Total Quality Management (TQM)

I feel one concept that was interesting to me and needs more discussion than what is in the book is Total Quality Management (TQM), because putting it into practice has such potential for making an organization more effective. I read about it years ago and it made such sense to me. The authors of our book write that TCM “involves a comprehensive intervention that focuses all the organization system on the continuous improvement of quality.” The authors go on to explain that teams previously focused internally on the needs of the organization and externally on the customers of the organization, but now teams are more proactive versus just trying to fix problems.

Either way, I like this approach. As we learned, systems are responsive, interactive and interdependent. An organization is a system within a larger system. The actions an organization takes affects people in the organization, people with whom the organization deals, its customers, etc. If things aren’t going well in the organization, it makes sense to involve everyone in the system in finding ways to continually improve—management, employees, customers, suppliers, other organizations with whom the organization does business, etc. As we learned, diversity leads to more creative solutions, so the more people involved in continually improving, the better. As I wrote, TCM makes so much sense to me.