History of TQM and What is It?
According to Sallis, (2014), quality management can be defined as all the activities of the overall management functions that helps in determining the quality policy, objectives and responsibilities and are implemented by means of quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvements within the quality system. Thus, taking into consideration the above definition of quality management, Total Quality Management (TQM) can be defined as a philosophy on the part of the management of the business organizations to continuously improve the overall performance of the business on the basis of leadership, vision and plan statement, evaluation process control and improvement, supplier quality management, product design, employee participation, recognition and reward, quality system improvement, education and training and enhanced customer focus (Hoang et al., 2010). Thus, it can be said that TQM is all about how to effectively and efficiently run a business for achieving enhanced customer satisfaction on a continuously improving basis.
Digging deeper into the history of TQM, is has been observed that the roots of TQM can be traced back to early 1920s when the statistical theory was first applied for product quality control (Ross, 2017). The concept was developed further in Japan in the 40s led by the Americans Juran and Deming. Over the past few decades, the quality Gurus like Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum and Ishikawa have developed certain propositions in the field of Total Quality Management that have gained signfciant acceptance across the globe (Anvari et al., 2011). Their insights provide an enhanced understanding of the philosophies, principles and practices of TQM.
Deming’s Approach to TQM
The Deming’s Approach to TQM emphasizes on the creation of an organizational system that promotes cooperation and learning in order to facilitate the implementation of process management practices which in turn can lead to continuous improvement of products, processes and services together with employees’ fulfilment, both that are critical to customer satisfaction and thereby ultimately supporting the firm’s survival (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). The 14 principles of TQM that was proposed by Deming have been presented below:
[Source: Zairi, 2013]
Juran’s Approach to TQM
Juran’s Approach to TQM promotes TQM as a system of activities that are aimed to achieve empowered employees, delighted customers, lower costs and higher revenues. Juran proposed that the quality problems within an organization are mainly due to the management rather than due to the workers (Zairi, 2013). Quality management according to Juran was based on three basic processes that is referred to as Juran Triology and they are Quality control, Quality improvement and Quality planning. The triology has been presented below:
[Source: Zairi, 2013]
As per the study conducted by (Gharakhani et al., 2013), TQM is used in order to serve the following purposes in the events sector:
Advantages of TQM in the events sector:
Events organization aim at achieving high customer satisfaction with reduced cost of operations and minimizing the mistakes. So, by adopting TQQ approaches, the event organizations can minimize their cost of operations by eliminating errors and organizing the events by understand specific needs and wants of the clients. Moreover, through elimination of mistakes in event organization and designing and organizing the event as per the specific client specifications leads to enhanced customer satisfaction which in turn can enhance its market share since satisfied customers act as brand ambassadors. TQM emphasizes on improving quality in service delivery rather than inspecting the quality in the service delivery (Duh et al., 2012). So, it not only minimizes the time involved in fixing errors, but also makes it necessary to deploy a team of quality assurance personnel. TQM also leads to employee involvement which in turn enhances employee morale and make them feel valued thereby reduces the employee turnover which in turn reduces the cost of hiring and training new employees.
Limitations of TQM in events sector
Implementation of TQM in the event organization demands significant training period for the employees’ involved. Thus, since training can take people away from regular work, it can have a negative short term impact on costs. Moreover, since TQM promotes continuing series of incremental changes, it can have adverse reaction from the employees who prefer the current system or who feel that they can lose their jobs because of the new implanted system (Zehir et al., 2012).
Quality in events sector is important for following reasons:
Remaining competitive
Quality in service delivery helps the firm in maintaining its competitiveness in the market.
Meeting customer expectations
As proposed by Gorla et al., (2010), customers appreciate quality and thus quality services can enhance the level of customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers promote the brand and bring new customers thereby enhancing the market share and profitability of business.
Enhancing business reputation
When the delivered service matched the standard of quality promised, customers provide positive feedback and reviews that enhanced the reputation of the brand.
Achieving customer loyalty
Customers come back when quality of service is good event if the price is high (Dale, 2015). Thus, quality service helps in creating unshakeable customer loyalty and achieving high recommendations.
The Service Quality in the events sector can be judged through five SERVQUAL dimensions:
Tangibles
It refers to the physical evidence of the services i.e. the physical features, appearance of personnel and tools used for service delivery.
Reliability
It is the consistency in performance dependability i.e. billing accuracy, keeping record correctly and delivering services at the right time and right place (Krishnamurthy et al., 2010).
Responsiveness
It is the willingness to assist the customers and deliver services promptly.
Assurance
It refers to the knowledge and ability of the employees to convey trust and confidence.
Empathy
It refers to the ability of providing individualized attention to customers (Daniel & Berinyuy, 2010).
Company Background: The Events Company
The Events Company is led Richard Flowers and it is involved in offering turn-key services for the luxury events. The team of professionals in the company involves the event planner, creative directors, master florist, production managers, lighting and sound technicians, artists, logistics and production managers (Theeventsco, 2018). The worldwide network and extensive experience makes it possible for the company to plan exquisite event.
How Quality Circles can lead to Organizational Success of The Events Company
The business organizations that use the traditional system of management cannot withstand the contemporary competitive business environment. This is because; the traditional management tool proves to be ineffective in providing new solution to the new problems encountered. Thus, it becomes important for the business organizations like The Events Company to adopt and implement new techniques for organizational improvement. This can be achieved by implementing Quality Circle i.e. a volunteer group working under the leadership of their supervisor and are trained for identifying, analysing and solving work related problems and presenting the solutions to the management for achieving improved performance, motivation and enrichment of the work of the employees (Syla & Rexhepi, 2013). The implementation of Quality Circle would prove to be beneficial for The Events Company to achieve the following objectives:
In addition to the successful achievement of the following business objectives, Quality Circle would bring following benefits for The Events Company:
Thus, successful achievement of the above mentioned business objectives coupled with the benefits would lead the business towards success through delivery of good quality service which in turn would lead to customer satisfaction which in turn lead to positive feedback and reviews from customers thereby enhancing brand reputation, brand recommendation and addition of new customers resulting in increased market share and profitability.
However, since everything comes at a cost, Quality Circle implementation at The Events Company would also pose several limitations:
How Benchmarking can lead to Organizational Success of The Events Company
According to Zairi, (2010), Benchmarking is defined as the process of comparing the cycle-time, cost or quality of a specific process or method with another that is considered as an industry standard or leading practice. Thus, it helps in gaining a clear picture of performance measurement at a point in time and should be re-measured on a continuous basis.
Benchmarking would prove to be beneficial for The Events Company in analyzing the trend and setting targets as a part of its annual strategic planning process. With established baseline measurements, the decision makers would efficiently plan and align the business initiatives with the corporate strategy (Agus & Hassan, 2009). Benchmarking would facilitate the management of The Events Company with quantitative evidences of critical business processes and operations which in turn would prove to be beneficial in crafting solutions proactively for addressing the issues that not only increases efficiencies but also reduces the cost.
Benchmarking would assist The Events Company in achieving improved employee performance. The baseline data would serve as report card for the employees to understand how processes and systems are performing and would also set future improvement expectations. So, it would incite a competitive desire among the employees to improve and work smarter.
Thus, it can be said that it would facilitate The Events Company with a baseline today for growth tomorrow. The continuous monitoring of the metrics associated with the strengths and deficiencies of the business would provide opportunity to the organization to focus efficiently on the right growth levers. It would highlight to the business the value linked to improvements, efficiencies and cost reductions achieved that can lead to enhanced growth and profitability (Oakland, J2012). Thus, The Events Company by adopting benchmarking would enjoy benefits in the form of actionable information that would assist the company to grow, quantitative information that would drive strategic decision and initiatives, reduced uncertainty and proactive tactical action plan that are recipes of business growth and success.
However, in addition to above benefits, benchmarking might drive The Events Company to focus on the figures rather than on understanding the whole process that has led to industry standards or success for others (Amaral & Sousa, 2009). So, if managers are not efficient in designing strategies, it would not bring any good to business. Moreover, enhanced involvement in benchmarking by The Events Company might make the company to lose focus of its customers and employees leading to employee burnout and distress thereby leading customer dissatisfaction.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be said that everything comes with a cost that need to be strategically handled. The same is the case with tools like Quality Circle and Benchmarking. So, it can be recommended that despite some limitations associated with the tools, it would be beneficial for The Events Company to strategically and efficiently adopt and implement the tools since it would enhance its business processes leading to improved employee performance that would be reflected in terms of enhanced client and customer satisfaction resulting in enhancing brand reputation and profitability for the business.
References
Agus, A., & Hassan, Z. (2009). Can benchmarking through TQM implementation improve performance?: Some empirical evidence. World Journal of Management, 1(1), 62-82.
Amaral, P., & Sousa, R. (2009). Barriers to internal benchmarking initiatives: an empirical investigation. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 16(4), 523-542.
Anvari, A., Ismail, Y., & Hojjati, S. M. H. (2011). A study on total quality management and lean manufacturing: through lean thinking approach. World applied sciences journal, 12(9), 1585-1596.
Dale, B. (2015). Total quality management. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Daniel, C., & Berinyuy, L. P. (2010). Using the SERVQUAL model to assess service quality and customer satisfaction. An Empirical study of grocery stores in Umea.
Duh, R. R., Hsu, A. W. H., & Huang, P. W. (2012). Determinants and performance effect of TQM practices: An integrated model approach. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 23(5-6), 689-701.
Gharakhani, D., Rahmati, H., Farrokhi, M. R., & Farahmandian, A. (2013). Total quality management and organizational performance. American Journal of Industrial Engineering, 1(3), 46-50.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Gorla, N., Somers, T. M., & Wong, B. (2010). Organizational impact of system quality, information quality, and service quality. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 19(3), 207-228.
Hoang, D. T., Igel, B., & Laosirihongthong, T. (2010). Total quality management (TQM) strategy and organisational characteristics: Evidence from a recent WTO member. Total quality management, 21(9), 931-951.
Krishnamurthy, R., SivaKumar, M. A. K., & Sellamuthu, P. (2010). Influence of service quality on customer satisfaction: Application of SERVQUAL model. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(4), 117.
Mitra, A. (2016). Fundamentals of quality control and improvement. John Wiley & Sons.
Oakland, J. S. (2012). TQM: Text with cases. Routledge.
Price, F. (2017). Right first time: using quality control for profit. Routledge.
Ross, J. E. (2017). Total quality management: Text, cases, and readings. Routledge.
Sallis, E. (2014). Total quality management in education. Routledge.
Syla, S., & Rexhepi, G. (2013). Quality circles: what do they mean and how to implement them?. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(12), 243.
Theeventsco. (2018). About – The Events Company. [online] Available at: https://theeventsco.com/about/ [Accessed 30 Mar. 2018].
Zairi, M. (2010). Benchmarking for best practice. Routledge.
Zairi, M. (2013). The TQM legacy–Gurus’ contributions and theoretical impact. The TQM Journal, 25(6), 659-676.
Zehir, C., Ertosun, Ö. G., Zehir, S., & Müceldilli, B. (2012). Total quality management practices’ effects on quality performance and innovative performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 41, 273-280.
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