BNET Business Dictionary

Business Definition for: Total Quality Management

  • a philosophy and style of management that gives everyone in an organization responsibility for delivering quality to the customer. Total quality management views each task in the organization as a process that is in a customer/supplier relationship with the next process. The objective at each stage is to define and meet the customer's requirements in order to maximize the satisfaction of the final consumer at the lowest possible cost. Total quality management constitutes a challenge to organizations that have to manage the conflict between cost-cutting and the commitment of employees to continuous improvement. Achievement of quality can be assessed by quality awards and quality standards.
  • an integrated and comprehensive system of planning and controlling all business functions so that products or services are produced which meet or exceed customer expectations. TQM is a philosophy of business behavior, embracing principles such as employee involvement, continuous improvement at all levels, and customer focus, as well as being a collection of related techniques aimed at improving quality, such as full documentation of activities, clear goal-setting, and performance measurement from the customer perspective.

Additional Resources

Premises of Total Quality Management
TQM is an innovative approach to ensuring that work is done in an effective manner to meet the ever increasing demands that new technologies and work practices require. The five premises of total quality management are customer focus ? the customer is always right, total involvement ? think about all...
Tags: Total Quality Management, Research Results, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 2003-01-01
Organizational Effectiveness; Total Quality Management Total Performance Efficiency
Quality is the ability of a product or service to consistently meet or exceed customer expectations. The different dimensions of quality include safety, durability, and safety. The quality perspective is very important from the point of view of modern-day organizations. It is the fundamental aspect, which determines the meeting or...
Tags: Performance, Total Quality Management, Organizational Effectiveness, University Of Tulsa, Quality Perspective, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
Presentations 2002-03-04
Guideline on Total Quality Management
Every member of the construction team can benefit from the implementation of Total Quality Management TQM within their companies. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of TQM and to assist construction company executives in their understanding of the benefits of implementing TQM in their companies....
Tags: Total Quality Management, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 2003-11-20
Assuring Quality through Total Quality Management
This article is about current quality assurance practices which mainly emphasizes on the assessment or measurement of quality, assuming that this interest and attention will work some magic to make quality happen. Unforunately, quality doesn't just happen! Production processes have to be carefully planned, monitored, and managed to assure quality...
Tags: Total Quality Management, Westgard QC, TQM Framework, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 2003-01-01
Assuring Quality through Total Quality Management 2
The articles talks about adopting a framework for Total Quality Management with reference to laboratories. The framework involves quality laboratory processes, quality control, quality assessment, quality improvement, quality planning, and quality goals.. There is a need to make quality planning quick and easy. The time to be saved is often...
Tags: Quality Control, Total Quality Management, Westgard QC, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 2003-01-01
Quality: The Small Business And Total Quality Management
In many businesses, top-class quality is actually becoming the only road. If you're supplying giants (for example, in cars) they may well insist on quality certifications like BS5750. Getting these can be expensive and burdensome; they don't require plunging into Total Quality Management TQM - but if you're going to...
Tags: Small Business, Total Quality Management, Thinking Managers, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 2006-07-08
Total Quality Management
Quality of a product or service is measured by its reliability among the target audience and its conformance to performance standards. Total Quality Management TQM is an approach towards maintaining quality of processes and systems in an organization. TQM calls for checking quality at every stage of product development rather...
Tags: Total Quality Management, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
Presentations 2003-01-01
Total Quality Management in Software Development Process
This paper discusses the essences of total quality management TQM concept and identifies the principles of successful TQM implementation. It contrasts the Quality Seven (Q7) and the Management Seven (M7) tools commonly used in the TQM process. It also describes the Deming's quality management concept and his fourteen-point management method....
Tags: Software, Software Development, Total Quality Management, Chinese University Of Hong Kong, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 2000-01-01
The Impact of Total Quality Management (TQM) on Financial Performance : Evidence from Quality Award Winners
Total Quality Management : TQM is periodically lambasted by management gurus and the business media for its supposedly lackluster impact on financial performance. This paper presents objective evidence on whether this criticism is indeed justified. The evidence is based on a study of nearly 600 quality award winners. Three critical...
Tags: Financial, Total Quality Management, Strategos, Financial Result, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Financial Accounting, Business Operations, It Operations, Finance
White papers 2000-03-01
Total Quality Management As A Cultural Phenomenon
From the executive summary: ‘Total Quality Management TQM is defined as complete implementation of quality management principles and practices. As there is no such thing as a perfect implementation, the research results pertaining to TQM cannot be empirically validated nor do they directly provide any normative guidelines. The point, however,...
Tags: Total Quality Management, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 2003-01-01
The Philosophy Of Total Quality Management (TQM)
From the executive summary: ‘The importance of quality to successfully compete in the marketplace is axiomatic. The question facing organizations is not whether to seek ever-higher quality, but how to most efficiently achieve it. Unfortunately, the answer rarely lies in a specific set of techniques or management practices. Organizations, in...
Tags: University Of Michigan, Philosophy, Total Quality Management, Productivity, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 2003-01-01
Total Quality Management - The Time Has Come for Metallurgical Plants
The principles of quality management are well developed and, from a practical standpoint, thoroughly implemented in the process industries of Japan. Although these principles are now applied to the U.S. manufacturing industry, and as a result, the steel industry, they have been largely ignored in the non-ferrous and precious metals...
Tags: Business Operations, It Operations, Management, Quality, Quality Management, Strategy, Total Quality Management, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000
White papers 2004-07-01
Why Six Sigma Will Outlast Total Quality Management
Six Sigma is not just a new term for Total Quality Management TQM. They have many similarities and are compatible in many business environments. TQM has brought great improvements and value to many companies. Six Sigma can do more. TQM is the development, deployment, and maintenance of systems related to...
Tags: Total Quality Management, SixSigma.us, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Quality, Six Sigma, It Operations, Business Operations
White papers
The ABCs of developing TQM. (total quality management)
LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR SOLID corporate profitability has never been more important than it is in today's tough, recessionary times. A total quality management TQM program may be just the tool security organizations need to construct a framework for success. TQM is the process by which...
Tags: ABC Inc., accident, Quality, SECURITY, training
Research articles 1992-09-01
Total Quality Management in the public sector: The University of Texas Quality Center
The 90s, it is predicted, will be the "Decade of the Customer." If this is true, Total Quality Management TQM is likely to shape the business culture of the 90s. A business management philosophy, TQM aligns employee activities with the common focus of customer satisfaction, the goal being higher quality...
Tags: Quality, University of Texas
Research articles 1992-10-01
Boncosky opts for "BQ' over 'TQM.' (Boncosky Oil Co.; Boncosky Quality; total quality management)
Boncosky Oil Co. has adapted the total quality management concept to blend with its corporate philosophy, drawing up a plan called 'Boncosky Quality.' The quality management program involves getting input from employees, allowing them to make decisions and making them responsible for the consequences of these decisions. The approach has...
Tags: Boncosky Oil Co.
Research articles 1994-11-01
Boncosky opts for "BQ' over 'TQM.' (Boncosky Oil Co.; Boncosky Quality; total quality management)
Boncosky Oil Co. has adapted the total quality management concept to blend with its corporate philosophy, drawing up a plan called 'Boncosky Quality.' The quality management program involves getting input from employees, allowing them to make decisions and making them responsible for the consequences of these decisions. The approach has...
Tags: Boncosky Oil Co.
Research articles 1994-11-01
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total Quality Management TQM is an evolving system of practices, tools, and training methods for managing companies to provide customer satisfaction in a rapidly changing world. Total Quality Management improves the performance of companies in several areas: eliminating product defects, enhancing attractiveness of product design, speeding service delivery, and reducing...
Tags: Total Quality Management, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 2003-01-01
What went wrong with Total Quality Management(TQM)?
"The concept of Total Quality Management TQM is fantastic which involves the people, examine their work flow and develop ways to improve the output, thus eliminating waste. By including staff and gathering input from everyone involved in a procedure, we are able to collectively examine the function purpose and...
Tags: Physician, Total Quality Management, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Business Operations, It Operations
White papers 1996-12-01
Total Quality Management
From the executive summary: ‘Companies can improve the bottom line through better quality in several ways viz. lower costs through consistent quality, higher prices (through high-performance design), and greater market share through both consistent quality and high performance design.' The best way to maintain quality standards is to nip the...
Tags: High-performance, Total Quality Management, Quality, Tqm/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, Leadership, Business Operations, It Operations, Management
White papers 2003-01-01
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