CHAPTER 31 Total QualityManagementJohn Oakland

All companies compete on three main factors: quality, delivery and price. There can be fewsenior managers in the West who remain to be convinced that quality is the most importantof these. Consumers now place a higher value on quality than on loyalty to their home-based producers. Price has been replaced by quality as the main determining factor inconsumer choice in industrial, service, hospitality, and many other markets.

Quality

Quality is one of the most commonly misunderstood words in management. What is a high-quality pair of shoes or a high-quality bank account? It is meaningless to make statementsabout the degree of quality of a product or service without reference to its intended use orpurpose. Ballet shoes would obviously have different requirements from those used inmountaineering, but both pairs of shoes may have the same level of quality – they areequally suitable for the purpose for which they were manufactured. Quality can therefore bedefined as the extent to which a product or service meets the requirements of the customer.

Before any discussion on quality can take place, it is therefore necessary to be clear aboutthe purpose of the product or service. In other words: what are the customer’s requirements?

The quality of a product has two distinct but inter-related aspects:

1 Quality of design – This is a measure of how well the product or service is designedto achieve its stated purpose. If it is poor, the product will not work or the service willnot meet the needs.

2 Quality of conformance to design – What the customer receives should conform tothe design. This is concerned largely with the quality performance of the operationsfunctions. The recording and analysis of data play a significant role in this aspect ofquality, and it is here that the tools of statistical process control must be appliedeffectively (see Chapters 8 and 17–19).

It is vital to realize that the customer’s perception of quality will change with time. Theorganization’s attitude to quality must therefore change in tandem with this perception.The skills and attitudes of the producer are also likely to change. Failure to monitor suchchanges will lead to dissatisfied customers. Quality, like all other corporate matters, must bereviewed continually in the light of current circumstances.

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A traditional misconception of quality management

Traditionally, quality has been regarded mainly as the responsibility of the quality control(QC) department.

There is a belief in some quarters that to achieve quality, we must check, test, inspect ormeasure – the ritual pouring on of quality at the end of the process. This is nonsense, but itis frequently practised. In the office, one finds staff checking other people’s work before itgoes out, validating computer input data, checking invoices, typing, and so on. There is alsoquite a lot of looking for things, checking why things are late, apologizing to customers forlateness and so forth. Waste, waste, waste!

Reliance on a high level of final or service inspection is often indicative of attempts to‘inspect in’ quality. The traditional attempt at a remedy for poor quality was to employ moreinspectors, tighten up standards and develop correction, repair and rework teams. But thisapproach promotes a detection approach to quality, rather than the more effective prevention.

THE FAILURE MULTIPLIER

Failures, in the form of poor quality and errors, have a way of multiplying so that one failureleads to more errors and problems elsewhere in the system. People in business then spendmuch of their time correcting errors, looking for things, checking why things are late,rectifying, chasing, reworking, apologizing to customers and so forth.

It is estimated that about one-third of all effort expended in businesses is wasted becauseof this failure multiplier effect, which means that the total cost to a nation’s economy isenormous. Moreover, this is likely to be an underestimate because organizations rarely havea proper measure of how much profit they are losing through poor quality.

Competitiveness is seriously eroded by the costs associated with this organization-widefailure. The total cost to the organization is even higher when one considers the cost of allthose things which could have been done in the time saved by getting it right first time.

The Total Quality Management approach

Many quality problems originate not in the manufacturing or operations areas of acompany, but in the marketing, service, finance, personnel and administration functions.Quality cannot be ‘inspected in’ as a final, isolated function at the end of a process orsequence of processes. Quality – the quest for customer satisfaction – must be designed intoall the organization’s systems and instilled into all its employees.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a way of managing to improve the effectiveness,efficiency, flexibility and competitiveness of a business as a whole. It involves wholecompanies getting organized and becoming committed to quality in each department, eachactivity and each person, at each level. TQM recognizes that for an organization to be trulyeffective, each of its parts must work smoothly with the other parts, because every personand every activity affects and in turn is affected by others.

TQM is also a method of removing waste, by involving everyone in improving the waysin which things are done. The techniques of TQM can be applied throughout a company,so that people from different departments, with different priorities and abilities,communicate with and help each other. The methods are equally useful in finance, sales,

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marketing, design, accounts, research, development, purchasing, personnel, computerservices, distribution, stores and production.

TQM helps companies to:

• focus clearly on the needs of their markets• achieve a top-quality performance in all areas, not just in product or service quality• operate the simple procedures necessary for the achievement of a quality performance• critically and continually examine all processes to remove non-productive activities and

waste• see the improvements required and develop measures of performance• understand fully and in detail their competition, and develop an effective competitive

strategy• develop the team approach to problem-solving, develop good procedures for

communication and acknowledgement of good work• continually review the processes to develop the strategy of never-ending improvement.

TQM is not simply a cost-cutting or productivity improvement device, and it must not beused as such. Although the effects of a successful programme will certainly include thesebenefits, TQM is concerned chiefly with changing attitudes and skills so that the culture ofthe organization becomes one of preventing failure, and the norm that of operating rightfirst time.

Systems and techniques are important in TQM, but they are not the primaryrequirement. It is more an attitude of mind, a culture based on pride in the job andrequiring total commitment from management – commitment which must then beextended to all employees at all levels and in all departments.

THE QUALITY CHAINS

One of the most widely accepted definitions of quality is ‘meeting the customer’srequirements’. Perhaps ‘delighting the customer’ is a better objective. The ability to meetcustomers’ requirements and then go on to delight them is vital. This is true not onlybetween two separate organizations, but also between different parts within theorganization itself. There exists in every department, every office, a series of suppliers andcustomers.

Throughout and beyond all organizations, whether they be manufacturing concerns,banks, retail stores, universities, hotels or other service suppliers, there is a series of qualitychains (Figure 31.1). These chains can be broken at any point if one person or one piece ofequipment fails to meet the requirements of the next immediate customer in the chain,internal or external. It is interesting to note that failure at any link in the chain often findsits way to the interface between the organization and its outside customers, and the peoplewho operate at that interface usually suffer the ramifications.

A great deal is written and spoken about employee motivation as a separate issue. Animportant element of motivation, and the key to quality, is for everyone in the organizationto have well-defined customers and suppliers. The demands of customers and the abilitiesof suppliers throughout the chain – internal and external – must be well defined. And itmust be understood that customers and suppliers include anyone to whom an individualgives or receives a part, service or information.

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Some people in customer organizations never see, touch or experience the products orservices that their companies buy, but they do see things like suppliers’ invoices and otherdocuments. If one of those invoices carries errors, what image of quality does that suppliertransmit? Clearly, quality must involve everyone in the organization.

MEETING THE CUSTOMER’S REQUIREMENTS

Because the minimum quality standard is to meet the customer’s requirements, qualitymanagement has wide implications. The requirements may include availability, delivery,reliability, maintainability and cost-effectiveness, among many other features. Whethercustomers are outside the organization or in another part of the same organization, theirsatisfaction must be the principal ingredient in any plan for success.

The first thing to do is to find out what the requirements are. When dealing with asupplier–customer relationship that crosses two organizations, the supplier must establish a‘marketing’ activity charged with this task. The marketers must, of course, understand notonly the needs of the customer, but also the ability of their own organization to meet thosedemands. Then, when all the specified requirements are met, steps can be taken towardsdelighting the customer by anticipating the requirements.

The transfer of information regarding requirements along the quality chains isfrequently poor, particularly within organizations. Sometimes, it is totally absent.

To maintain a wave of interest in quality, and therefore to maintain quality itself, it isnecessary to develop generations of managers who not only understand, but are dedicatedto the pursuit of, never-ending improvement. This philosophy of continuous improvementrequires that an organization should review continuously its customers’ requirements(internal and external) and its ability to meet them.

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Figure 31.1 The quality chains

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PREVENTION, NOT DETECTION

Every day, in countless organizations, people examine the results of the day’s work and startthe ritual battle to determine whether or not the output is suitable for transfer to the‘customer’. They argue and debate the evidence before them, the rights and wrongs of theirinterpretation of the customer’s requirements, and each tries to convince the other of thevalidity of their argument. This ritual is associated with trying to answer the question:

Have we done the job correctly?

‘Correctly’, in this context, is often a flexible word. It can depend on the interpretationgiven to the customer’s specification on that particular day.

The process just described is not quality control. It is detection – post-production,wasteful detection of bad product or service before it hits the customer.

To get away from the natural tendency to rush into the detection mode, it is necessaryto ask different questions in the first place. We should not ask whether the job has beendone correctly; we should ask first:

Are we capable of doing the job correctly?

This question has wide implications, and TQM is devoted largely to the activities necessaryto ensure that the answer is ‘Yes.’ We should realize straight away, however, that this answerwill only be obtained using satisfactory methods, materials, equipment, skills andinstruction, and a ‘process’ which is capable.

Process capability and control

A process is the transformation of a set of inputs – which can include actions, methods andoperations – into desired outputs, in the form of products, information, services or,generally, results. There will be many processes taking place in each area or function of anorganization. All work is done through a process in which inputs are transformed intooutputs (Figure 31.2).

Once it has been established that processes are capable of meeting the requirements, thenext question must be asked:

Are we continuing to do the job correctly?

This requires that the process and the current control methods be monitored.If the first question (‘Have we done the job correctly?’) is now re-examined, we can see

that provided we have been able to answer the other two questions with a ‘yes’, we musthave done the job correctly. No other outcome would be logical. By asking the questions inthe right order, we have removed the need to ask the ‘inspection’ question, and replaced astrategy of detection with one of prevention. This concentrates attention on the front endof any process – the inputs and the process itself. It changes the emphasis of making surethat the inputs are capable of meeting the requirements of the process, and that thetransformation process is understood and controlled. These ideas apply to every

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transformation process, which must be subjected to the same scrutiny of the methods, thepeople, skills, equipment and so on, to make sure they are correct for the job.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Clearly, the control of quality can take place only at the point of operation or production –where the letter is typed or the chemical made. The act of inspection is not quality control.When the answer to ‘Have we done the job correctly?’ is given indirectly by answering thequestions on capability and control, then quality is assured. The activity of checkingbecomes one of quality assurance – making certain that the product or service represents theoutput from an effective system for ensuring capability and control. The unacceptablealternative is an organization in which barriers between departmental empires encouragetesting and checking of products and services in isolation, without meaningful interactionwith other departments.

The author has a vision of quality as a strategic business management function that willhelp organizations to change their cultures. To make this vision a reality, qualityprofessionals must expand the application of quality concepts and techniques to all businessprocesses and functions, and develop new forms of providing assurance of quality at everysupplier–customer interface.

Commitment and attitude to quality

To succeed, TQM must be truly organization-wide. It must start at the top with the chiefexecutive and the most senior directors and management, who must all demonstrate that

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Figure 31.2 A process

Process

Feedback

Voice of thecustomer

Outputs

Products

Services

Information

Paperwork

CUSTOMER

SUPPLIER

Inputs

Materials

Procedures

Methods

Information(including

specifications)

People

Skills

Knowledge

Training

Plant andequipment

Voice of theprocess

Feedback

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they are serious about quality. Management’s commitment must be obsessional, not just lip-service. Clear quality objectives must be set out in a quality policy statement.

If the chief executive of an organization accepts the responsibility for and commitmentto a quality policy, understands what he or she is committed to, and articulates anddemonstrates that commitment, the impact will be much greater than anything that thebest quality manager could ever hope to achieve. This action by the chief executive in turncreates responsibilities for interaction between the marketing design, producing,purchasing, distribution, accounting and other service functions. These basic changes ofattitude are required at all levels and in every department, starting at the top, to operateTQM. If the owners or directors of the organization do not recognize and accept theirresponsibilities for the initiation and operation of TQM, these essential changes will nothappen.

Middle management have a particularly important role to play. They must not onlygrasp the principles of TQM; they must go on to explain them to the people for whom theyare responsible and ensure that their own commitment is communicated. Only then willTQM spread effectively throughout the organization. Senior management must also ensurethat the efforts and achievements of their subordinates obtain the recognition, attentionand reward that they deserve. It cannot be said too often that TQM must involve everyonein all departments.

It is possible to detect real commitment – or the lack of it. It shows on the shop floor, inthe offices – at the point of operation. One is quickly able to detect the falseness in thoseorganizations where posters campaigning for quality are displayed but are not backed up bycommitment. People are told not to worry if quality problems arise: ‘Just do the best youcan’, ‘That will be all right’ or ‘Let’s hope the customer will not notice.’

In contrast, in a company where total quality means something, it can be seen, heardand felt. Things happen at each operating interface as a result of real commitment. Materialproblems are corrected with suppliers, equipment difficulties are put right by improvedmaintenance programmes or replacement, people are trained, change takes place.

TQM is concerned with moving the focus of control from outside the individual towithin, the objective being to make everyone accountable for their own performance, andto get them committed to attaining quality in a highly motivated fashion. The assumptionsa director or manager must make in order to move in this direction are simply that peopledo not need to be coerced to perform well, but that they want to achieve, accomplish,influence activity, and simply need to have their abilities challenged.

Total Quality Management is user-driven. It cannot be imposed from outside theorganization, as perhaps a quality management system, standard or statistical processcontrol can be. This means that the ideas for improvement must come from those with theknowledge and experience of the methods and techniques.

The shift in ‘philosophy’ will require considerable staff training in many organizations.Not only must people in other functions acquire quality-related skills, but quality personnelwill need to change old attitudes and acquire new skills – replacing the inspection,calibration, specification-writing mentality with knowledge of defect prevention, wide-ranging quality management systems design, and audit. Clearly, the challenge for manyquality professionals is not so much making changes in their organization, as recognizingthe changes which are required in themselves. It is more than an overnight job to changethe attitudes of an inspection police force into those of a consultative, team-orientedimprovement force. This emphasis on prevention and improvement-based systems elevates

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the role of quality professionals from a technical one to that of general management. Anarrow, departmental view of quality is totally out of place in an organization aspiring toTQM, and old-style quality managers will need to widen their perspective and increase theirknowledge to encompass all facets of the organization.

Introducing the concepts of ‘operator’ self-inspection needed for TQM will require notonly a determination to implement change, but also sensitivity and skills in managinghuman resources. Of course, this will depend very much on the climate within theorganization. Those whose management is truly concerned with co-operation and concernfor people will engage strong employee support for the quality manager or director in his orher catalytic role in the implementation process. Those with aggressive, confrontationalmanagement will create impossible difficulties for the quality professional in obtainingsupport from the ‘rank and file’.

The basic building blocks of a TQM model are:

• the desire to achieve a TQM culture• recognition of the need for excellent communications• acceptance of the importance of total commitment• core recognition of the supplier/customer chains and of the transforming processes

which constitute all work.

While culture, communications and commitment are highly desirable, they are notimmediately accessible to an organization. They represent the ‘soft components’ of the TQMmodel. Attention must now be turned to the ‘hard parts’ of the model: those necessities onwhich one can operate directly in order to achieve the less accessible soft outcomes.

The three hard components of TQM

In addition to the management commitment, the communications and the culturerequired, which have already been discussed at some length, there are three main hardcomponents of TQM:

1 a documented quality management system2 quality management tools and techniques3 teamwork and people.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Consistency can only be achieved if it is ensured that for every product or each time aservice is performed, the same materials, the same equipment, the same methods orprocedures are used every time in the most effective and efficient way. This is the aim of awell-documented quality management system – to provide the ‘operator’ with consistencyand satisfaction in terms of methods, materials and equipment.

The ISO 9000 series of standards sets out the methods by which a management system,incorporating all the activities associated with quality, can be implemented in anorganization to ensure that all the specified performance requirements and needs of thecustomer are fully met.

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Although this standard was originally directed towards manufacturing, it is equallyapplicable to non-manufacturing. Of course, seeking to delight customers with a product isnot the same thing as seeking to delight with a service – not least because the customer’srequirements of a service are often clarified only during the delivery of the service.

The quality management system must always be implemented in a way which meets thespecific organizational and product or service requirements. The system then requires auditand review to ensure that:

1 the people involved are operating according to the documented system (a system audit)2 the system still meets the requirements (a system review).

If during the system audits and reviews it is discovered that an even better product or lesswaste can be achieved by changing the method or one of the materials, then a change maybe effected. To maintain consistency, the appropriate changes must be made to thedocumented system, and everyone concerned must be issued with and adhere to the revisedprocedures.

QUALITY TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

All processes can be monitored and improved by gathering and using data more effectively.Statistical process control (SPC) methods, backed by management commitment and goodorganization, provide objective means of controlling quality in any transformation process,whether it is used in the manufacture of artefacts, the provision of services, or the transferof information. The techniques of SPC are described in Chapters 8 and 17–19, but it is usefulto say something here about SPC in the context of TQM.

SPC is not only a toolkit; it is a strategy for reducing variability, the cause of most qualityproblems: variation in products, in delivery times, in ways of doing things, in materials, inpeople’s attitudes, in equipment and its use, in maintenance practices – in fact, ineverything. Control by itself is not sufficient.

Incapable and inconsistent processes render the best design impotent, and makesupplier quality assurance irrelevant. Whatever process is being operated, it must be reliableand consistent. SPC can be used to achieve this objective. Other tools may be required, forexample to assist in defining the process, to develop quality costing, to design experiments,to study failure mode and effect, to manage design and development, and so on. These toolscomplement the SPC tools. The philosophy of never-ending improvement requires anattack on variability. SPC is a vital element in this attack.

Variability reduction is brought about by studying all aspects of the process using thebasic question:

Could we do this job more consistently and on target?

The answer to this question drives the search for improvements. This significant feature ofSPC means that it is not constrained to measuring conformance, and that it is intended tolead to action to minimize variability, notwithstanding that the processes are alreadyoperating within their ‘specified limits’.

Changing an organization’s environment into one in which SPC and the other tools canoperate properly may take several years, rather than months. For many companies, SPC will

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bring a new approach, a new ‘philosophy’, but the importance of the statistical techniquesshould not be disguised. Simple presentation of data using diagrams, graphs and chartsshould become the means of communication concerning the state of control of processes inall areas.

In the application of quality tools, there is often an emphasis on techniques rather thanon the implied wider managerial strategies. It is worth repeating that SPC is not only aboutplotting charts on the walls of a plant or office; it must become part of the organization-wide adoption of TQM, and act as the focal point of never-ending improvement.

TEAMWORK AND PEOPLE

The complexity of most of the processes which are operated in industry, commerce and theservices places them beyond the control of any one individual. The only way to tackleproblems concerning such processes is through some form of teamwork. The use of the teamapproach to problem-solving has many advantages over allowing individuals or isolateddepartments to work separately on problems:

• The problems are exposed to a greater diversity of knowledge, skill and experience.• The approach is more satisfying to team members, and boosts morale.• The problems at cross-departmental or functional boundaries can be dealt with more

easily.• A greater variety of problems can be tackled, including those beyond the capability of

any one individual or department.• Recommendations by the team are more likely to be implemented than suggestions by

individuals.

Most of these rely on the premise that people are willing to support an effort in which theyhave taken part or helped to develop.

When properly managed, teams improve the process of problem-solving, producingresults quickly and economically. Teamwork throughout an organization is an essentialcomponent of the implementation of TQM, for it builds trust, improves communicationsand develops interdependence. Much of what has been taught previously in managementhas led to a culture of independence with little sharing of ideas and information. Teamworkdevoted to quality improvement changes the independence to interdependence throughimproved communications, greater trust and the free exchange of ideas, data andknowledge.

Employees will not be motivated towards continual improvement in the absence of:

• commitment to quality from the management• the organizational quality ‘climate’• a team approach to quality problems.

All these are focused essentially on enabling people to feel, accept and dischargeresponsibility. TQM organizations have made this a part of their quality strategy – to‘empower people to act’. Empowerment is very easy to express conceptually, but it requireseffort and commitment on the part of all managers and supervisors to put it into practice.A good way to start is to recognize that only partially successful but good ideas or attempts

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are to be applauded, not criticized. Encouragement of ideas and suggestions from theworkforce – particularly through their involvement in team or group activities – requiresinvestment, but the rewards are total involvement, both inside the organization and outsidethrough all the supplier and customer chains.

DEVELOPING THE HARD COMPONENTS OF TQM

The aim of TQM is to achieve the active involvement of everyone in quality improvementand satisfying customers’ requirements. These requirements are constantly changing ascustomers’ expectations increase over time. The components of TQM must develop,therefore, if this moving target is to be hit. Tools and techniques are not set in tablets ofstone, and should themselves be subject to the process of never-ending improvement.

An example of this has been the lively debate in recent years about the role of qualitymanagement systems such as ISO 9000 in TQM. Unfortunately, many companies havesought approval to ISO 9000 for contractual reasons only – not because they have theessential commitment to TQM. Such organizations have missed an opportunity to lay a firmfoundation for TQM.

The principles of quality systems can also be applied to safety, health and theenvironment. Forward-looking organizations now audit their procedures against therequirements of quality, safety, health and the environment.

The quality tools are also undergoing continuous development. New developments inthe field of quality costing (process cost modelling), benchmarking and TQM performance-based measurement present exciting opportunities. Metrics need to be developed thatmeasure the organization’s non-achievement of quality.

Measurement of TQM progress is an important area. Many organizations are usingcriteria such as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Scheme, the EuropeanExcellence Award or the UK Business Excellence Award criteria (Figure 31.3) as an evaluativeand diagnostic to measure TQM progress (see Chapter 26).

The concept of continuous improvement creates a need for the imaginative use anddevelopment of the components of TQM. The TQM model (Figure 31.4) incorporates manywell-established tools, systems and techniques. The development and improvement of theseare vital to the success of TQM.

Implementing TQM

Consider these quotations:

Total quality management (TQM) is dead, long live business process re-engineering(BPR)!

ISO 9000 is too costly/narrow focused, you should carry out self-assessment to theEuropean Business Excellence or Baldrige Quality Award models.

Statistical process control (SPC), failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA), design ofexperiments (DOE), and benchmarking – these are things you should be using.

And what about measurement, culture change, teamwork, quality circles, continuousimprovement, and so on and so forth?

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Figure 31.4 Total Quality Management model

Figure 31.3 The EQFM excellence model

Enablers Results

Innovation and learning

Leadership ProcessesKey

performanceresults

Partnershipsand resources

Policy andstrategy

People

Society results

Customerresults

Peopleresults

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No wonder people are confused and irritated by the conflicting messages (andcombination of letters) they now receive from consultants, academics, business leaders andeven politicians about what they should do to improve the performance of theirorganization.

To try to get some of these things into sensible proportions and shape, OaklandConsulting plc has carried out a great deal of research, teaching and advisory work. Thepeople we speak to are often confused and in urgent need of a framework to pull this lottogether, and it is probably no different in your organization. This section attempts toprovide that framework – a blueprint for total organizational excellence.

Firstly, TQM is not dead, and is not the very narrow set of tools and techniques oftenassociated with failed ‘programmes’ in organizations in various parts of the world. It is partof a broad-based approach used by world-class companies, such as Rank Xerox, HewlettPackard, Milliken, ICL, TNT and Texas Instruments, to achieve organizational excellence,based on customer satisfaction, the highest weighted category of all the quality and businessexcellence awards. Total Quality Management embraces all of the areas mentioned so far. Ifused properly, and fully integrated into the business, this approach will help anyorganization deliver its goals, targets and strategy, including those in the public sector. Thisis because it is about people and their identifying, understanding, managing and improvingprocesses – the things any organization has to do particularly well to achieve its objectives.Everything we do in any business or organization is a process.

The overall framework for total organizational excellence is shown in Figure 31.5. It allstarts with the vision, goals, strategies and mission, which must be fully thought through,agreed and shared in the business. What follows determines whether these are achieved. The

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Figure 31.5 The framework for TQM implementation

Education, training, and development

Continuous improvement

Measurement ofprogress

Peopledevelopment

Defineopportunities

forimprovement

Benchmarking(process

capability)

Businessprocess

re-engineering

Visualize ideal

processes

Decideprocesspriorities

Self-assessment

(gap analysis)

Critical success factors

and KPIs

ISO 9000

Process analysis

Core processes

Mission

Organizationvision, goals

and strategies

Feedback

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factors which are critical to success, the CSFs – the building blocks of the mission – mustthen be identified. The key performance indicators (KPIs), the measures associated with theCSFs, tell us whether we are moving towards or away from the mission, or just standing still.

Having identified the CSFs and KPIs, the organization must know what are its coreprocesses. This is an area of potential bottleneck for many organizations because, if the coreprocesses are not understood, the rest of the framework is difficult to implement. If theprocesses are known, we can carry out process analysis, sometimes called mapping andflowcharting, to fully understand our business and identify opportunities for improvement.ISO 9000 standard-based systems should drop out at this stage, rather than needing aseparate and huge effort and expense.

Self-assessment to the European/UK Business Excellence or Baldrige Quality models, andbenchmarking, will identify further improvement opportunities. This will create a very longlist of things to attend to, many of which require people development, training andeducation. What is clearly needed next is prioritization, to identify those processes whichare run pretty well – they may be advertising/promoting the business orrecruitment/selection processes – and subject them to a continuous improvement regime.Those processes which are identified as being poorly carried out, perhaps forecasting,training, or even financial management, may be subjected to a complete re-visioning andredesign activity. That is where business process re-engineering comes in. What musthappen to all processes, of course, is performance measurement, the results of which feedback to our benchmarking and strategic planning activities.

World-class organizations, of which there need to be more in most countries, are doingall of these things. They have implemented their version of the TQM framework, and areachieving world-class performance and results. What this requires first, of course, is world-class leadership and commitment.

Conclusion

One of the greatest benefits of improved quality is the increased market share that results,rather than just the reduction in quality costs. The evidence for this can already be seen insome of the major consumer and industrial markets of the world. Superior quality can alsobe converted into premium prices. Quality thus clearly correlates with profit. The lesstangible benefit of greater employee involvement in quality is equally – if not more –important in the longer term. The pursuit of continual improvement must become a way oflife for everyone in an organization if it is to succeed in today’s competitive environment.

TQM is an operational philosophy which is vital to the survival of most organizationsthroughout the world. European industries can learn from the Japanese experience anddevelop new ideas. Being second in applying new management techniques is not always adisadvantage. Later, fresh, well-informed and well-trained entries to the field can oftenoutpace the existing players.

Further reading

BQF, Guide to the Excellence Model, London, 2000.Deming, W.D., The New Economics, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993.

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EFQM, The European Excellence Model, European Federation for Quality Managers, Brussels, 2000.Oakland, J.S., Statistical Process Control, 4th edn, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1999.Oakland, J.S., Total Organisational Excellence, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1999.Oakland, J.S., Total Quality Management: Text with Cases, 2nd edn, Butterworth-Heinemann,

Oxford, 2000.

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