Total Quality Management (TQM) Global Financial Crisis

Question: Total Quality Management (TQM) can be described to be a management philosophy embracing all activities through which the needs and expectations of the customer and the objectives of the organisation are satisfied in the most effective and efficient way. To implement successful TQM within an organisation the following factors should be addressed: Total employee commitment Strategic and systematic approaches to manage quality Integrated systems Decision making based on fact, both quantitative and qualitative Tools/systems to attain continuous improvements Effective communication throughout the organisation Staff training and development You are required to research and evaluate the impacts that successful implementation of at least two of the factors above would have on an organisation of your choice. Provide examples of organisations within the Events sector that illustrate good practice. Answer: Introduction Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach used in companies and firms that depict a broad and organized approach to managerial organization that aims at improving the quality of goods and services. The requirements of TQM differ from one organization to the next, but they all adhere to the set standards and has since been adopted and applied to almost all organization that can be imagined with examples of schools, hotel management, and even highway management (Wilkinson, Redman, Snape, and Marchington, 1998).TQM standards contain a series of four categorical processes. They include planning, doing the planned activity, checking how the process runs and acting toward your findings. The Genesis And History Of Tqm The concept of process control and the efforts made to produce a quality product is nothing new in our today time. It has been traced by historians dating as far back as 3000B.C in the Babylonian empire. The Babylonians did put preference in the quality of production mainly from the Hammurabis code, a ruler of Babylon at the time. This law depicts a particular concern for quality during production (Sims, 1995). This process control is believed to have begun with the pyramid construction in Egypt when a quarrying and a dressing system was designed. Not far from the time of pyramid construction did the Greek architectures surpass the Egyptians in military based areas. They showed control when they indulged in ship building in Venice introducing a rudimentary system in the production process and product standardization. In these two systems work done by an operative was inspected. A decision to accept or rejecting the agent's work was then made (Montgomery, 2007). However as the product ion process grew larger, problems arose such as: there was an increase in technical difficulties, which required specialized skill which was not passed by production workers, there were instances where inspectors did lack training, in other circumstances to increase output the inspectors were given a direct order to accept substandard goods and finally people with the necessary skills and training were promoted to other areas and given new roles, leaving the semi-skilled laborers to conduct operational duties. This affected their production terribly. These challenges prompted the birth of a whole new inspectorate department in the production headed by "chief inspector" who reported to manufacturing in charge or the manager of workers. This creation of a new office came with new and organized issues of standardizing of products, recording of data, training of employees and equipment measuring. This was an issue as the responsibilities and duties of "chief Inspector" were way too more than just accepting of products and of course the responsibility to address defects whenever they emerge. The quality control department evolved, and the in charge was given a new role of inspecting the product and the role of quality control engineering (Hoyle, 2001). The rise of an industrial revolution and the emergence of the factory system, quality and control were developed. And the early concept that was applied here is still used today. There was a need for labor specialization as the many people working in a factory had to be organized. The interchangeability of roles by the worker was introduced by Eli Whitney to manufacture 15, 000 muskets for the government at the time which he succeeded. This event represented the emerging age of mass production. It was characterized by replacing a skilled craftsman as the inspector at the workbench with a specialized function of conducted inspection processes by individuals who were not directly involved in the process of production London (Kanji, Malek, and Tambi, 1999). In the 1920's, there was a birth of statistical theory in the practical quality control. In 1924 Shewhart became the first man to sketch a chart of the modern control system. Deming later developed on Shewhart's work and the early work of Deming, Shewhart, Romig and Dodge constitute the basis of our modern statistical process control. However, little of this technique was applied till late 1940's. At that time, the Japanese industrial system was not reliable. They were associated with imitation products and a workforce which was mostly illiterate. They, Japanese noted this weakness and decided to solve them with the aid of recognized Gurus, Feigenbaum, Deming, and Juran. Early 1950's excellent management practices were observed in Japanese production plants, and this became a major theme in the Japanese management philosophy. This was upheld by everyone and by 1960 quality control, and management was recognized as a national preoccupation (Deming, and Edwards, 1982). International conference regarding control of quality was first held in 1969 held in Tokyo, Japan. The term "total control" by first used by Feigen Baum and he explained that it referred to many issues like organization, planning, and management tasks. "Total Quality Control" was defined by Ishikawa and mainly referred to the general company control of quality and further described how quality control should be studied and exercised by all employees starting from management at the top to workers at the bottom. With the west countries, quality control began in the early 1980s. This was noted when companies come up with their own quality control programs and ways to compete with the Japanese advancement in quality control. In 1982, the Trade and Industry department of Britain stated that the country's world trade was on the drop and this had an adverse effect on the people's standards of living. There was great competition globally and the came up with National Quality Campaign in 1983 with BS5750 as the central theme. Its goal was to emphasize to industries the merits of quality for a chance in the competitiveness in the global market (Evans and Lindsay, 2002). International Standards Organization was developed since then and has been the standards recognized internationally for systems involved in the quality management. It entails several rules that describe the requirements for documenting, implementing and maintaining a quality system. Currently, in the 21st century, TQM has a place in many countries that gives an outline of quality helping organizations achieve excellent performance. Quality standards with ISO 9000 series and programs with quality awards such as Malcolm Baldrige and Deming prize give the specific principles and the TQM processes (Wright, 1997). Case Study 1: Excel London At Excel London, the company has used several techniques in the corporation to ensure employees commitment. These techniques are; Affective Commitment in Excel; in the general description, this is understood as the workforce's constructive emotional bonding to the organization. At Excel, the corporation has created an environment such that the employees have an emotional bonding with the body. They find it in their hearts to stay with the organization not because they are forced to but because it is their choice to do so. The corporation has enabled this through the level of respect and the power given to the workers. The workers are free to air their concerns to the managers and even pose suggestion on the area in which they feel needs improvement (Yusof, and Aspinwall, 2000). The workers also feel obligated to the business because of the world class employee treatment they get from their managers and the free, fair and open promotional practices that happen in the organization. At excel the promotion chances are open to every employee who is hard working and has had an excellent history of customer service (D ale, 1999). The second technique that Excel London uses to ensure employee commitment is the continuance commitment where the employees show commitment to the organization because the thought of losing a position at Excel given the high standards of workers' image that the employee earns by working at a global recognized institution like Excel gets. They organization has ensured this by creating a variety of reasons like the high financial salary with many benefits, several social costs relating to ties and reputation and many more make the employee be very committed to the organization given that not so many corporations out there offer similar rates of payments and benefits and have the same brand image as Excel London (Kanji, Malek, and Tambi, 1999). Excel London has also ensured employees commitment by creating a normative commitment where the workers have an obligation to the Excel London. It has achieved these through the various services provided to their employees at a personal or social level and in return the workers feel obligated to return the favor by being committed to the Excel London company. The loyalty showed by the workers in their working areas is strong due to individual value perspectives that define his or her behavior in the business or due to social norms that relate to the environment the organization belongs to (Schmitt, 2009). Excel London kept measures to ensure continuous improvements in the organization. This measure is; Upholding high standards in their products and services; Excel London aims to increase its productivity by maintaining the high-quality services they provide. Though the event organizers the corporation aims at organizing events convenient to their customers regarding the room sizes to accommodate all the members, decoration of the chamber and provision of excellent audio and visual systems. The exhibitors are there of high-quality art works and stature displays to the visitors. Employees motivation and participation; the organization focuses on the level of services that their employee give to their customers. And to ensure quality service delivered which in turn will result in the growth of the Excel London the organization has carried out employee motivation through high payments and provision of benefits to workers. It has also motivated them through the equal opportunity of promotions to every employee and salary increment. Continuous improvement processes; the organization has installed measure of continuously coming up with the new structures, decorative, and services offered by the new experienced laborers and emerging technology to improve the quality of services they offer. By so doing it has been building its brand name over the years and-and thus increasing the number of visitors it gets. The impact of efforts made to ensure workers commitment and continuous improvement of the organization have led to success of the business and a worldwide brand image the organization has due to its classy services. Positive result when it comes to the Excel London Hospitality department where the workers deliver a modern class hospitality practices such as serving food and drinks at the hearts of visitors experience. Event organizers and exhibitors and catering service work together, through a union commitment practice to creating meetings and menus and other performance experiences that enhance the experience of the visitors, and this leads to a more successful outcome. This success is what has attributed Excel London to be receiving visitors all-round the year. Case Study 2: O2 This is an organization aimed at delivering cutting-edge, innovative games across all and any discipline in which they specialize at. These controls include sound, lighting, event management and logistics, scenery and a sustainable and environmentally friendly event production. The corporation has a professional and a dedicated approach to service and delivering of events of the best standards. The corporation does this by providing an extensive production service which by far takes the pressure off event management companies as well as private clients (Jones, 2014). The company has incorporated various aspects and techniques to in ensuring workers' commitment. These measures are; Employees engagement; The success of O2 has by far and wide been associated with the committed and motivated workforce. The corporation has provided an environment in which they make the employees feel that they play a paramount role in making the organization realize its goals. The O2 group also make the employees understand that the company values their contribution. The company has invented a mean to determine employee's level of commitment to the organization and their working condition and through the frequent dialogue the O2 group can get the employees complained and suggested areas of improvement. The body then takes the necessary action to ensure employees comfortability and satisfaction in their field of operation. Provision of a great working environment; The O2 corporation has a very attractive and homely atmosphere at this by itself is a motivating factor for the employees. The working environment and the brand image of the O2 boost the morale of the employee improving the level of services they offer (Greep, 2016). Training and rewarding of the workers; To raise the employee's commitment to the organization the company provides a uniform training of the workers equipping them with the relevant skills and services necessary to the delivery of services ant O2. Afterward, it undertakes the rewarding exercise to that employee who deliver excellent services. This has lost the employees commitment to the organization as they all want to be rewarded (Rother, 2009). The organization has also attained a system to achieve continuous improvement over the years. These are; Provision of opportunities to all employees in giving their views in the various areas they think needs improvement. The organization has given the employee the mandate to point out relevant sectors that need improvement in the group be it on management, operating environment, and even salary issues (Evans, and Lindsay, 2002) Incorporation of the employees in the attainment of the company goals. The company has provided the employees with the goal that they would wish to attain and requested the to be a part of its realization. This for years has increased the employee's output making them work towards the growth of the company (Greep, 2016). Provision of training to workers and staff. The organization has been providing training to their employees especially the ones who are in direct contact with their customers making them have the necessary skills and knowledge in the service rendering process. This over the year has built the brand name of O2 hence receiving, even more, visitors and hence promoting the corporation's growth ((Evans, and Lindsay, 2013) The impact of efforts made to ensure workers commitment and continuous improvement of the organization have led to increased number of visitors being received at the O2 corporation. Profits have been realized by the organization as the more the visits the more the profits. The O2 has also been able to expand their operations in terms of services and production taking advantage of the different needs of their visitor hence expanding their profits margins. This has also led to more jobs also being created due to the continuously expanding O2 organization (Greep, 2016). Conclusion TQM is a crucial concept and when applied in the correct manner to an organization or a company in its day to day operation then the results will certainly be rewarding. It is, however, important to note that for an efficient performance TQM should be practiced at all stages of the organization (Connolly, and Wall, 2011). This includes the lowest employees up the ladder to the managing directors and CEO of the organization. The beauty of TQM is that it is applicable to all departments of an organization including the finance, production, marketing and information departments (Kaplan, and Norton, 1996). Employees are given the mandate of decision-making and problem-solving hence improving on the quality standard of goods produced by the organization. TQM aims at bureaucratic decentralization approach in an organization (Walton, 1988). Recommendation Companies dealing with goods or services need to exercise total quality control management. By so doing the are going to increase their productivity, efficiency and avoid mistakes which could easily have been avoided if quality management practices were incorporated in administration. 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