Total Quality Management

Use of Statistics

Total Quality Management requires constant statistical measurement of quality to monitor performance. All members of an organization must become proficient in the use of statistics to the level required by their position or job. This means an organization must conduct extensive statistical training for all employees. As with other management styles, Total Quality Management has advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when deciding whether TQM is the best management style for an organization.

Advantages of TQM

Short-term and long-term advantages are present in any management style. Total Quality Management has few short-term advantages. Most of its benefits are long-term and come into effect only after it is running smoothly. In large organizations, it may take several years before long-term benefits are realized.

Long-term benefits that may be expected from Total Quality Management are higher productivity, increased morale, reduced costs, and greater customer commitment. These benefits may lead to greater public support and improvement of an organization’s public image.

Eliminating errors and doing things right the first time saves time and resources. The savings may then be used for expansion of services or made available to employees in their efforts to increase service quality.

Total Quality Management may create an organizational atmosphere of excitement and sense of accomplishment through the rewarding of creativity. When experimentation-oriented failures are accepted as a part of the learning process, employees feel free to use their creative energies to develop new ideas.