Focuses on how well the product performs its intended function or use (Juran,
1951).
Value for price paid: Is a definition of quality that consumers often use for products or service
usefulness (Garvin,1984)
A psychological criterion: Is a subject definition that focuses on the judgmental evaluate on
of what constitutes product or service quality (Garvin, 1984).
Quality assurance took quality from a slender perspective to a broader one. While quality
used to include only specialists, quality assurance involved management also. There has been
increasing awareness of quality among workforce and management. It is about the planned
and systematic actions needed to provide confidence that the requirement will be met. Quality
assurance systems are implemented in many departments of an organisation.
2.4.4 Quality development through TQM.
TQM involves the application of quality management principles to each and every aspect of a
business. An organisation passing through a total quality process would have a clear vision,
very few barriers, training, very good supplier and customer relationship. The realization of
the product does not only represent the quality of the product but that of the whole
organisation.
2.5.2 Leadership
Having a good leader provides a sense of direction to the organisation. A leader should create
an environment which ensures that the people are fully involved in achieving the
organization's goals. There should be effective communication to make sure that the
objectives are well understood. This will also lead to motivation.
By applying this approach, the organisation can improve its effectiveness and efficiency.
There will be alignment and integration of processes.
Continual improvement
This should be a permanent objective of a business. Management must strive continually
improving the effectiveness of the QMS.
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ISO 9001 is one among the range of ISO 9000 standards. The ISO 9001:2000 is being
replaced by the ISO 9001:2008. The aim of this standard is to provide QMS which is
beneficial to an organisation and helps in managing the business in an effective way.
The application of ISO 9001 standards according to Magd and Curry, 2003, is a way to
increase employee motivation and efficiency. This leads to constancy and reliability in the
business.
According to Wickramasuriya and Dharmasiri, the implementation of ISO 9000 standards is
among the approaches used to show the importance of quality management. In Sri Lanka
many companies are achieving the ISO certification. However this accreditation does not
necessarily reflects the certification's effect. The study indicates that issues like customer
oriented behavior, organisation culture, measurement and monitoring of process, employee
satisfaction are the main factor present in organisation, whereas factors like approach to
implementation of ISO standards, leadership and involvement of management, company
reputation and employees involvement have low presence. Employees have a strong
perception that ISO implementation and profitability are connected. According to the
discussion, if there is more concentration on low presence factors, the implementation will be
more effective and hence there will be improvement in the quality management system and
profitability as well.
According to Basir et al, (2011), organizational culture can have a significant impact on IS0
9000 standards. Both the technical and cultural requirements must be considered.
Quality certification might be important for competitiveness. Firms should focus on
development of standards for improving quality and thus increasing customer satisfaction.
This certification helps in achieving competitive advantage (Tari et al, 2010).
Dearing (2007) has discussed that ISO 9001 can have both benefits and costs. There are 3
fixed advantages of using ISO certification. The benefits are listed below:
Discipline
The requirement of ISO 9001 is that the quality system must be reviewed on a routine basis.
In case there is failure in maintaining the quality system, corrective actions are taken. There is
the risk of losing the certification.
Basics of a good quality system
The customer requirements are taken into consideration. The organisation ensures that they
can meet customer requirements hence providing customer satisfaction. Capable staffs are
employed so that the work is well done so as to achieve quality. If there are problems,
corrective measures are taken.
Marketing program
Having an ISO 9001 certification, customers can have faith that the products are of good
quality. Dearing (2007) disagrees that the certification makes the organisation a good
supplier. According to him, ISO 9001 reduces efforts to improve quality.
The weakness of ISO 9001 is its reliance on the 3rd party audits. The requirements do not
contribute to controlling quality. More than half of the requirements are overhead burden that
is they do not contribute directly to the improvement of quality.
2.9.1 Customer
The first feature is that the company focuses on its customers. The organisation has to
identify their customer needs and then fulfill them. Customer is among the most important
asset of an organisation. The success of an organisation depends on the customers. Therefore,
an organisation should examine their quality system on a regular basis to see if it is fulfilling
the ever-changing requirement over the customers (Besterfield et al, 2003)
In the past, business did not pay attention to customer satisfaction. They have realized that
customer satisfaction increases customer loyalty which brings profits (Bruhn & Grunh,
2001). Also, the risk of chances of switching to other brands due to poor quality is lower
according to Anderson & Fornell (2000).
Quality is customer driven. Products should be manufactured according to customer wants. A
main long-term advantage of TQM relates to customer satisfaction. Successful quality
management practices had a positive impact on customers' satisfaction. Quality management
practices that have been successfully adopted have a positive impact on customer satisfaction
level. The focus on customers also results in good business performance (Ranganathan, S. &
Mehra, S. 2008).
However, according to a study carried out by Bruce Han (2007), there is no direct
relationship between TQM and customer satisfaction. TQM increases organizational
competitiveness hence resulting in customer satisfaction.
Involvement of workforce
Employees' involvement is very important in the production of good and services. They are
the ones who contribute in the manufacturing of the goods hence meeting the organization's
goals. They should be motivated so that they give their best. Various ways can be used to
motivate them. TQM practices have an important aspect of effectively involving employees
in practices that lead to improvement in company performance (Mohrman et al., 1996). The
use of TQM practices can create a culture that encourages employees to work together across
the company, improve personal responsibility, and enhance a sense of accomplishment in job
tasks.
2.9.3.1 Training
It enables employees to perform better and empower them to optimize the use of their
abilities and capabilities. The purpose of training is to help an organization to achieve its
objectives by adding value to the people it employs. There is increase in job satisfaction and
productivity. Employees need good training so that they can identify and take corrective
actions against quality problems. They must know how to make assessment of quality by
using the quality control tools. They must know how to interpret the findings and the
corrective actions to be taken. Since TQM is an on-going process, training also should be the
same. TQM will be successful only if all employees are given training. But the top
management should be the one receiving training first (Crous M.J., & Vermeulen, W. 2000)
Employee empowerment
Another aspect of TQM is to authorize the employees so as to look for quality problems and
correct them. Employees are provided with incentives to identify problems unlike in the old
concept where they were scared of detecting problems. In the new concept, employees are
empowered to take decisions concerning quality. Their suggestion and contribution are
valued. They are given training. Employees are considered as the internal customers while
those purchasing the goods and services are known as the external customers
Suppliers
According to TQM, the suppliers also must meet the quality standards so that it is guaranteed
that quality materials are being supplied. If suppliers are delivering good quality hence there
is no need for inspection of the materials upon delivery, thus there will not be waste of time.
The better the quality being supplied, the better will be the position of the supplier. The
customer also will benefit from this as they will have a good quality product.
Conclusion:
Studies that have been carried out show that more and more businesses are recognizing the
importance of improving quality in order to survive in this worldwide competition. The
prevention of problems is better than taking corrective actions upon the manufacture of the
product. TQM does not happen abruptly. This is a long process. A quality system is one of the
tools of TQM. The ISO 9000 quality system is a phase towards TQM.
As seen in the past studies, emphasis is more on the impact of ISO and TQM on performance,
improvement of quality and so on. In other words, more importance was given to the benefits
of these quality systems. Some researchers have pointed out that despite these quality
systems, it is not necessary that the companies are providing good quality products or
services. For example as said by Dearing (2007) the ISO certification does not necessarily
makes a company a good supplier. According to him, ISO 9001 cuts the efforts to improve
quality as the customers know that since the company is ISO certified, their products must be
of good quality. According to Sousa-Posa et al (2009), TQM only talks about the presence of
QMS but its functionality is not guaranteed.
On the other hand, Matinez-Lorente and Martinez-Costa (2004) carried out a study to
determine whether TQM and ISO 9000 standards are complements or substitutes. Their study
showed that the application of TQM together with ISO 9000 standards did not show any
optimistic outcomes. The benefits would have been better if the system were functional
individually.
To summarize, the main objective of this research is to make an assessment on the quality
management practices at Palmar Limite (Mon-Loisir Unit). This literature shows the
different contexts that have been used by different authors to shed light on the quality
management principles.
IV. CASE: TQM JOURNEY
OF TATA STEEL
Tata Steel is among the top ten global steel companies
with a crude steel production capacity of 26.5 million
tones per annum (mtpa). Tata steel has been practicing
TQM since the late 1980s which was when the Tata
steel initiated several quality activities quality circle,
ISO certification, quality improvements using juran
methods, etc. The steel giant won the deming application
prize 2008 & deming grand prize (DGP) 2012 for
achieving distinctive performance improvement through
the application of total quality management. In 2000,
after winning the JRD QV Award, by going through the
deming process, Tata Steel discovered the deeper
meaning of TQM for achieve the next quantum jump in
performance and improvement. In 2005, Tata Steel
conducted a TQM diagnosis along with the JUSE team
for getting the status of TQM implementation in the
organization.
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Opinion: International Journal of Management
27
ISSN: 2277-4637 (Online) | ISSN: 2231-5470 (Print)
Opinion Vol. 3, No. 1, June 2013
Fig. 2
Road map for TQM Practice for
performance excellence
Strategic & Policy Management- Tata Steel is
committed towards sustainable development and
growth as an integral part of its business
philosophy. First adopting the Total Quality
Management (TQM) philosophy as a part of
Competitive Strategy was formally launched in the
company in late 1980. It started with massive
effort on education and training on TQM.
Daily Management - Daily Management is the
fundamental of TQM in Tata Steel. Its needs to
institutionalize processes leading to long term
substances to its performance. Daily management
provides the solid foundation for substance to Tata
Steel. The company established a standardized
approach for integrating daily management
VI. LEARNING
Compulsion of competitive business environment is not
merely to do well, but to do well than the
competitiveness. This challenging situation is compelling
industries to opt for new strategies leading to superior
performance: the goal of TQM system. This calls for
rethinking and reworking of an organizations existing
processes, position, posture and attitude with a view to
transforming the organization to enable it to cope with
the changing context of business, where customer is king.
TQM provides the vehicle for change and transformation
by making the organization more customers focused
people driven, flexible and committed to continuous
improvement.
The present study has resulted in the following
valuable lessons:
1. Globalization has thrown new challenges as well
the opportunities.
2. Implementation of TQM leads to improvement in
performance.
3. Culture is an important issue for the success of
TQM.
4. Awards models provide a roadmap, a framework
for excellent.
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Opinion: International Journal of Management
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ISSN: 2277-4637 (Online) | ISSN: 2231-5470 (Print)
Opinion Vol. 3, No. 1, June 2013
Fig. 3
Benefits of TQM System
VII. CONCLUSION
Continuous improvement is an integral part of culture in
Tata Steel. Tata Steel addresses all aspects of social,
environmental and economic performance like safety
and health of the people, resource conservation,
development of innovative products and processes,
value creation for all stakeholders and contributing to
the prosperity of the communities and nations. Tata Steel
Quality policies guide in its approach such that quality
principles and practices are applied throughout the
business using ISO9001, the global quality and customer
relationship standard. With the Tata Steel better
understanding of TQM on the Deming Application Prize
VIII. REFERENCES
1. AKAO, Y. and GLENNH, M., 2003, the leading
edge in QFD: past, present and future,
International Journal of Quality &Reliability
Management, Vol.20, No.1, pp.20-35.
2. AKKERMANS, H.A., BOGERD, P. and VOS,
B., 1999,Virtuous and vicious cycles on the road
towards international supply chain management,
International Journal of Operations and
Production Management, Vol.19, Nos.5-6,
pp.565-581.
3. ANDERSON, G.E., 1993, Shouldnt You Own
Your Future? Linking Education to skills in Quality
Organization, ASQC Quality Press, and
Milwaukee, WI.
4. BEMOWSKI, K., 1991, Restoring the Pillars
of Higher Education, Quality Progress, Vol.24,
No.10, pp.37-42.
5. BRITISH STANDARD, BS 5750: Part 1:
1992,BSI, 1992, Guidance Notes for the
Application of BS 5750 to Education and
Training, British Standard Institute, London.
1997, Measuring up against the 1997 Baldrige
criteria, The Journal for Quality and Participation,
Vol.20, No.4, pp.22-28.
6. Bowen, D.E. (1986), Managing customers and
human resources in service organizations. Human
Resources Management: 253-384
7. Buckely, A. (1996). The essence of Total Quality
Management. John Bank. Prentice Hall of India.
8. Carothers Jr., G.H. (1986). Future Organizations
of Change. Survey of business: 16-17.
9. Casey, R/(1992). Non-traditional view of
customer satisfaction-A study of the
Sumit Sehrawat***
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Opinion: International Journal of Management
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ISSN: 2277-4637 (Online) | ISSN: 2231-5470 (Print)
Opinion Vol. 3, No. 1, June 2013
27
ISSN: 2277-4637 (Online) | ISSN: 2231-5470 (Print)
Opinion Vol. 3, No. 1, June 2013
Fig. 2
Road map for TQM Practice for
performance excellence
Strategic & Policy Management- Tata Steel is
committed towards sustainable development and
growth as an integral part of its business
philosophy. First adopting the Total Quality
Management (TQM) philosophy as a part of
Competitive Strategy was formally launched in the
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press Deming's philosophy of management: specifically, they break down the need for a
working understanding of basic quality management system statistical principles. In addition
to Deming's 14 points, he also outlined Seven Deadly Diseases, which describe the most
serious barriers that management potentially faces within an organization. Outlined below are
his Seven Deadly Diseases of Management, as well as an explanation of each.
easier, at it typically involves the cutting of any expense related to the long term: training,
quality assurance management, maintenance, etc.
3. Personal review systems, or evaluation of performance, merit rating, annual review,
etc. for people in management, the effects of which are devastating.
Management by objective, on a go / no-go basis, without a method for accomplishment of the
objective, is the same thing as management by fear. The essential problem with merit systems
is that they reward results rather than process improvement - results will almost always have
a lot of system luck mixed in. Some managers want to reward people who cooperate more or
who seem to have better attitudes, and will insist that they can recognize the people who are
most cooperative and have the highest work ethic. Instead, managers should understand that
the best way to develop cooperation is by focusing on the nature of work environment, not
monetary rewards.
5. Use of visible figures only for management, with little or no consideration of figures
that are unknown or unknowable. Some facts are simply unknowable. Knowing this,
Deming insisted that leaders must still make decisions and manage a situation. This leads to a
basic dilemma
How do you know what would have happened if you had kept on your
prior course?
How do you put a dollar value on the customer loyalty won through quality
improvement efforts?
You can't, because these numbers are unknowable - and this must be taken into consideration.
6. Excessive Medical Costs. For the economy as a whole, health care as a percentage of
overall expenditures has steadily risen for decades, which gradually pushes numerous
businesses into a state of crisis. Potentially the only remedy for this disease would be a
political system attempting to reform health care.
7. Excessive costs of liability. W. Edwards Deming blamed America's lawyers
in part for the problems of American business. The US has more lawyers per
capita than any other country in the world, and they spend much of their
professional time finding people to sue. Like health care costs in #6, Deming
believed the remedy to this disease will probably have to come from the
government.