Page 10 - DMGT524_TOTAL_QUALITY_MANAGEMENT

Unit 1: Total Quality Management: An Introduction

In the late 1990s there was something of a backlash against the implications of TQM, Notes
especially in the United States. Florida Power & Light, for example, the first American
company to win the prestigious Deming Prize for quality management, cut its TQM
program because of its employees’ complaints about the excessive amount of paperwork
that it required. Douglas Aircraft, a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas, cut its program to
next to nothing. Newsweek colourfully described the aircraft company’s action: “At Douglas,
TQM appeared to be just one more hothouse Japanese flower never meant to grow on
rocky American ground.”

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
5. …………………… involves measuring, examining, and testing products, process and
services against specified requirements to determine conformity.
6. The first to apply the newly discovered statistical methods to the problem of quality
control was …………………… of the Bell Telephone Laboratories.

7. …………………… focuses on product and the detection and control of quality problems.
8. A by-product of quality circles was …………………….
9. The term …………………… referred to wider issues within an organization.

10. EFQM Excellence Model is the framework for the …………………….
11. TQM models are often called …………………….

1.3 Meaning and Definition of Quality

Quality is a complex phenomenon based on perceptions by individuals with different perspectives
on products and services. These perceptions have been built up through the past experience of
individuals and consumption in various contexts. Consequently, quality encapsulates time and
other contextual dimensions that add to the complexity of what is essentially a subjective
evaluation of the quality of good and/or service by the consumer.
There are varied definitions of quality. Few of these are:

“Quality is conformance to specifications.”
—British Defense Industries Quality Assurance Panel
“Quality is conformance to requirements.”
—Philip Crosby

“Quality is fitness for purpose.”
—Dr Juran
“Quality is synonymous with customer needs and expectations.”
—R J Mortiboys

“Quality is a predictable degree of uniformity and dependability, at low cost and suited to
the market.”
—Dr Edward Deming

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