Convenience

total quality management (TQM)
(sometimes
called
quality assurance
)—a real and meaningful effort by an organization to change
its whole approach to business in order to make quality a guiding factor in everything
it does.
22
Figure 15.3 highlights the major ingredients in TQM.
Strategic Commitment
The starting point for TQM is a strategic commitment by
top management. Such commitment is important for several reasons. First, the organiza-
tional culture must change to recognize that quality is not just an ideal but also an objec-
tive goal that must be pursued.
23
Second, a decision to pursue the goal of quality carries
with it some real costs—for expenditures such as new equipment and facilities. Thus,
without a commitment from top management, quality improvement will prove to be
just a slogan or gimmick, with little or no real change. Just a few years ago, Porsche
Strategic commitment
Quality improvements
Employee
involvement
Materials
Methods
Technology
©
C
en
ga
ge
Lea
rn
ing
F I G U R E 1 5 . 3
Total Quality Management
Quality is one of the most important issues facing organizations today. TQM is a
comprehensive effort to enhance an organization’s product or service quality. TQM
involves the five basic dimensions shown here. Each is important and must be
addressed effectively if the organization expects to truly increase quality.
total quality
management
(TQM) (quality
assurance)
A strategic
commitment by
top management
to change its whole
approach to
business in order
to make quality a
guiding factor in
everything it does
Chapter 15:
Managing Operations, Quality, and Productivity
4 7 5
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had the lowest reliability of any automobile maker in the world. But a major commit-
ment from top management helped turn the company around. By paying more attention
to consumer preferences and using the other methods described later in this section,
Porsche shot to the top of global automobile reliability.
24