Total Quality Management Paper
University of Phoenix
MGT 449
Jim Bingel
September 18, 2007
What is Total Quality Management? A management help website described it as such, “Total Quality Management is a set of management practices throughout the organization, geared to ensure the organization consistently meets or exceeds customer requirements. Total Quality Management places strong focus on process measurement and controls as means of continuous improvement.” (Management help, 2007) To expand further, it means that an organization as set an overall company objective and determined what needs to be done in order to meet that objective, which in turn will meet and exceed the expectations of the consumer. The company then monitors those activities closely to ensure success. Total Quality Management originated in Japanese industry in the 1950’s but did not become popular in the west until the 1980’s. When implemented in an organization Total Quality creates a culture which aims to provide the consumers with products and services that exceed their requirements. The culture of Total Quality Management requires things to be done right the first time with all defects and waste eliminated from the operation. (Stark, 2007)
The introduction of globalization adds a whole new element to Total Quality Management. With globalization you now need to monitor the quality of elements that are much more difficult to manage such as oversee vendors, oversee suppliers and multiple locations. More importantly you are likely dealing with a multitude of different cultures, which effects the expectations of the consumers and in turn affects the overall company objectives. If a business is located in five different countries, there are likely five different expectations from the consumers in regards to the quality of the product. When you deal with different cultures it can affect every single aspect of your business, advertising, marketing,...