Total Quality Management Practices and Impact

This assignment delves into the crucial role of Total Quality Management (TQM) in enhancing organizational excellence. It examines various TQM practices, their impact on competitive strategies and financial performance, and the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in linking developmental feedback to job performance. The analysis draws upon diverse sources, including academic journals, case studies, and industry best practices.

Running head: TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Total Quality Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Introduction
Globalisation has created a competitive nature in the market raising the demand of
quality being delivered to the customers. The demand of maintaining high quality for the
products exists in the organisations regardless of the industry. Both manufacturers and service
providers require delivering top quality for whatever they are selling to the customers for holding
competitive position in the market. This supplemented in the formation of Total Quality
Management, which is a systematic approach. It is necessary for the companies the TQM
perspective by adequate planning and implementing a constant organisational improvement
process. This helps them in gaining competitive advantage in the market by identifying
problems, building commitments and exceeding customers’ expectation. It is necessary for
contemporary business organisations to follow the principles proposed in the TQM to identify
the quality being delivered to the customers (Kalra and Pant 2013). This essay aims to identify
the total quality management of Toyota by analysing the three key principles namely
commitment, customer orientation and continuous improvement. This will focus on
identification of level of achievement attained by the multinational company I work in and
barriers faced by the company in the attainment process. The essay further recommends the
necessary modifications that can contribute in attaining the quality narrated in the TQM
principles.
TQM Principles
Total Quality Management from its philosophical stance integrates all its functions for
meeting the need of focusing on meeting the customer needs and organisational objectives. This
management philosophy was formulated back in 1950 and underwent numerous modifications.

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The philosophy gained its popularity in 1980s. The managements in contemporary business
organisations use this as a method that enables them to get involved in the continuous
improvement of the product manufacturing and services delivered to the customers. Kalra and
Pant (2013) described TQM as an accumulation of the management tools whose primary focus is
to increase business while reducing losses due to the wasteful practices. There are a number of
principles communicated by various scholars, out of which, five principles are considered as the
primary due to its importance in quality management of a business process. They are
management commitments, employee empowerment, fact based decision-making, continuous
improvement and customer focus (Gimenez-Espin, Jiménez-Jiménez and Martínez-Costa 2013).
However, management commitment, continuous improvement and customer focus is prioritised
over the rest of the principles due to their important contribution in quality management.
Commitment involves the input of both the managers and employees in the product
development process. Necessity for calculating the commitment of both for identifying the effort
put in the process for identifying the efficiency of the development process of the quality
product. From the perspective of employee commitment, the participation of the employee
towards the organisational goal is calculated. From the managerial perspective on the other hand
identifies the need of quality committee, plan formulation, policymaking, strategy
implementation and review of the process. This ensures the success of the process that assures
quality of the product being delivered to the customers.
Continuous Improvement guideline communicated through this principle on the other
hand identifies the need of analysing the way the product is being developed. As described by
Gimenez-Espin, Jiménez-Jiménez and Martínez-Costa (2013), the principle of continuous
improvement looks for the efficiency of a product development process and identifies the gap for

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improving the process. This further incorporates the evaluation of the employees and their
performance for understanding the capability and scope for innovati0n that will further increase
the productivity of the firm. The team with better performance is likely to provide quality
products and services to the customers of the organisation. The principle further calls for cross-
functional process management, attain, maintain and improve standards.
Customer Orientation according to Gimenez-Espin, Jiménez-Jiménez and Martínez-Costa
(2013) identifies the need of customers focused products. This principle communicates the need
of manufacturing products according to the need of customers and maintaining the product
quality according to the demand for satisfying the need. This principle further reviews the
communication process taken by the company for reaching out their customers in the target
market. The complete process includes the product, its functionality, attribution, convenience
and the means of communication of the products details to the customers.
According to Herzallah, Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez and Munoz Rosas (2014), the quality of a
product is considered as good only if it satisfies the customers’ need and hold greater perceived
value compared to the other similar products in the market. Hence, the quality of the product is
proportionate to the value it holds among the customers. The management process of the quality
in an organisation on the other hand as prescribed by Mohammad Mosadeghrad (2014) is the
complete process of need identification of the customers and working towards the similar aim.
This further involves the planning process, evaluation, implementation of the plan and directing
the workforce towards the aim. The principles proposed by TQM convey the standards to be
maintained in the process for delivering quality products to the customers.
Company Analysis

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The company I had worked in is a multinational company that delivers products and
services to the target international customers. The company includes three elements of quality
that they require to maintain that are innovation, customers and employee management.
The company values the contribution of the employees as they consider them as the
building block for maintaining the quality of their products. This leads them to hire the
employees who have greater experience on specific field and has the potential to develop
innovative products for the organisation. The company adopted multilevel evaluation for the
process of employing new workers into the organisation that includes group discussion, skill test
and personal interview. The company further offers the employees various training programs for
developing the skills for satisfying the customers’ needs. This also works as a motivational factor
for the employees to retain interest towards their work and the organisation. This in turn helps
the organisation in retaining the employees with greater commitment towards product
development that ensures the greater quality. Moreover, the employee integration in the decision
making process amplifies the sense of responsibility among the employees that further facilitates
in increasing the level of commitment of the employees. Moreover, the company has incentive
policies for distributing rewards that keep them motivated and encourage them to contribute
towards the organisational goal.
The management on the other hand follows cross-cultural leadership for addressing the
multicultural workforce of the company. This helps them motivating the employees towards the
goals of the organisation. The management of the company further developed the performance
review matrix that helps in identifying the development required by particular individuals.
Moreover, they have developed CSR policies for addressing the environmental issues in the
market in which they are operating. This requires them to formulate specific CSR policies for

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different markets as the particular company operates in the international market, under different
legislation. However, the company follows a general CSR policy for all their operational markets
around the globe that weakens the implacability of the policy.
The management commitment principle as communicated in TQM as described in the
earlier section communicates the guideline for providing greater quality of the products that
includes various management processes which needs implementation as per the requirement.
However, the primary objective of the principle as proposed by Goetsch and Davis (2014) is to
attain maximum efficiency of the workforce for developing quality products. However, the
multinational company under study reflects limitations in their management process.
As mentioned earlier, the company prioritises the customers in their product development
for holding competitive advantage in the market by meeting the customers’ demands and
specifications. This helps them in providing customers satisfaction that in turn helps in
increasing brand value. The increased brand value on the other hand helps them in building
customer loyalty. This can be attributed as the determinant factors for the company in prioritising
the customers’ perception in the product development. The customer-oriented nature of the
business is meet through need identification, satisfaction and individual need identification.
The company ensures the needs are met or even exceeds the customers’ needs. The
process of need identification involves market analysis that helps the company identifying the
existing trend in the market along with the possible upcoming trend that is likely to dominate the
market. Market analysis involves various market surveys and trend analysis. The research
division of the company again looks this after. They are responsible for collecting, analysing and
storing the data.

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The satisfaction of the customers can be considered as the centre of the company’s vision
and mission. The overall vision of the company is to provide quality product in accordance to the
customers’ needs for satisfaction and value creation. The overall team of the company is
involved in the process for maintaining the product quality being delivered. This involves the
activities ranging from product development, product promotion, product marketing, supply
chain management for on time delivery to market research for understanding the current sales
and upcoming trend. The retails store activities and services are checked for ensuring the primary
target customers of the company are satisfied. The attainment of success is determined through
the feedback approach taken by the company. This helps them understanding the customers’
perception towards the products company is delivering to their customers. The company further
respects the individual need of the customers. This directed the company to deliver a wide range
of product line for satisfying a larger customer segment in the target market. This again leads
them to stratify the market offering different products with different pricing for satisfying
individual customer’s needs.
Moreover, the quality assurance and control policies incorporated by the company
guarantees high quality and safety of the product. The manufacturing process is reviewed under
multiple product testing stages incorporated in the product development process. Moreover, the
company has on spot quality check during the manufacturing that helps in increasing the
perceived value of the products. On to it, the CSR policies of the company helps them uphold the
environmental safety maintained by the company in the process of production. This again
contributes in increasing product value. From the TQM point of view, the company has attained
success in following customer orientation principle in the quality management process. Customer

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orientation principle as mentioned by Gharakhani et al (2013) involves the necessary steps
required for both satisfying and measuring the level of satisfaction of the customers.
The company invests a lump sum in their research and development of the products. This
involves product life cycle review in accordance to the customers’ need. The constant review of
the need is required for introducing innovative products in the market in order to attract
customers’ attention. This is mainly done through the market study conducted by the company
using market analysis tools. Moreover, further importance of the division serves in developing
the future generation products for the customers. The development department of the company is
focused on designing the products according to the customers’ needs. The company is successful
in producing data related to the needs and developing products accordingly that helped them in
holding greater market share in the international market. The modification of the products is
constant in the company, which enables them to reintroduce the products in the market for
satisfying the customers’ demand. The concept products of the company represent the outlooks
that are to enter the market for next generation customers. This represents the successful
alignment of the with the mission and vision statement of the company as it accommodates
innovation.
Barrier Identification
The company however, faces considerable challenge in satisfying specific needs of the
individual. As the products delivered to the customers are standardised products, it is hard for the
company in the process (Ferner and Almond 2013). However, customisation of the products will
provide the company in gaining greater efficiency towards customer satisfaction. However, this
will increase the costing of the product, which in turn will modify the pricing of the products.

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This is a huge barrier for the company in their customer focus approach in the international
market. Moreover, the company requires modification in the process of data collection regarding
the experience. The contemporary feedback system is proving ineffective in the changing world
(Black and IVERIFICATION SERVICES LLC 2013). This in contemporary market becoming
barrier for the company to continue with existing system and requires modernised tool that
integrates technological advancement. Moreover, the need identification process utilised is
market analysis, which fails in complete identification of the trend in the contemporary market.
This also is becoming a barrier for the company in addressing the needs of the customers in their
target market. Lastly, the company has developed and followed CSR policy in the product
manufacturing process. However, the absence of CSR policies in other process such as supply
chain is a barrier in addressing the customer-focused principle of TQM (Ayuso, Roca and
Colomé 2013).
Some of the barriers as identified in the report are the absence of internal feedback
mechanism that needs incorporation within the workplace. This limits the international
communication of the organisation (Huang, Baptista and Galliers 2013). Moreover, the cross-
cultural leadership as utilised by the organisation limits the ability of motivating and directing
the workforce towards the goal of the company. On to it, the objective of the company is too
generalised and fails to focus on particular aspect.
This according to the TQM principle of innovation is properly aligned. As stated by Bon
and Mustafa (2013), a company needs to constantly innovate its operational process for
developing innovative products that will satisfy the market need. Constant improvement in the
organisation according to the TQM constant innovation principle will help the company holding
their market share in the target market. For example, Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan has

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been successfully holding their international market share due to the innovative approach of the
company and the vision of providing future generation products to the customers (Toivonen
2015). Similar but different example can be sighted for the case of Tesla, which is an American
automobile organisation. The cars manufactured by the company are eco-friendly and considered
as future technology of automobile industry. However, the company is failing in holding greater
market share due to its high end pricing, which again can be attributed to the high production
cost (Christensen, Raynor and McDonald 2015).
However, despite of focusing on innovation practices, the company is facing significant
challenge meeting customers demand. This can be attributed to the cost barriers. The production
cost for developing the products as envisioned is considerably high that reduces the profit margin
of the company (Klychova et al 2015). Some of the costing that plays active role in increasing
the production cost are the price of raw materials, labour costs, transport cost etc. (Ellram et al
2013). This can be considered as a significant barrier in the innovation process both admired by
the company and narrated in the principle of TQM. The company is further failing in developing
innovative products due to the high production cost.
Recommendations
The barriers identified can be considered as common challenges faced by a multinational
enterprise. Negligence of these challenges significantly reduces the product quality, which makes
it important for the organisations to mitigate the issues with maximum priorities. Following are
some of the recommendation that can improve the situation of the company and direct them
achieving the principles of total quality management.

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Barriers identified in the previous section on the management commitment limits the
efficiency of the company. The internal feedback system as identified can considerably increase
the efficiency in performance identification. Integration of employee feedback application in this
case can potentially benefit the company by increasing the motivation level of the company.
Benefit as identified by Guo et al (2014) is in encouraging the employees by communicating the
performance level and appreciating them for the job well done. This can also be used to
communicate job description to the employees. Integration of the application will also facilitate
the employees to communicate their valuable feedback regarding the workplace environment and
the management. This will help the company identify the areas with the workplace that needs
attention. The recommendation will also be welcomed from the employees for formulating ideas
regarding the improvement process that can successfully modify the workplace environment.
Change in leadership style is another modification required for developing greater
commitment. Changing the cross-cultural leadership to transformational leadership as identified
by Top et al (2013) will provide greater efficiency in motivating the employees that will redirect
their focus towards the organisational goals. Moreover, the transformational leadership will
facilitate in supporting the change that are being recommendation. The implication of
transformational leadership also lies in improving the innovative approach of the company.
According to Avolio and Yammarino (2013), transformational leaders have the ability to both
communicate and extract innovative ideas. Hence, the implementation of the particular
leadership style will facilitate in attaining multiple principles communicated through the TQM.
Expanding the manufacturing to the developing countries as recommended earlier will
help in reducing the production cost. This has further implication in attaining the customer-
focused principle of TQM. The lower production cost will help changing the product category

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from standardisation to customisable product. This will enable the customer receive products
specific to their need without major alteration in the pricing of the products.
Furthermore, the company needs to develop their general CSR policy. This is because of
the international operation of the business. The international organisations require specific CSR
policies for their operations in particular nations that should be developed in accordance to the
country legislation. Hence, to could be recommended to the company to formulate country
specific CSR policies for increasing the quality of their products and services (Stellner, Klein
and Zwergel 2015). Moreover, the company follows CSR policy in their production process,
whereas, they do not have any policy for the supply chain. Hence, separate policy regarding the
supply chain is required to develop for completely addressing the issue of environmental safety.
Barrier regarding the customer feedback can be solved with the development of company
App. This according to Helander et al (2014) is the modern trend used for gathering customer
review. The application will help both the company and the customers in receiving and providing
feedback respectively. This will enable the customers to provide feedback and submit complaints
related to the used products without having to visit the company’s service provides. Company
will further reduce their expenses by implementing the application, as this will delete the need of
outdoor feedback survey. Moreover, the application can also be utilised in conducting market
survey for need identification. The loyal customers of the company will be provided opportunity
for sharing their specific recommendation with the company stating their particular product need.
The next recommendation that can be provided is the utilisation of social networking
websites for collecting customers’ view. The increased technological advancement and
adaptation will support the utilisation of social networking in conducting survey. The target

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market reflects high utilisation of technology and social networking on daily basis. According to
He, Zha and Li (2013), utilisation of social networking for conducting customer need survey will
help an organisation in efficient data collection maintaining low budget for research division.
Hence, implementation of this particular recommendation will help the company in both getting
efficiency in data collection while significantly reducing the cost involved.
Lastly, the company is facing challenge in reducing the production cost that significantly
decreases the quality of the products, which fails in satisfying the customer needs. The company
is further failing in developing innovative products due to the high production cost. Two possible
solutions can be recommended. According to Dolgui and Proth (2013), outsourcing can
significantly reduce the production cost incurred by an organisation. Implementation of
outsourcing in supply chain can provide further benefits to the company by reducing the
transportation cost. Another benefit of using outsourcing lies in significantly reducing the risk
incurred by the company. However, as identified by Cortes and Pan (2013), this can significantly
reduce the quality of the product being delivered due to minimal control of the production
process. The second recommendation in this case that can be made is the FDI. This recommends
the company to open manufacturing facility in the developing countries. The benefits of this
planning involves in reducing the labour cost in the production process (Haberly and Wójcik
2014). This will further benefit the company in maintaining the product quality as the regulation
of production process will remain intact and the company will have full control over the process.
Conclusion
It is possible to state from the above discussion that the company has successfully
addressed the mentioned principles of total quality management for their quality management.

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However, they are lacking in certain sections of quality management process that is limiting the
full potential of the company. It is further increasing the expenses incurred. The provided
recommendations on the identified barriers can help the company in exploring its full
capabilities, simultaneously reducing their incurred expenses.

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