Total Quality Management: Communication between Customer and Employees - Literature review Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction Total Quality Management can be described as a comprehensive as well as a structured approach to organizational management that seeks out to improve the quality of products and services through continuing refinements in response to continuous feedback (PHCC Educational Foundation, 1996). It transcends product quality approach, involves everyone within the organization, and covers its every function that includes administration, manufacturing, distribution, planning, training, and marketing, etc. According to Vengadajellum et.al, (2010), Total Quality Management aims at fundamentally transforming the organization through progressive changes in the practices, attitudes, structures and systems. This particular report will therefore give details on how as a whitegoods shop manager I will prove to the owner that I have successfully implemented total quality management in the enterprise. How I have implemented Total Quality Management Customer satisfaction As the manager of the business, one of the initiatives I have undertaken in order to prove that I have successfully implemented total quality management is through the implementation of customer satisfaction. The aspect that I have measured to indicate that the business has attained customer satisfaction is through customer feedbacks concerning the quality of our products. I utilized a direct method of contacting customers in order to attain their valuable feedback. The following were some of the ways in which I used to tab the customer feedback; customer feedback through face-to-face meetings or conversation, direct customer feedback through questionnaires and surveys, feedback acquired through complaints or appreciation letter, customer feedback through the use of third party agents, and through direct marketing. In the case of direct marketing, I treated the complaint handling department as the first point of contact for getting customer feedback. From the analysis of the following methods; the outcome indicated that customers were satisfied with the quality of the company’s products. Juran (1998) defines quality as meeting or exceeding customer satisfaction. Meeting customer satisfaction is therefore a major objective of quality management. According to Charantimath (2003), Total Quality Management identifies that perfectly produced products have little value if they do not meet customers’ satisfaction. Therefore, as an enterprise manager, I intend to address customer/owner requirements by continually gathering information by means of market surveys, customer interviews and focus groups so as to stay in tune with what our customers want. As a result I have worked to ensure that the products offered by the business satisfy the customers by not only meeting their expectations but also exceeding. Working hard to ensure enhance communication between customer and employees For any organization to survive and develop in the current challenging marketplace they need true commitment towards meeting customers’ needs through enhanced communication. According to Saxton & Finkelstein (2003), the ability to convey information professionally eventually gives ones business the competitive edge and makes it stand out in the minds of its customers. As the enterprise manager, another initiative that I have undertaken in order to prove that I have successfully implemented total quality management has been working hard to ensure there is enhanced communication between the enterprise’s customers and employees. I am of the opinion that by creating this culture change, our enterprise’s business will be enhanced. This will also improve our employees’ attitudes and enthusiasm. All of these with the main goal of enhanced quality, productivity and customer satisfaction are an important advantage in today’s marketplace. As the manager, I have offered special communication training for the staff. I am of the opinion that communication training for the staff will be effective in developing a culture of continuous as well as credible communication throughout our company where the staff understand the business and are dedicated to its success. The consequences of this fact to our organizational communication include paying special attention to the staff as primary communicators of the enterprise’s business message as they relate to customers. Employee Satisfaction I also seek to demonstrate that I have successfully implemented total quality management in the organization is by empowering all the enterprise employees to seek out quality problems and correct them. With the old idea of quality, employees were scared of identifying problems for fear of being reprimanded. As a manager, I intend to change this by providing incentives for the staff in order to identify quality problems, not punishment. According to Juran (1988), the role of employees in TQM is very different from whatever it was in the traditional systems. I will therefore empower my employees to make decisions relative to quality in the production process. I consider them as vital elements of our effort to attain high quality. Their contributions are therefore highly valued, and their suggestions taken into consideration. In order to carry out this function, my employees are given continual as well as extensive training in quality measurement tools. Medori & Steeple (2000) stress that; quality can only be achieved through organizational effort. As a result, in order to facilitate the solving of quality problems, I will place a lot of emphasis on teamwork. The use of team is based on the old saying that “two heads are much better than one.”I will therefore employ various techniques for instance brainstorming, quality control tools, discussions and regular team works to correct any problems. The contributions of teams are normally considered as significant to the success of an enterprise. What I measured was the performance of employees in terms of improving and maintaining quality. From the performance of employees I was able to gauge their levels of satisfaction. According to Juran (1998) employee satisfaction can be measured in terms of performance in maintaining quality. Some of the indications of employee satisfaction that I observed included employees’ commitment to their work, few turn job turn overs, effective team work and cooperation. Continuous Improvement Process Another initiative I have undertaken as a manager in order to demonstrate that I have successfully implemented total quality management in the organization is by focusing on continuous improvement process. According to Juran (1988), traditional systems used to operate on the assumption that the moment an organization attains a certain quality level; it was already successful and needed no further improvements. As a result, people tended to think of enterprise progress in terms of plateaus that that were to be achieved, for instance certification test or reducing the number of defects to a given level. However, in my opinion, and as a manager, I believe that the best and the most long-lasting changes originate from gradual improvements. By focusing on continuous improvement, the enterprise will continually make every effort to get better through learning and problem solving. Moreover, as the enterprise manager, I believe that we can never achieve perfection, but we must always assess our performance and take quick measures to enhance it. I also believe that in order to be competitive in the current market, it is essential that the enterprise provides more consistent quality and value to our customers. It is therefore important that we place behind us the old adversarial approaches of managing the enterprise and develop better and more direct relationships with our clients/owners, to produce better quality work, and initiate more teamwork at the place of work. All these goals call for a continuous improvement process to be set up within the enterprise so as to provide quality management (Juran, 1988). An Action Plan listing the steps in the implementation of Total Quality Management at the whitegoods shop STEP WHO Step1: Obtain Whitegoods Shop Owner Commitment manager Step 2:Demonstrate how to carry out the implementation to the shop owner and the upper-level management manager Step 3:Form a Steering Committee Owner + manager Step 4: Outline the Vision Statement, Mission Statement, & Guiding Principles manager Step 5: Prepare a Flow Diagram of the Enterprise Processes The Steering Committee Step 6: Focus on Customers Everyone Step 7: Start an Awareness Program The Steering Committee Step 8: Provide a Quality Training Program Manager Step 9: Implementation of the Quality Management System Everyone Step: 10 Continuous Improvements Owner + manager Step 1: Obtain Whitegoods Shop Owner Commitment This is to obtain leadership, participation, and evidence of the owner commitment to the implementation of total quality management, and to continually improve its effectiveness. Step 2: Demonstrate how to carry out the implementation to the shop owner and the upper-level management This is to convince the top management (whitegoods shop owner) that the implementation of the quality management system will enhance the overall business efficiency by eliminating wasteful duplication in the management system, and demonstrate to the customer a visible commitment to quality. Step 3: Form a Steering Committee The steering committee will guide the enterprise through the process of implementing Total Quality Management. Step 4: Outline the Vision Statement, Mission Statement, & Guiding Principles This defines how the enterprise will look in future as well as its fundamental purpose, briefly describing why it exists and what it intends to so to achieve its vision. Step 5: Prepare a Flow Diagram of the Enterprise Processes The flow diagram of the enterprise processes will help in guiding the implementation of quality processes within the enterprise Step 6: Focus on Customers This enables the enterprise to become conscious of what the customers’ concerns are and to learning what the concerns are through customer surveys. Focusing on Customers enables quality improvement to be attained. Step 7: Start an Awareness Program An awareness program is conducted to communicate to the enterprise employees on the aim of total quality management; the advantage it will offer them, customers and the enterprise; how it will work; and its role and responsibility within the system. Step 8: Provide a Quality Training Program The implementation plan ought to make a provision for training as quality management affects all areas and all personnel within the organization. Step 9: Implementation of the quality management system Step: 10 Continuous Improvements This is to constantly seek to improve the suitability and the effectiveness of the quality management system. Description of the steps in the implementation of Total Quality Management at the whitegoods shop, what will be done, why it will be done, and who will do it The first step in implementing Total Quality Management at the whitegoods shop will be to obtain total commitment, participation, as well as the leadership of the whitegoods top management (owner).The owner has to show commitment and determination to implement quality management in the enterprise. Without his commitment, no quality initiative can succeed. Therefore, obtaining the owner’s commitment will act as a way of getting evidence of his commitment to the implementation of total quality management and his commitment to continue improving its effectiveness (PHCC Educational Foundation, 1996). The second step in the implementation of the Total Quality Management will be demonstrating to the shop owner and the upper-level management how to carry out the following: undertake quality training commit to Total Quality Management and provide required resources of money and time and to ensure improvement drive fear out of the enterprise support the development of enterprise vision statement, guiding principles, mission statement, and goals guide decision making and problem solving to the lowest realistic level provide appropriate incentives for those who play a part to the quality mission aggressively lead the way by taking part in activities of the quality steering committee and enterprise training The responsibilities of the owner of the whitegoods shop and the upper-management team is therefore to come up with an organizational culture where TQM can exist and thrive. The owner ought to be informed that quality management would enhance the overall business efficiency by eliminating wasteful duplication in the management system Once through with obtaining top management’s commitment and training, the next step in the implementation of Total Quality Management will be to form a steering committee that will play the role of guiding the enterprise through the process of implementing Total Quality Management. The steering committee will carry out various roles such as reviewing and evaluating customer surveys; monitor process progress; communicate successes and progresses; oversee worker appreciation for quality enhancement; identify processes to be enhanced based on client and employee recommendations, surveys and familiarity of existing problems; and appointing task process improvement teams and ensuring they are properly trained. A management representative will be appointed to as its coordinator to plan and oversee the implementation process. Its members will include various representatives of all enterprise functions-marketing, development, planning, quality control, etc (PHCC Educational Foundation, 1996). The fourth step will be outlining the enterprise’s vision statement, mission statement as well as the guiding principles. This will define how the enterprise will look in future as well as its fundamental purpose, briefly describing why it exists and what it intends to so to achieve its vision. In building up the fourth step, key principles that I am considering in the enterprise’s vision statement and guiding principles include the following: customer/owner satisfaction employee empowerment improved safety continuous improvement doing things right, the first time eliminating errors and defects Once through with the enterprise’s vision statement, mission statement and the guiding principles, the next step of the implementation will be to prepare a flow diagram of the enterprise processes. This will guide the implementation of quality processes within the enterprise. In addition, a quality manual containing documentation on how the processes should be followed will be created. This will specify how the quality management system will be observed and emphasize the business commitment to quality and continuous improvement (PHCC Educational Foundation, 1996). Upon completion of a flow diagram of the enterprise process; the next step will be to be to focus on customers. According to the PHCC Educational Foundation (1996), one of the best ways of realizing quality improvement is attained by focusing on customers’ concerns and by learning what the concerns are through customer surveys. This can be done by carrying out a research on how our customers feel about our services. Several areas of survey that needs attention include timeliness, safe operating procedures, attitude, overall responsiveness to client requests and degree of communications. An awareness program will then be conducted to the enterprise employees regarding the aim of total quality management; the advantage it will offer them, customers and the enterprise; how it will work; and its role and responsibility within the system. This program will stress the benefits that the whitegoods shop as an enterprise expects to realize through the quality management system. The program will also emphasize the higher participation levels as well as self-direction that quality management system will provide the employees. Such a focus will go as far as enlisting employee support and commitment. This program will be run by an implementation team. The next step will be to provide a Quality Training Program. Since quality management affects all areas and all personnel within the enterprise, training programs will be structured for different categories of workers. The implementation plan will make provision for this particular training. The training will cover basic concepts of quality management, the standard as well as the general impact on strategic goals of our enterprise, the changed processes, and the likely culture implication of the system. The next step will be the implementation of the quality management sytem.It would be a good idea initially to evaluate all areas where there are high chances of a positive evaluation to maintain confidence of both the management and employees in the merits of implementing the total quality management. The implementation progress ought also to be monitored to ascertain that the quality management system is effective and conforms to the expected standard. These activities include management review, internal quality audit as well as formal corrective action (PHCC Educational Foundation, 1996). The final step is continual improvement. The enterprise will continually seek to enhance the effectiveness as well as the suitability of the total quality management system through the use of: Quality policy Audit results Analysis of data Management Corrective and preventive actions Quality objectives Recommendations Quality is a way of managing. Total quality control has an organizationwide impact that entails customer-focused quality activities (Hakes, 1991). This is a prime role of the management as well as marketing, work relations, finance, services, and of the quality function itself. As a result, continuous leadership emphasis of whitegoods shop ought to be placed on quality that has to be planned in specific terms (Westcott, 2005). The institution of a quality circle program or a corrective action team may not be sufficient for the ongoing process. All members of the enterprise must also be made responsible for the quality of their product or service. This implies integrating all the employees of whitegoods shop into the process. Error-free performance ought therefore to be the goal. New techniques ought also to be evaluated and implemented as appropriate as what might be a satisfactory level of quality to a client currently might be unacceptable tomorrow. For quality to be attained, continuous motivation is also required. Training specifically related to the task at hand is of great importance. It should therefore be considered as a strategic element of business planning (Westcott, 2005). Conclusion From the above report, it is clear that for an enterprise to become successful, it is important that it implements significant changes in their business performances and customer orientation due to the ever-changing global market places. Quality has become a customer issue as the current customers require products and services which do not only meet their performance requirements but also satisfactory in terms of span of working life, safety and pride of ownership. Total Quality Management is therefore significant for companies owing to the fact that, as a management technique, it is designed to involve all parts of the enterprise business in the pursuit of, and commitment to the highest quality outcome. References Charantimath, 2003, Total Quality Management, Pearson Education India. Hakes, C, 1991, Total Quality Management: The Key to Business Improvement: A Pera International Executive Briefing, Springer. Juran, Joseph M, 1998, Quality Control Handbook. 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York. Juran, Joseph M, 1988, Planning for Quality, Free Press, New York. Medori, D & Steeple, D, 2000, “A Framework for Auditing and Enhancing Performance Measurement Systems,” International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 20, no. 5, 2000, 520–533. PHCC Educational Foundation, 1996, Total Quality Management: A Continuous Improvement Process. Saxton, J & Finkelstein, M, 2003, Enhanced Communication to Reduce Liability, Physicians News Digest. Vengadajellum, G, Oostra, H, Di Lollo, A & McCarthy, M, 2010, Tenant surveys and TQM, Social Housing Foundation. Westcott, R, 2005, The Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Handbook, ASQ Quality Press. Read More