An Analysis of Total Quality Management at Procter & Gamble

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Total Quality Management (TQM) at Procter & Gamble (P&G). It begins with an overview of P&G, its current quality strategies, and objectives, emphasizing sustainability and customer experience. The report then delves into the elements of P&G's quality program, including brands, supply chain, and consumer engagement. It assesses the maturity of the quality program, highlighting P&G's efforts in environmental regulations and sustainable practices. Furthermore, the report identifies issues within P&G's leadership and organizational culture, particularly regarding communication and departmental structures. Finally, it offers recommendations for improving P&G's quality journey, based on the PDCA framework, emphasizing employee and customer involvement, and co-creation to enhance environmental practices and product innovation.

Running head: TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the company:.....................................................................................................3
Current Quality strategies and objectives:.............................................................................3
Elements of Quality program:................................................................................................4
Maturity of Quality Program:.................................................................................................5
Issues with leadership and organizational culture:.................................................................5
Recommendations for improving the existing quality journey:.................................................7
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
The continual process of detecting and eliminating inaccuracies in the process of
manufacturing, supply chain management, ensuring employee improvement as well as
enhancing customer experiences is known as Total Quality Management (Sallis 2014). It can
be described as the management system, which is customer, focused approach and involves
the continual improvement process of employees by utilizing the strategy, effective
communication as well as the data to be integrated for the quality discipline in activities and
culture of organizations. The principles of Total Quality Management comprise of the focus
on customer, the involvement of employees, the concentration on process, a well-planned
integrated system, a systematic and strategic approach, continual improvement plan (Ross
2017). The principles also includes the decision making process based on facts as well as the
structured communication plan. The purpose of this paper is to understand the Total Quality
Management programs for assessing the effectiveness with current objectives of quality
management (Oakland 2014). The paper will be presenting the quality management scenario
of an organization for developing the understanding of a real business scenario. The selected
organization for this paper is Procter & Gamble. In this paper, the issues regarding leadership
and culture will be depicted which influences the productivity of Procter & Gamble. The
paper will be concluded by presenting a summary of the issues as well as the current state
followed with the series of recommendations. The paper will present the recommendation for
the purpose of improving the quality journey of the multinational company Procter and
Gamble. The recommendations will be based on the framework of PDCA, which was
formulated by Joseph M. Juran and W. Edwards Deming, and depicts the phases involved in
the development of quality management plan. It consists of four steps, plan, do, check and
act, used for the process of continual improvement as well as the control management of
manufacturing and launching products.

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Discussion
Overview of the company:
The multi-national company Procter and Gamble is an American based company
specializes on consumer goods (P&G 2019). An English American William Procter and Irish
American James Gamble founded the corporation in the year 1837. Headquarter of the
company is located in Ohio. The product ranges comprises of personal care, hygiene
products, consumer health products and the segments like grooming, beauty, home care,
family care and health care. The net sales of Procter and Gamble for the year 2018 was
reported as 16.5 billion dollars, which marked an increase of 3 percent increase in the
shipment value as compared to 2017. The diluted net earnings per share were 0.72 dollars,
which marked a decrease of 12 percent from the year 2017 (P&G 2019). Few of the popular
products of Procter and Gamble include Ariel, Vicks, Olay, Whisper, Tide and Gillette.
Current Quality strategies and objectives:
The current goals and objectives of Procter and Gamble include the peak of
sustainability for creating a positive impact on society and environment by the creation of
positive impact on consumers and company (Davenport, Iansiti and Serels 2013). The goal is
to respond to the most persistent environmental challenges, which are limited resources with
growing rate of consumption. The process of quality management will ensure the
incorporation of collaboration and partnership for the progress towards the set objectives. The
goal of sustainability can be ensured by the strategy of tracking every step of supply chain
process. In regards with the quality management of employee engagement, sustainability is
includes in the business plans (Davenport, Iansiti and Serels 2013). Leaders are restructuring
the strategies for aligning the operational processes with the strategic goals. The company has
the goal of collaboration as well as the customer awareness programs for implementing the
strategies in the business. The theme for this year is directing towards a specific goal of

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‘Redesigning the Good Life’. On the basis of one of the principles of quality management,
the company built an aim of enhancing the customer experience by building a sustainable
brand (Goetsch and Davis 2014). The customer base allows the company to respond to the
opportunity of promoting conservations, helping people to use the products of Procter and
Gamble as well as influencing the attitude of sustainable society (Davenport, Iansiti and
Serels 2013). The company, Procter and Gamble aims at earning improved returns on
marketing investments for ensuring the involvement of stakeholder’s satisfaction. The aim of
Total Shareholder Return can be achieved by the measure of creating values, which requires
sales growth, strong cash flow productivity and operating and gross margin (Queen 2015).
The company is aiming at building environmental leadership.
Elements of Quality program:
 Brands- The leadership brands of P&G includes Ariel, Fairy, Dawn, Pantene, Head
and Shoulders, Tide and Pampers will be directed towards inspiring the responsible
use by the help of cent percent reusable or recyclable packaging. The company is
planning to implement innovative brand designs for building trust and transparency
regarding the safety considerations of environment and society (Rosenbaum-Elliot,
Percy and Pervan 2015).
 Supply chain- The future plan of sustainability aims at transforming the supply chain
process of manufacturing sites by cutting the emission of greenhouse gases into half
(Uluskan, Joines and Godfrey 2016).
 Society/consumers- The Company aims at achieving a transformed solution regarding
dumping plastic in the water and by expanding recycling solutions. The quality of the
employee improvement can be ensure by engaging, equipping and rewarding efforts
and practices towards sustainability (Leos-Urbel 2015).

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Maturity of Quality Program:
The company’s approach to the environment quality program is directed towards
ensuring the safety association of products, operations and packaging for the environment,
consumers and employees. It also involves reducing and preventing environmental impact
with the process of incorporating innovation in the supply chain process. The company
attempts the transformation of the manufacturing, distribution and the process of disposal for
the purpose of reducing carbon footprint. The maturity of the quality program can be depicted
by the efforts of the company in regards with following the environmental regulations and
laws (Shewfelt 2014). The company abides by environmental friendly practices even without
the presence of government standards. Procter and Gamble cooperates with the governmental
support for assessing the issues of environment and involve in developing cost effective
standards and solution (Uluskan, Joines and Godfrey 2016). The multinational company has
reflected significant progress in energy usage and manufacturing process for aligning with the
set goals and objectives of quality management. The company has converted around 20
percent of the transportation demand in the regions of North America from the application of
diesel to the benefits of natural gas. For instance, in China, Procter and Gamble built solar
panels in the plant, which marked a reduction of around six hundred tons of carbon dioxide
yearly (Domingues, Sampaio and Arezes 2016). The multinational company, Procter and
Gamble launched a source of renewable energy in China. With the help of these initiatives,
the maturity of the quality program can be depicted.
Issues with leadership and organizational culture:
The brand is known for improving the lives of around 70 percent of globe by moving
forward than the competitors in regards with reducing carbon footprint. Even though the
company has improved its manufacturing and supply chain process, but has majorly failed to
communicate the significant improvements to the consumers through the use of effective
advertising media or by the launch of meaningful environmental friendly products

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(Christopher 2016). The issues of leadership and management can be reflected by the
unawareness of the consumers in regards with the innovative changes. If the leadership
decisions do not involve communicating the improved changes in the supply chain to its
employees and customers, it can fail in building positive consumer buying behavior
(Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The company is incorporating sustainability plan
behind the scene. Procter and Gamble outlined a comprehensive strategic plan, which
includes reducing the Green House Gas emissions during the functioning of operational
activities by 30 percent by the year 2020 (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The
strategic plan also includes transforming the sources of energy to a renewable form. The
materials used for packaging and product manufacturing needs to be 100 percent renewable.
The product design was part of the strategic plan which needs to be a value addition for the
consumers and at the same time maximize the protection of resources Goleman, Boyatzis and
McKee 2013).
However, the consumer perception about the environmental consciousness is
unacknowledged because of lack in efficient and effective marketing. In spite of the fact that
Procter and Gamble is one of the biggest brand with numerous media campaigns but the
multinational company failed at communicating or portraying the environment consciousness
through its brand image. The reason of this failure is the gap in leadership practices
(Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The employee contribution in aligning the
organizational practices with the goals and objectives can be facilitated by building a
cohesive and positive culture. Leadership roles play a crucial role in regards with
synchronizing the organizational sustainability practices (Antonakis and Day 2017). Various
functional areas of the company is not linked with the focused goal of delivering quality
program strategies. The issues can be identified in the organizational culture of the company
as the organizational structure is divided on the basis of departmentalized products (Goleman,
Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The leadership council of the company is structured based on the

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different categories of the product like health care and home care. The departmentalized
structures was created for simplifying the operation of sub-brands but have marked the
possibility of administrative difficulties. The organizational culture has not evolved
completely with the changing demand and innovative strategies of quality program as it is
structured on a bureaucratic and traditional management style (Cadden, Marshall and Cao,
2013). The leaders of the organization have directed the focus of product development
towards Information Technology instead of understanding the involvement of consumers and
employees (Cadden, Marshall and Cao, 2013). The code of conduct of Procter and Gamble is
considered to be strict, which restricts the interdepartmental interaction. Quality program can
only be aligned in the presence of flexible organizational culture and improved leadership
practices/style (Elsmore 2017).
Recommendations for improving the existing quality journey:
The recommendation for improving the quality journey can be presented based on the
quality plan of Joseph M. Juran and W. Edwards Deming. It consists of four steps, plan, do,
check and act, used for the process of continual improvement as well as the control
management of manufacturing and launching products. It depicts the various stages of quality
management, planning of the criteria, resourcing and allocation as well as the limitation or
guidelines associated with the ‘Plan’ of the quality program. The next step of the quality
journey plan can be ‘Do, which involves observing and collecting data. The following step of
‘do’ can be ‘Checking’ in which the company will have to process the evaluation plan for the
proposed actions (Shove and Spurling 2013). The last phase of the quality journey plan can
be acting upon the plan by integrating strategies for future development. One of the effective
and efficient strategic plan of improving the quality journey is involving employees and
customers in the process of innovating and conserving with the manufacturing of ideas for
environmental friendly process and products (Shove and Spurling 2013).

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Co-creation is one of the basic ways of implementing a quality program in an
organizational setting. Procter and Gamble can implement the strategic goals and objective of
the company by communicating the shared values and benefits of the proposed ideas as well
as Procter and Gamble should incorporate the process of co-creation, which can align the
objectives with organizational practices. The environmental practices of the company should
also be focused on responding to the major concerns of environment like climate change. The
company can involve two approaches. Firstly, the multinational company Procter and
Gamble should engage the consumers for educating about the ‘behind the scene’ conservation
and activities that is being adopted by the company (Omotayo 2015). The consumers should
be aware of the improvement in supply chain and manufacturing processes, which are
transforming as a purpose of quality program (Shove and Spurling 2013). On the other hand,
the multi-national company, Procter and Gamble should be involved in the process of
minimizing the existing use of Green House Gases in the production process as well as the
company should focus on the manufacturing of products, which are dedicated towards the
manufacturing of products which will have the potential of empowering and/or encouraging
the consumers for reducing carbon footprint in the homes of individual consumer (Watson
2013). Researches have reflected that only 10 percent of the consumers have the perception
or willingness to prefer high priced or minimum valued product and services. The
strategizing or planning phase of the company, Procter and Gamble should be focused on
creating a range of products, which is concentrated in benefiting consumers and targeting the
minimization of environmental impacts. On the basis of the theory depicted by Joseph M.
Juran and W. Edwards Deming, Plan, Do, Check and Act, the quality plan for improving the
quality journey of the multinational company Procter and Gamble can be depicted as:
 Plan- This phase will strategize the process of sourcing and allocating resources as
well as plan the criteria, which will determine the implementation plan. In this case,
the planning phase will cover the identification of problems, which leads to adverse

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environmental impacts. After the identification of the issues and concerns, the
resources like media selection, customer and employee involvement as well as the
need for financial support for forming an efficient and effective supply chain process
(Wetherill 2013).
 Do- Collecting data in the case of reshaping the quality plan of Procter and Gamble
will be the requirement for responding to the environmental concerns. Another set of
data can be about the knowledge regarding the customer’s and employee’s knowledge
for activities involved in the protection of negative environmental impacts from the
operational activities of the multinational company Procter and Gamble. The
company has to identify the areas with highest level of energy consumption for
addressing the opportunities of resolving environmental impacts. The brand is
strategizing for launching the new feature of the detergent Tide, which can be washed
in cold water, thereby saving the energy needed for heating the water. Tide pods are
another strategy which will change the customer perception about detergents as it will
be manufactured with comparatively lower amount of ingredient and with the similar
feature as well as the product design will encourage the optimum utilization of
detergent, thereby reducing wastage. The implementation process should also be
equipped with the selection of specific media platform for communicating/informing
the process of sustainable development. The customers, employees, consumers, public
interest groups and communities should be informed about the factual data in regards
with quality program and sustainable practices in the process of manufacturing,
packaging and operational procedure. Timely and honest communication will lead the
positive implementation of quality plan.
 Check- The Checking stage needs to ensure the efficiency and impact of the
implementation of the quality program. The process of continual assessment of the
implemented environment technology and sustainable approach as well as the

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monitoring of the progress in respect of the strategic quality goals and objectives can
respond to the gap in the implementation plan (Hietschold, Reinhardt and Gurtner
2014). The company should be involved in developing the strategy of product life
cycle analysis and state-of-art science in the process from raw material sourcing to the
disposal of used products.
 Act- This stage will involve the procedure of strategizing the improvement plan for
the next quality plan in regards with sustainable practices for the multinational
company, Procter and Gamble (Hackman and Johnson 2013). The continual process
of innovating products and processes will contribute towards the objective of
strengthening the image of Procter and Gamble. Leadership practices for
implementing sustainable practices are crucial as it can respond to the increasing
concern of customers regarding the use of consumer goods brand (Hackman and
Johnson 2013).
Conclusion:
Therefore, it can be concluded from the paper that a company may be actively
improving the operational or supply chain process but will lack the impact in the absence of
negative environmental impact. The multinational company, Procter and Gamble specializes
in the process of creating a sustainable system for minimizing the impact of adverse
environmental impact. However, the company failed in creating an intensive impact because
of the lack of customer knowledge, which led to non-recognition as well as the company
lacked in the process of creating a positive perception in regards with the impact of consumer
goods on environment. The main recommendation, which can ensure the redesigning of the
quality plan, is the process of co-creation; involving/engaging customers and employees
facilitate the incorporation of innovative ideas in improving the operational or supply chain
process. Involvement of customers and employees will also contribute towards increasing the
sense of values and satisfaction. The paper reflected significant issues in regards with the

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leadership style and organizational culture of Procter and Gamble like the lack of flexibility
and employee engagement for the purpose of achieving the desired strategic goals and
objective. The issues can be addressed by the restructuring of the leadership style and
organizational culture. Improved leadership style can ensure the alignment of the objectives
of quality plan and the employees’ individual objectives. The attainment of the strategic
objectives for the quality program can be ensured in the case of Procter and Gamble by the
incorporation of communication and resource planning strategy. The resource planning
strategy will comprise of the selective media for increasing the awareness of ‘behind the
scene’ sustainable practices and continual innovation plan can help in designing products
with significant level of positive impact. The implementation process should also be
equipped with the selection of specific media platform for communicating/informing the
process of sustainable development. The customers, employees, consumers, public interest
groups and communities should be informed about the factual data in regards with quality
program and sustainable practices in the process of manufacturing, packaging and operational
procedure. The positive impact will in return contribute towards the restructuring of an
efficient and effective quality program. The multinational company, Procter and Gamble
should incorporate measures, which can justify and implement the positive strategy of
sustainability.