Importance of leadership, customer satisfaction and benchmarking in total quality management (TQM)

Implementation of TQM:
* The management's contribution is essential in any successful TQM implementation, especially of CEO.

* Next step is to form a quality circle, providing a vision, mission and quality statement. Middle managers are needed to be actively involved in the implementation.

* If there is any union present in the organization, representatives from it should be involved in the process.
Role of senior management:
Senior management must practice the philosophy of Management provided by Wandering Around or MBWA. They must let the employees think themselves. They must be informed of the topics of quality improvement by generating good reading habits. They must celebrate success in the organization. They must organize seminars, coaching etc. Customer listening is another parameter. Good and regular communication with feedback is again required with employees and consumers.
Characteristics of Quality Leaders
* The quality leaders take the matters with respect to customers and work on the changing requirements of the customers.

* Quality leaders are such that they have total control over the work of their sub-ordinates.

* Quality leaders believe in improvement more than in maintaining the current position.

* These leaders are more likely to prevent any mishap rather than waiting for them to happen.

* Quality leaders develop the skill of mutual co-operation rather than mutual competition.

* Quality leaders believe in working with the team, helping them from time to time.

* They believe in the concept of quality after learning from problems. They strive to improve the ability of dissemination of information.
Leadership Concepts
* A leader is well acquainted with the fact that all employees need independence along with security.

* Even though rewards and punishments matter to a large extent, self-motivation is highly followed.

* It is a common tendency that people like to hear well about themselves. They should be appreciated for their achievements.

* A leader is also required to make things easily understandable.

* Self-confidence is more trustworthy than the statistical data.

* People don't obey a leader if his words contradict.
The 7 Habits of highly Effective People
* The first of these habits is to be proactive which means to look at alternatives and take decisions rather than wait for things to happen.

* Secondly, one must begin keeping the end in mind. One should be true to himself in taking any step in life.

* Thirdly, one must put first things first which is an inclusion of self-management.

* Fourthly, one must think win-win. This suggests that one should always be optimistic.

* Next, one must think such that he can understand what others say rather than seek to be understood by all.

* Sixth, one should believe in synergy such that he can achieve a goal with a feeling of togetherness rather than an individualistic approach.

* Finally, one must look forward to sharpen the saw. This means that one must enhance the four dimensions of nature namely-physical, spiritual, mental and social or emotional.
Quality Council:
Quality council comprises of CEO, senior managers of functional areas like finance, production etc. A regular meeting should be organized to discuss and plan issues like:
* Developing a vision, mission and quality statement,

* Developing a long term goal strategy

* Education and training plan

* Determining performance plan

* Determining processes that improves the present ones

* Establishing multifunctional project and group based work culture, developing a reward system etc.
Core Values and concept:
Some core values in TQM include customer driven quality which considers:
* It is end user who determines the quality of the product not any manager

* Second is leadership which states that

o Leaders need to set directions

o Continuous improvement and learning process in the organization and employees

o Valuing employees

o A more dynamic market response mechanism

o Emphasizing design quality and preventing waste through developing quality in the products

o Long term orientation rather than seeking short term opportunities

o Management by facts

o Developing partnership

o Understanding corporate and citizen responsibility and focusing on end result.
Shared Values:
Shared values process is composed of eight principles. They are:
* Treating others with truth

* plentiful trust on co-workers and associates

* Creating learning atmosphere with unselfish mentoring (employee to management and vice versa)

* Invites new ideas

* Take personal risks for the sake of organizational benefits

* Appreciate people wherever possible

* Honesty

* Put other's interest before your own
Ethics:
Organization must leave cause of unethical behaviour and should manage ethical management program.

Quality Statement:
It includes vision statement: It is what an organization will seek to achieve in near future, mission statement: mission statement states that what is the organization is all about, who are the consumer, how it work etc. and the important one that is Quality policy statement: it is a type of guide for everyone in the organization to know how to provide service and service to the consumers.

Strategic planning:
Strategic planning is for about three to 10 years. It comprises of
* Goal and objectives: Goals are ultimate aim and objectives are intermediate checkpoints.

* Seven steps of strategic planning including consumer need, positioning, predicting future, gap analysis, alignment, closing the gap and implementation.

* Yearly quality improvement process
Communication:
Interactive form is best when communication is between workforce and immediate supervisor, formal communication includes printed and electronic communication which includes graph, posters etc. Feedback adds to the soundness of effective communication.

Decision making:
Here seven habits are highly efficient:
* Being proactive

* Keep the result in the mind

* Prioritizing

* Think "win/win"

* Try to understand first than to be understood

* To be in race (sharpen the saw) and

* Synergy.
Leadership survey:
This is a tool to evaluate the leader's performance.
Customer Satisfaction
Who are customers?
A person who employs the service or buys the product is often termed as consumer or customer. Two types of customers are identified by the customers: External and Internal.
* Internal customers are those lying within the organization like engineering, order processing etc and

* The external customers are those who are outside the organization and buy products and services of the organization.
Consumer perception of quality:
As the customer's need, expectation and values keep on changing, there is no such picture of customer's quality need. As according to ASQ, survey, important factors for purchase for the customer are:
* Features

* Performance

* Price

* Service

* Reputation and

* Warranty
Feedback:
TQM requires customer feedback to be continuously monitored. It is required to identify costumer dissatisfaction, needs, opportunities for enhancement and comparison with substitute in the market.
Methodology for feedback involves comment card, survey, focus group, toll free numbers, report card, internet, customer visits, employee feedback and using standard indexes like ACSI of "American Customer Satisfaction Index". ASCI allow contrast in between company and industry averages.
Using customer Complaints:
Studies suggest that the customer who did not complain is most prone to switch to another product. Every individual complaint is needed to be entertained. Results also suggest that half of the dissatisfied-customers will buy again if they feel that their complaint had been addressed.
Service Quality:
Research suggests that elements of customer service are:
* Customer care: A firm must revolve around the customers.

* Communication: Communication with customers is essential.

* Organization: Such that same level of quality can be delivered to everyone.

* Front-line people: Only the best employees should be allowed to communicate with the customers.

* Leadership: Involvement of management is essential in any quality management process.
Translating needs into requirements:
Kano model is the most basic conceptualization of customer requirement. There are three lines-red, blue and green to explain its ideology. The red line shows innovation, blue shows spoken and expected requirement and green line shows unspoken and expected requirements.
Kano model is based on an assumption that a customer buys when he needs something, however is it not completely true, an organization must overflow the customer needs. This can be understood by "Voice of the customer" concept.
Customer Retention:
It is more powerful and efficient in company's point of view as with customer satisfaction. It is involved with the activities which basically are related to customer satisfaction in order to increase the loyalty of the customers towards the company.
It moves customer satisfaction to next level by determining what is actually important for the customer.
Quality Management Systems
Quality Management Systems like the ISO are required to facilitate the exchange of goods between customers and sellers across different nations worldwide.
Benefits of ISO Registration
* After the inclusion of ISO in the products, it was observed that most of the attributes of internal quality like scrap were measured to be better.

* The reliability of the production also increases as a matter of fact.

* Even the external qualities that were measured by customers were highly improved after the inclusion of ISO standards.

* The time performance of the system also increased vastly as a result of this.

* The cost of producing poor quality also decreased after including ISO standards.
ISO 9001 Requirements
* Scope: ISO 9001 is essential to meet the customer's requirements such that customer satisfaction is attainable.

* Normative Reference: The fundamentals and vocabulary provide the normative references.

* Terms and Definitions: In addition to the standard terms and definition, the chain starting from supply to organization to customer is required in the terms and conditions.

* Quality Management Systems (QMS): The organizations should look to establish, document, implement, and maintain a QMS for effectiveness.

* Management Responsibility: ISO 9001 guarantees management control, customer focus, quality policy, planning, responsibility, and a review by the management at the general level.

* Resource Management: This includes provision of resources, human resources, infrastructure, and a proper work environment in order to achieve the goals.

* Product Realization: This section of ISO 9001 secures planning of product realization according to the requirements of the QMS, customer related process, design and development, purchasing, production and service provision, control and monitoring and measuring devices.

* Measurement, Analysis and Improvement: In general, the statistical technique and the extent of use should also be reasonable by the concept of ISO 9001. Under the monitoring and control there should be customer satisfaction, an internal audit, monitoring and measurement of processes and also products and services. This also includes control of nonconforming products, analysis of data, and improvement continuously by taking corrective and preventive action.
Implementation
The next important factor to understand in this context is the implementation of the quality management system. This can be done in the following steps:
* Top Management Commitment: It is highly essential that there is total support of the higher level authority of the organization.

* Appoint the Management Representative: After the top management is contented with the procedure, it is important that the correct representative is appointed so as to follow the quality system with care.

* Awareness: It is also required at this point of time that the organization spreads awareness of the quality systems as it effects all who are attached with the organization.

* Appoint an Implementation Team: Once the levels are all made aware of the quality systems, the organization should form an implementation team such that it is kept visible to all the employees in the future.

* Training: All the above mentioned teams should be trained in order to produce the best results.

* Time Schedule: There should be a time schedule such that the activity is followed in the correct time sequence and the results expected of the implementation of the quality systems are achieved as desired.
The other processes to follow are selecting of the element owners, reviewing the present system, writing the document, installing the new system, internal auditing, and management review, pre-assessment and registration.

Documentation
One must appreciate the fact that the quality systems are meant to be recognized by all. This implies that it is very important to have simplicity rather than complexity in understanding. It should follow the following four principles:
* Policy: This defines as to what would be done and why would that be so. This should be done extremely carefully as it is the root of the documentation on which the entire quality system depends.

* Procedure: Next, one must decide the methods that would be required in order to achieve the task. It includes making decisions related to when the tasks are to be done etc.

* Work instructions: This gives the detail of the documentation. Based on the readings of the work instructions, the readers would come to know of the idea behind the quality systems.

* Records: In order to keep an account of the actions on a specific product, it is required to keep the record.

* Document Development: In order to provide a proper document, it is required to gather all the policies, procedures, work instructions and forms that are being used presently. This will form the basis of the new work.
Internal Audits
The purpose of internal audits can be seen as follows:
* It will compare the actual performance of the quality system with the one that had been documented.

* It would take the corrective measures for the same.

* All those items that were non compliant previously, would be followed

* It would provide continuous improvement through the feedback to the manager.

* It would also create a further chance of improvement by generating a cause to think.
This internal audit would be done by the auditor by using the techniques of examining the documents and following the procedure of the audit plan.

Registration
If Quality systems are assessed by a third party called as a registrar, it is referred to as registration.
A registrar is chosen based on the qualifications and experience, certificate recognition like approval from RAB, the registration process according to the organization's needs under the time and cost constraints and the auditor's qualifications.
It is essential to mention at this point that registration is not a compulsion. It is rather a provision such that the nonconformities are solved.
Benchmarking
Finally Benchmarking is done to measure performance as a comparison with those adopted by the best organization in the industry.
Reason for benchmarking:
It is a tool to achieve competition and corporate goals. It is a tool for organizations to reduce its weakness and to enhance its strengths. Benchmarking requires external orientation as it greatly reduces the uncertainty offered by global and external competition.
It is time and cost efficient and provides working model of a better process.
The primary weakness of benchmarking is attaining the best practices is just like catching a moving target. Key threat is continuously improving technology.

Process:
Organization that adopts benchmarking, take the process to adjust with the present culture and needs. Six steps that are crucial are as follows:
* Estimate present performance

* Decide what the organization can benchmark

* Apply a study on others

* Try to understand form the data collected

* Plan

* And utilize the findings
Two famous industrial standards are those of Xerox and AT&T's 12 step process. Let's have a close discussion on the above headings.

Deciding what to benchmark:
Most organization has a strategy to decide that which benchmarking strategy to adopt. This is mainly highlighted in terms of vision and mission statement. These statements determine the "critical success factors". Thus when deciding what to benchmark, it is best to start with analyzing vision statement and critical factors.

Understanding present performance:
To apply benchmarking that requires applying outside policies in organization, it is essential to analyze own policies and performance first. Current performance can be understood by various methods such as cause and effect diagram and flow diagram.
Exceptions should be identified. Units of measure must be determined and proper documentation is required here.

Planning:
After identification of process and documentation, next step is to plan the way to conduct the study. A team known as benchmarking team is needed to be selected. It is the responsibility of the team to decide what kind of benchmarking is to be carried out. The team also prepares time-line for the process to decide the desired result from the study carried out.

Studying others:
Studies related to benchmarking concept seek two types of data. They are details of best practices and results that can be measured from these practices. Information needed form others in benchmarking may be present publicly and may not need to research down. But there remain few things that are tough to investigate form open sources. For these kinds of information, team can conduct site visits; questionnaire and can apply the focus group etc to determine the desired information.

Learning form data:
Benchmarking studies can reveal 3 basic kinds of outcomes like
* The result of external process's supremacy over the internal process

* They may be equal

* Internal process can be better than the founded and explored external process
In this analysis, important thing is parameters of judgement of the process.

Using the findings:
If the study of benchmarking standards reveal the gap between the internal process and the observed process in negative, the next task to bridge the task by appropriate steps.

Pitfall and criticisms:
Most important pitfall is benchmarking is like copying others. Question here is how can an organization become the best if it copies from the best? Innovation is lagging in benchmarking.
Thus benchmarking is not a substitute of innovation but is just a source of successful ideas.
Overall, we can see that if the ultimate motive is customer satisfaction; leadership and benchmarking should be deployed in conformity with Quality Management Systems to manage the system well.

Important principles of total quality management systems

A total quality management system organisations can match all your quality systems in a single, unified strategy, to integrate what advantages, which can result in both profitability and regulatory compliance. To make the best of it, the entire company must accept, however, completely the basic guidelines of quality and the way that apply to each and every person.

If a company able to explain how important are its workers of quality standards, and help recognize you as you have any responsibility for a certain level of quality, the company can work much more effective than before. High quality is not subjective judgment, it is something that is easily quantifiable and a TQM system can help to achieve a company its goals.

A total quality management system must integrate many tools, the companies that virtually every industry keep their standards of quality in addition to regulatory compliance can help. If all these tools in a solution, it can easily for an organization to improve the efficiency and the relationship between productivity and quality to harmonise.

A few of the familiar tools for maintaining the quality include things such as strategies for document control, CAPA activities, internal audits, training management, customer treatment of complaints and more. Some of these solutions may be different on the surface, but you are, in fact, directly linked and the most efficient, in conjunction with each other.

Combination techniques such as customer treatment of complaints and CAPA processes is a popular tactic for the increase of the quality measures in a company. A total quality management system is closely bind activities like this so that you will immediately lead others to one. This process deletes some on complications associated with manual solutions that are open to human error.

A TQM system can increase the degree of quality to ensure that when a customer complaint with a company is logged on it quickly will trigger the answer CAPA. The system will tell the company, if the problem is something that should be treated as soon as possible or if it is a frivolous complaint. It will then maintain a record of the resolution process until it is closed, and everyone with the results is satisfied.

Usually the principles declare one quality management system total, quality is something that can and must be maintained effectively. Every customer has to make an impression, of course, if you all seriously take your responsibility for the quality, the company will begin to deliver the products, which include on their customers.

A total quality management system should help companies set measurable objectives that which depend on the customer requirements. In this way, how the company works to meet these needs can regularly improvements of the quality assurance system and ensure that the products are delivered by quality and services to the consumer. Quality principles as this will ensure that company before the opposition and in accordance with sectoral rules remains.

With a total Quality Management System, you can start a program on a single platform and dramatically optimize to increase a company's processes and profitability. Getting to information about the use of Quality management software, and change the way you do business.

Providing total quality management

Quality management is vital with brick and mortar or even online companies. A company's ultimate goal is to meet the needs and expectations of the customer by you quality products or services. Quality must be maintained with a shop in every aspect of operations. The three factors that make up quality management include control, quality assurance and improvement. All three of these factors are within the process of a successful enterprise quality management achieve total interwoven with each other.
Quality control is a part of quality management which is focused on the needs of customers. These include the fault testing during design and production of products or services. Quality control is found normally in design and manufacture a branch. If a company produces each kind of product or service for another, this is important to ensure that products or services specifically meet or exceed client expectations are designed. Quality control methods wraps such as test failures, quality assurance, statistical control and even quality.
Quality assurance is another aspect of quality management, an enterprise, requires your product or service to achieve the confidence. Quality assurance is also known as QA. QA is branch that typically maintains customer requirements and guarantee the products or services that produced by the company meet or exceed the requirements. All errors are eliminated at this level. QA is used to improve the quality of raw materials, regulate services in production, products and components, management, and process even to the entire organization. Quality assurance includes thorough examination of the processes, products and services.
Quality management should also improve quality. Each company should be consistent products or services offered on a regular basis to improve. Consistency is also important. Process improvement, who include improvements and enhancements based on improvement in a company is broken in many factors. These factors can successfully containing certainly drive quality improvement and a company functions.
A target company must work continuously in direction on a daily basis is achieving quality management. This is not a process that can be achieved and be finalized but a constant approach. Control, secure, and improvement are three factors that must be used in order for a business successfully achieve quality management.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for the MBA journal. Aveta solutions - Six Sigma online (http://www.sixsigmaonline.org/) offers online Six Sigma training and certification classes for six sigma, black belts, green belts and yellow belt lean.

How total is your quality management?

Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz, once said "When all is said and done, more is said than done". Despite of all Reden--passionate talk glossy brochures, clever show high-tech videos, convincing sales pitches, snappy slogan, strategic plans, and solemn Jahresberichte--the service and quality action is provided by most organizations, at best mediocre.

Many well-intentioned "total quality management" improvement efforts are not working. Their international study total quality management practices found in the Conference Board of Canada is a study which showed that "seven out of ten North American companies in their attempt to run a total quality strategy fail". But before we conclude that TQM was just another fad-a "taste of the month"-take a closer look. Only a tiny number of organizations in the United States really tried total quality management. Most spoke about TQM during implementation Pqm-part quality.

Move some quality management to true total quality management is exceptionally hard. Here are a few of the key:

Senior management involvement - Permission, Lippenbekenntnisse--even passionate Lippenbekenntnisse--is not enough. Managers and supervisors adopt, the visible priorities of your boss. All too often service and quality is improving what above delegates in the middle to do below. Vancouver based shark finning Ltd (the world's largest Caterpillar dealer) CEO Jim Shepard and its leaders are not just mainly for all service and quality of training to everyone else are given, the teacher providing sessions for their people.

Aligned and support teams-work during Department, group, branch, project or process of improvement teams are clearly at the heart of today's high performing organizations, managers will find too many teams who go ahead of time. Many medium to large organizations are not prepared more than a few pilot team a year or two of their implementation to support. In an organization with poorly prepared improvement teams smack in "old guard" supervisors and a trainer in a hockey rink is one manager who think or means "if I want any your bright ideas I will give foster innovation to you". Team suggestions inhibiting systems and cross-functional processes reorient a lukewarm and sometimes hostile welcome are given by this very managers and specialists installed and now "Snoopervise" you.

Planning and reporting-service and quality with the same discipline and strict as good business planning needs to be addressed. Manager, employee, $ or training activities aimed at enhancing the stick whimsical convinced some of which it is bound, raises deserves the whimsical service and quality that he or she receives. Effective organizations spend often months management, trade unions, working groups, members of the Board and may be important suppliers and customers in strategic quality planning. Their service and quality are measurement and reporting systems every bit as tightly as their accounts.

Width and balanced recognition-a sure sign of partial quality management is a tools and techniques avoid some improvement. Effective implementations pull together the best techniques from the areas of customer service-understanding and perceived value, improve improve quality - improvement processes at all levels by collecting, analyzing, and monitoring critical performance data (Xerox calls this "fact-based management") and organizational development-building leadership skills and changing the corporate culture.

Capacity as also knowledge building-three can slide of trays, a series of videos and five pounds of books and manuals all delivered through a dynamic Presenter Guide about group dynamics or process management or team members teach. But often not this "spray and pray" approach participants calculate how to keep meetings focused or help resolve conflicts. Improve physical fitness, we all know that the understanding of the healthy common sense ideas is one thing, put something else sense in practice. Technology used in the most training programs does not work. It can be enlightened attendees excited and aware, but leaves is rarely more competent.

True total quality management produces dramatic results. But moving PQM is required so much discipline, consistency in TQM and endless diets or new resolutions on long-term and sustainable lifestyle change new habit-forming as moving year's fitness.

Jim Clemmer is a best-selling author and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop retreat leader and change management team developer on leadership, customer orientation, culture, teams and personal growth. In the last 25 years, he has delivered over two thousand customized keynote presentations, workshops and retreats. Jim's five international best-seller books include the VIP strategy that on all cylinders, pathways to performance, increasing the distance and the leader's Digest firing. His site is http://www.clemmer.net/articles

The philosophy of total quality management

The basis for TQM is defective or prevent quality problems from the outset. Application of statistical techniques and management skills to examine and monitoring of factors that can affect the appearance of defects throughout the process, research, design phase, supply phase and other services relating to the development of quality.
Applying TQM improves product quality, but also increase the effectiveness of the entire system on the basis of the principle "always the right do works correctly at the beginning".
Total quality management is a management philosophy that attempts the capabilities of an organization in quality, with the participation of each Member of it, to achieve lasting success by meet to focus all customer requirements and benefit the members of this organization bring back, and for the society according to ISO 9000.
Management system in TQM is a system based on the following philosophies:
(1) Quality cannot be assured and controlled if control only the output of the process. It is the entire process where each function to create the quality of each operation.
(2) The responsibility for quality among the highest level of management of the organization. To have an adequate and effective quality policy, the Board must change their faith deep to approach to improving the quality. You need to make commitment and agreement activities to quality. This is very important step in the management of quality in each organization. If you want to improve the quality of first need to improve the administrative operations and other functions.
(3) The human factor depends greatly on the quality the quality of the product, make the most important factor in product quality. Training, must be firstly focused education strategic tasks, programmes to improve the quality.
(4) Quality have the attention of everyone in the organization. Therefore quality control must be built system, mutual understanding, consistency and commitment to goal that is the quality of work. This will help facilitate the movements of quality groups in the Organization, which activities will draw people in creativity and improve the quality.
(5) Towards prevention and protection against defective errors in the production process and other operations through the best possible use of statistical tools to find the main causes of the defect and proper corrective action.
(6) In order to avoid economic costs, these principles absolutely correctly to start must be followed.
TQM refers directly to each production and business processes to control and prevent errors implement causes during the process using the procedure as follows:
1. Choose process to analyze priority
2. Analyze you the process
3. Check the process
o A standards / control board
o relations with customers/suppliers
o services contract with customers/suppliers
4. Quality improvement method in the process
TQM synchronous combination of quality control with productivity control for the main objective is to reach the perfection of the product and the perfection of the company.

More details at http://qualitymanagement.hrvinet.com. Find all the templates, process quality management, ISO... at: ISO 17025 checklist.

Total quality management system

TQM is a total quality management system.
According to Histoshi Kume "TQM is a management method to succeed." "It creates appropriate conditions for the sustainable development of the Organization (or companies) to create Director everyone seeking economic quality according to customer request".
ISO 9000 - "total quality management (TQM) ,a management approach that aims for the long-term success of aims, by focusing on customer satisfaction." "TQM is based on the participation of all members of the organization or society in improving processes, products, services and culture where you work."
The goal of TQM is to help produce a quality product, lowing the costs, improve productivity, shorten lead times and make a proper delivery. This means also that TQM for the 3 P aims: (1) performance or perfection, (2) price and (3) timeliness of the quality of the product through the hassle of all Member States of the organization.
TQM is a set of principles for improving through promotion of direct and indirect employees, officers and managers (employees short) in improving processes, products, services and culture.
These principles are generally:
o is it customers, set quality standards for the product and your needs are absolute.
o the highest level manager of the company must be the person who follows the quality standards.
o quality is a strategic issue and must consider the priority in the plan making.
o quality is the problem of all people in all levels and departments in the Organization and all must work together to solve this problem.
o the functions of the company must focus on the continuous improvement to achieve the strategic objectives of the organization.
The problem-solving and continuous quality improvement based on the statistics quality control (SQC) method and the use of the Deming cycle.
Education and training are the basis for continuous improvement.
The basic modules of TQM include:
o quality control circle
o 7 technical tools to control and improve the quality
o Kaizen (quality management theory of a Japanese)
o 5s (house keeping)
o QC (quality control story) history
o PREMA - GHK (profitable environmental management - good housekeeping Guide)
I am a writer by the quality assurance management at http://qualitymanagement.hrvinet.com. Find all the templates, process quality management, ISO... at: quality management.

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