Total quality management: Benefits and Challenges to Implementation

Posted on Feb 13, 2023 at 10:02 PM

Total quality management is defined as a management philosophy used to improve the operations of organisations and businesses, which is based on careful analysis of those processes by each individual participating in the process from an employee or partner.

Our next article addresses the most critical advantages of TQM and the management and practical challenges to its implementation in companies and institutions. Follow us for more details.

What are the essential benefits of total quality management?

The application of total quality management in companies and institutions has many positive benefits and advantages for the company, including:

• Cost reduction:

When Total Quality Management is adopted as a continuous policy in the company, this is reflected in all kinds of costs in the company and reduces them, especially in field services, scrap, re-business, and warranty. Since these expenses will go directly to the final profits without additional costs, spectacular profits increase.

• Improved productivity:

Applying Total Quality Management (CQM), employees' time usually spent detecting and correcting errors is significantly reduced, and performance and productivity will dramatically increase, which means an increase in profits.

• Customer satisfaction:

Companies that adopt total quality management in their management work to provide better services and products, and interaction between them and their customers is error-free at a significant rate, so there is less chance of complaints from customers, and therefore their level of satisfaction increases.

Thus, the company has also achieved a more significant opportunity to spread and expand as the customer will act as a marketing source and give a positive opinion when asked about it, thus attracting more potential customers.

• Reducing errors:

In essence, Total Quality Management aims to improve quality in operations rather than checking quality, which not only reduces error repair time but also reduces the need to hire a specialised quality assurance team.

• Raising morale:

The continued success and demonstration of comprehensive quality management in the company or organisation and its engagement with employees will positively reflect the team's morale.

What are the most critical challenges in implementing total quality management?

All companies seek to improve the quality of their operations to achieve greater prosperity and provide the necessary services in better ways. Still, in return, some challenges are encountered in implementing quality management, including:

• Limitations of quality culture:

Due to the lack of a genuine culture of quality within companies, the possibility of the change-proof team rejecting the new policy could interfere with the application mechanism as a result of their lack of acceptance of new techniques different from their current working style.

• Authoritarian driving style:

When management adopts an authoritarian leadership style, it can create a sense of fear among employees; that is, they will not offer their full potential at work, thereby reducing productivity and thus affecting quality.

• Staff's lack of commitment:

Since production processes are closely linked to employees, a lack of commitment by them would make the whole quality management process useless.

Inappropriate communication channels:

To reach satisfactory results for the plans, all data and information must be communicated to the company in a timely and accurate manner, so when there are inappropriate or inaccurate communication channels, this will act as a barrier to achieving the required quality results.

• Quality Certificates:

Companies often treat quality certificates as bureaucratic practices that enable them to meet customers' requirements, comply with contracts, and obtain competitive advantages in the labour market.

• Lack of understanding of customers' needs:

Many factors influence the failure to understand customer needs, such as miss canning, inaccurate data, misinterpretation, and many others, as a result of which unwanted products are produced by customers and therefore fail to achieve the primary objective of companies to satisfy the customer.

• Management's lack of commitment:

The success of any organisational effort is related to the existence of a severe management commitment. Everyone must be informed of the goal of change clearly and explicitly and simplify all general concepts of quality while continuing to apply the principles of comprehensive quality management to ensure proper implementation.

• Improper planning:

Everyone within the company's team should be involved in developing implementation plans for quality management concepts and proposing any adjustments that would improve the programs. Two-way communication of ideas is essential and should be taken into account.

• Lack of continuous training and education:

Learning and training from things that don't have to stop, starting with identifying the needs that the company needs and then making plans to achieve them, so that learning and training are more effective, senior management of companies must train their employees in quality management techniques and implement overall quality.

In addition, the lack of training can be based on quality improvement skills, communication techniques, discussions, and problem identification. One of the most critical obstacles to implementing comprehensive quality management is its resolution.

• Incompatibility of organisational structure:

The difference in the distribution of individuals and departments may result in implementation problems, so the company's restructuring should be considered to better fit the needs of customers, with the likelihood of expelling any individual who still needs to adopt the company's modern philosophy.

• Unsustainable improvement:

After achieving their goals, it may be tempting for many organisations to relax and stop here. Still, they must constantly improve products, processes, and services to keep up with subsequent developments.

These were the essential advantages and challenges of managing overall quality; if you want to learn more principles and information about quality, you can now register for one of our online quality courses.