English Skill III.

Topic: The roles of TQM for business applied in

different aspects and its downside effects.

Content:
A. Introduction
B. Body
I. The overview of TQM
II. The roles of TQM for business applied in different
aspects
III. The downside effects of TQM
C. Conclusion

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A. Introduction
Nowadays, together with the fast globalization, the competition in business has
become more and more cutthroat. To survive in the market and develop, businesses have
to care much about the quality and satisfy their customers at the highest level. The quality
needs to be the first priority of any businesses. This requires businesses to have a full plan
for all organizational functions (marketing, finance, design, production, customer
service,...). To solve this problem, many businesses have chosen and applied TQM (Total
Quality Management) as their best choice. And in fact, TQM with its objective “Do the
right thing, right the first time” has helps many companies and economic organizations to
win the customer’s will and hold the market share. In this writing we will give you some
knowledge about TQM.

B. Body
I. The overview of TQM
1. The definition of TQM
TQM by Edwards Deming is a management philosophy which seeks to integrate
all organizational functions (marketing, finance, design, engineering, production,
customer service …) to focus on meeting customer needs and organizational objectives.
It views organizations as a collection of processes. It maintains that organizations
must strive to continuously improve these processes by incorporating the knowledge and
experiences of workers.
2. Some characteristics of TQM
a. Target:
In TQM, the most important target to achieve is Quality; Quality policy must be set
toward customer. Meeting customer's needs mean satisfying every customer requirement
but not trying to reach some quality standards set before. Never stop innovating - never
stop perfecting the quality is one of the most important principles of TQM.
b. Scope:

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To ensure the quality of service and product, TQM system requires the extending
of production process to suppliers and sub-contractors. Normally, the trading of material
in production may account for 70% of final product cost (depend on types of product).
Therefore, to ensure the quality of the input material, it is necessary to set up specific
standards for each type of material to control its quality. It is also necessary to change the
method of placing order to make it suitable with the production process.
c. Form:
In stead of controlling the quality of the finished product (after production), TQM
sets up plans and programs to supervise and prevent problems right before the production
process. Statistical tools are used to supervise, quantitatively analyze the results as well as
factors affecting the quality, consider the reasons and take appropriate prevention
methods.
d. Basis of TQM system:
The basis of TQM practice in the company is Human. Talking about quality,
people usually think about the product quality. But it is the quality of employees that is
the main concern of TQM. Of the three factors of Business, which are hard factor
(machines, equipments, money...), Soft factor (methods, secrets, information...) and
Human factor, Human is of the first concern to TQM.
The basic principle for implementation of TQM is that the qualification of employees is
developed fully and integratedly through training, delegation and assignment.
e. Organization:
TQM system is cross organized and functioned in order to manage, integratedly
corporate with different activities of the system and facilitate group working. The
implementation of TQM requires the participation of high and middle level managers. A
proper organization will help duties to be assigned clearly. Thus, TQM needs new
management model, with different characteristics from the previous model.
II. The roles of TQM for business applied in different aspects
1. TQM and Process improvement

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The application of Total Quality Management helps in streamlining processes, and
ensures a proactive work system ready to counter deviations from the ideal state. What
are some of the major benefits of Total Quality Management?
The major thrust of Total Quality Management (TQM) is to achieve productivity
and process efficiency by identifying and eliminating problems in work processes and
systems. TQM addresses key problem areas such as mistakes in work processes,
redundant processes, unnecessary tasks, and duplicate efforts. TQM interventions also
help with predicting and pre-empting such mistakes and unproductive activities.
Improving process efficiency brings about many benefits to the organizations in
terms of costs and time.
The major benefits of TQM in terms of cost savings include:
• elimination of non-confirmation and repetitive work
• elimination of waste costs and reject products
• elimination of repairs and reworks
• reduced warranty and customer support costs
• process efficiency leading to improved profit per product or service
• fiscal discipline through elimination of unnecessary steps and wasteful expenditure
TQM frees up management time from redressing problems and directs
management time and effort to:
• increase production
• extend the range of products
• improve existing products
2. TQM and Customer Satisfaction
A major long-term benefit of Total Quality Management relates to customer
satisfaction. TQM aims at improving quality, and identifies the best measure of quality as
matching customer expectations in terms of service, product, and experience. TQM
interventions quantify problems and aim to achieve the best state defined in terms of such
customer expectations.
Some examples of the application of Total Quality Management to improve
customer satisfaction include:

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• Reduction of waiting time by changing the method of appointment scheduling or
client handling
• Making changes to the delivery process so that the product reaches the customer
faster
• Better quality products requiring no repairs improving customer loyalty
3. TQM and Organizational Development
Among the major benefits of Total Quality Management is improvement in
Organizational Development. TQM heralds a change in the work culture by educating all
employees on quality and making quality the concern of everybody, not just the Quality
Control department. The focus on quality leads to a proactive work culture aimed at
preventing mistakes rather than correcting mistakes.
Total Quality Management’s focus on teamwork leads to the formation of cross-
departmental teams and cross-functional knowledge sharing. Such interventions lead to
many benefits such as:
• Improvement in communication skills of individual employees and overall
organizational communication
• Knowledge sharing, resulting in deepening and broadening of knowledge and skill-
set of team members, and the making of a Learning Organization
• Flexibility for the organization in deploying personnel, contributing to rightsizing,
and ensuring cost competitiveness.
Another benefit of Total Quality Management is that TQM promotes the concept
of internal customer/supplier satisfaction.
4. TQM and Human Resources
A major application of benefits of Total Quality Management relate to Human
Resource Management. Application of TQM in an organization brings about the
following benefits to the Human Resources of an organization:
- TQM extends the ownership of the business process to each employee involved
in the process by empowering them to rectify mistakes on the spot without supervisor
review or action. This generates intrinsic motivation and creates an atmosphere of
enthusiasm and satisfaction among the workforce.

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- TQM’s thrust on eliminating mistakes and improving productivity contributes to
accomplishment of targets faster. The resultant free time allows employees to enhance
their knowledge and apply their creativity to improve existing products and develop new
products.
- TQM’s thrust on quality leads to identifying skill-deficiencies in employees and
providing training and other interventions to bridge such deficiencies. Cross-functional
and cross-departmental teams allow employees to share their experience and solve issues
jointly, leading to benefits such as broadening skill-sets, and improvement of existing
skills.
- TQM’s focus on eliminating mistakes and bringing about process efficiency
heralds a direct approach such as counseling and other remedial actions to solve issues
such as absenteeism.
- The enhanced productivity brought about by TQM translates to better profits for
the organization, and consequently better wages.
5. TQM and Competitive Advantage
The application of Total Quality Management brings forth all-round benefits and
makes the organization more competitive. In the new business environment marked by
demolition of barriers and free flow of information and products, organizations retain
their competitive advantage by reducing prices, improving existing products and
innovating new products. TQM is a business strategy that allows organizations to achieve
all this and much more.
Total Quality Management demolishes the myth that increased quality results in
increased costs and decreased productivity. TQM proves that quality is actually the key to
decreased costs, and better productivity and positions quality as a critical component of
strategic business advantage.
III. The downside effects of TQM
The disadvantage of TQM is that it can lead to bureaucracy where ideas are
mentioned and end up being rejected or stifled. The delays by having these inspections
and process improvements can also take time to see through and also the money needed to
implement TQM principles also adds to costs.

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By focusing too much on the customers, the production based method might have a
cheaper and faster way of doing business and this method is rejected. Some managers and
employee groups might be hesitant to change into a TQM based approach if the company
is doing well now. Also the benefits of TQM are not guaranteed to be successful simply
based on a complete implementation.
Customers themselves along with the market will decide upon the success of the
company. Also the costs of inspection of processes as well as Research and development
projects might be too costly
The disadvantage came into play when the group lacked the authority to act on the
resolution and when they had no clear mandate or vision. Why and how did that happen?
If the solution was more costly than the short term benefits, the team might be denied the
funds to implement a new piece of equipment or process.
Another reason is that the executive committee had to back the teams by giving
them the power to make changes. This power was sometimes taken back from the team in
the event of a failed project.
Participation by all employees means everyone from the top down to the bottom of
the corporate chain. If there are weak links in the chain the whole system suffers.
There are some specific cons of the TQM:
- With always being focused on making things better, those things that are working
well might get overlooked.
- Looking at a product or service only based on how the common user will put the
product to work does not allow designers and developers to think organically and use the
full extent of their creativity.
- By focusing on getting things right the first time, employees may feel that too
much pressure is put on them.
- Implementing TQM can be expensive in the short term.
Is TQM right for every business? Of course not, one model will not work for every
business in every sector.
As in similar quality and employee empowerment initiatives, TQM can blur the
lines between job definitions, distract workers from critical task areas, create hostility

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among employees who may perceive TQM as a job enlargement scheme, and may pose
potential collective bargaining unit contract violations where specific job assignments and
scope have been delineated.
The risk of costly maintenance complications resulting from low-skilled personnel
attempting on-the-spot fixes can also prove cost prohibitive, and may violate warranty
agreements on covered equipment. Safety is an additional concern, and any authorization
for non-maintenance personnel to perform maintenance functions should be cleared
through the employer's worker compensation underwriter prior to TQM implementation.

C. Conclusion
In brief, through our writing, you have had a fairly full view on Total Quality
Management. We have explained what TQM is, the roles of TQM, as well as its downside
effects. We can all see that TQM is a philosophy, which is very essential in business, is
being implemented by many companies and economic organizations. TQM helps
businesses improve the quality of their products and services totally. This not only brings
benefits for business but also for consumers. However, it TQM has remained some
disadvantages that are unexpected. To apply TQM effectively make your business
successful, you need to know clearly and fully about both the pros and cons, as well as
rules of TQM.

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