Total Quality Management & Business Excellence Essay

Quality in terms of business and services provision

Describe about the Total Quality Management & Business Excellence?

Quality management is a process by which an organization ensures the product or service consistency. Quality management can also be describing as the system of the management that involves all the employees to integrate a continuous process of improvement. The quality management process has few primary elements (Adams, OʼBrien & Scruth, 2015).

Customer focused- the quality of the product or the customers generally evaluate services. So the first criteria of quality management are to be customer focused. Companies do many things to improve the quality such as training of the employees, integration of quality in the process of design, up gradations of software and computers or buying various measuring tools etc. No matter you does everything right or wrong it is customer who decides whether the effort is worthwhile.

Involvement of employee- in an organization all the employees work towards a common goal. So to maintain a consistent quality it is very important to involve all the employees in this process. It is possible when fear is out of the mind of all employees; organization provides a proper infrastructure of the work place, which satisfies all employees need. High performance is possible when all employees integrate with each other and coordination is good between them (Aladinrc.wrlc.org, 2015).

Process centered- the fundamentals of quality management are depending on the process. Process is the series of steps where inputs are given by the external and internal suppliers to convert into outputs which are delivered to the customer in terms of product or services. So process determines the quality of the ultimate product. More process in a manufacturing line means more quality check of this product, which ensures to identify the minimum variations, which are unexpected in the streamline.

Integrated system- Integrated system is the system, which integrates all the departments of an organization. It is very important because all the departments are fundamentally different in their characteristics, which are involved in the process of manufacturing. Everyone in the company should understand the mission and vision of the company to work for a common organizational goal. The performance of the company depends on the understanding of the goal. An integrated system of quality management will always enhance the performance of the organization by indentifying the problems in each step. 

Strategic and systematic approach- it is very important to plan perfectly of the process of the organization. Proper strategy towards the planning is the key to the quality management. This is the critical part of the process because strategy has to be focus with the mission, vision and goals of the organization (Andrade, Mendes & Lourenço, 2015).

Concept of total quality that developed the processes of inspection and assurance

Continual improvement- continuous improvement is the main concept of the quality management. There will be problems, which will arise in the process of production. It is the job of the quality management team to identify each one of them and fixing it by continuous improvement.

Fact based decision making- it is very important to know how the well the organization is running. To know this various data’s and information’s are being collect and analysis are being done for the improvement. Depending on that analysis, right decision is being taken for more improvement.

Communication- When decision-making process is done, it comes the time to implement it within the organization. To implement any change in the process it is very necessary to establish a good communication within the organization. Communication is also important to run the day-to-day work, motivating employees and maintaining the moral of the organization. Communication consists of time, method and strategy (Chaudary, Zafar & Salman, 2014).

The process of inspection consists of six steps.

Planning- first step of inspection is inspection planning which s very necessary for the whole process. The planning of inspection includes where are the areas inspection is important, how many time they will be inspected in a month, who will be the key persons for the inspections etc. these kind of planning helps to schedule the steps of inspections. Planning also set the guideline of the overall process.

Over view- Inspection over view is a optional step in the process of inspection. In this step it is being determined the need of the inspection during the phase of inspection planning ('Customer-Defined Quality and Quality-Based Product Portfolio A Theoretical Framework on Quality', 2015).

Preparation- in this phase the inspector prepares the checklist and other materials, which will be provide for the inspection. The inspector checks here that whether the items are meeting their requirements, which will ensure the appropriate standards of the products.

Meeting- in this process the leader of the inspection team elaborates what to do and which are the process to be follow. The problems were being discussed in detail so that the employees understand well what the objective of the inspection is. From this meeting recorder starts to records each and every discussion and steps, which are performed until the end of the process.

Rework- after the inspection problem is identifying in the streamline and measures will be taken to rectify this. The technical staffs will provide the support to rectify the process or step. In this step also the recorder will record data’s.

Quality management approach that Toyota had adopted

Follow up- After the rectification the inspection team will again inspect the process whether they are running properly or not. According to the follow-up process, report will be generated (isites.harvard.edu, 2015).

Toyota as an organization was very keen to make a good relation with their customers as well as business partners. Believing in this philosophy they used to practice few quality management processes which was later known as the Lean philosophy. In this philosophy, Toyota was able to reduce the time between customers order and the shipment by eliminating some process, which was not necessary. In this philosophy, Toyota was able to reduce cost and time (Parvadavardini, Vivek & Devadasan, 2015).

The company like Toyota should use the six sigma model where there was a very good project where few tools can be used known as DMAIC which helps to address the problems, they are

Define- here the problems are being define thoroughly and discussed about the process of rectification (Williams, 2015).

Measure- after defining the intensity of the problem is being measured to get an idea about what kind of rectification is required ('Quality, Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions', 2015).

Improve- in this stage the team implements the defined solution which helps to improve the quality of the process. Continuous improvement is one of the goals of six-sigma process.

Control- after implementing above processes to rectify and improve the quality management the control plays the vital part. If everything, in the streamline is running well and good then the process is under control, which is monitor continuously to ensure that no unexpected changes occur (www.eolss.net, 2015).

For every organization customer satisfaction is the most important thing in terms of quality, quantity or customer service (Maricic, Veljkovic & Djordjevic, 2012). The customer satisfaction is the main motive for any organization and the company like TOYOTA always wants to satisfy their customer by providing good service to their customer, so that it will help them to build a good customer relationship for the future. The measurement of the number of customers satisfaction can affects the Toyota Company in a very large way. Toyota is one of the leading companies in the car-selling world, because of its continuous improvement of the technology and the services that it provides to its customer. The customers of the Toyota Company are very much satisfy with the service of the Toyota company because the Toyota company provide the best services to its customers, not only in the time of selling the cars but also after sale services of the Toyota company is very good. From the Toyota point of view, customer satisfaction is the most important thing because it indicates that how the customers like the product or services, which are provide by the Toyota Company, and it indicates the future purchasing of the customer. Customers satisfaction is also create the differentiation between the companies; it reduces the competitions among the different competitors, which is very helpful for the company. Customers satisfaction is also can be measure with the system of feedback from the customers; many cars selling company as if Toyota is introduce the feedback collecting system from the customers, so that they can know about the satisfaction levels of the customers, which will help them to improve the quality of products or services.

Customer Satisfaction

Continuous improvement is the process of ongoing effort, which all the companies want to do for the satisfaction of the customers (Sloan & Sloan, 2011). By the process of continuous improvement the companies always tries to develop the system of the company. It is the process of improving the quality of the product or the services provided by the particular company as the Toyota Company always want to improve the process of production of the cars, so that they can serve their more accurately. The growth of the company is largely depends on the innovation of the company, the introduction of the new and advance technology help the Toyota company to improve the standard of their business. The Toyota Company always wants to serve their customers in a better way that is why they recently, try to give safety and comfort to their customers.

The continuous improvement process also eliminates the risk of producing the defect items in the company, because of the advance technology. The Toyota Company also gives proper training to the employees of the company so that the employees can serve the customers in a better way. This is a continuous process for the Toyota Company; they believe that if the employees of the organization are train than only they can provide the best quality of services to their customers.

There are various types of added value and benefits that the Toyota adapts for the effective quality management. They are:

The reduction of the risk is one of the added value for the Toyota company, as it give satisfaction to the customer because safety is one of the important measure for the customers, the Toyota company reduce the risk, by promising the safety of the customers (Mashhadi, Alänge & Roos, 2012). The Toyota Company passed all the safety measure, which should there before selling the car.

The quality of the products or services also improve by the Toyota company, so that it can help to satisfy the customers need and because of these improvements the customers of the Toyota company are always happy to buy the car from the Toyota (Chatterjee, 2013). The quality is very important for any car selling company, because it provides the safety measure to the customers, no customers wants to buy low quality car now a days.

Time management is also the added value for the Toyota company, as they always try to deliver the product or services in time to their customers, because time is very important for everyone now a days (Majamaki & Hellman, 2015). In early days the Toyota use to take so much of time to deliver the car, but in the present days because of its new technology or advance system the Toyota Company are able to deliver the car within a very short period.

The increasing in the numbers of the stores is also the added value for the Toyota company, for example before there was a very few Toyota store in the market, but now a days there are much more stores in the market, and the customers can get the very easily (Veeraraghavan & Vaidyanathan, 2011). The Toyota also increases the capacity of the production of the car, so that they can serve the customer in a better way.

The Toyota Company always try to do marketing in such a way for the Toyota cars that it can catch the minds of the customers very easily (Milichovský & Šimberová, 2015). The company also focuses for the distribution of the product in a very wide range, so that it can easily available to the customers. The Toyota also wants to make it advertisement in a classic ways, as it has the good reputation in the market. Toyota also offers the hybrid products to its customers, which are very valuable in terms of customer’s satisfaction.

The information those are available in the market about the Toyota car:

The information about the products of the company (Thu Nga & Binh, 2012).

The information about the range of the products those are available for the customers.

The information about the company overview, so that the customers can have the knowledge of the company before buying the products.

The whole information those are necessary about the car, before buying any cars.

Total quality management are a set of tools which are used to measure the quantify outcomes, structures, processes of a particular product and services. Every organization used the quality management tools to improve their product and to identify the pros and cons of their product (Brown, 2013). Toyota has a great reputation in manufacturing high quality vehicles in different parts of the world and the reputation was achieved by providing quality services to its customers. It uses a set of management tools to measure its product quality and they are as follows:

Six-Sigma: It is the most disciplined data approach, which is use to eliminate the defects. Toyota uses this approach to eliminate the effects in an effective way in order to deliver the quality services to its customers. Six-Sigma is one of the most accurate forms of approach to identify the defects in the product and services (Calabrese & Corbò, 2014). It also helps to meet the requirements of the customers and improve the customer retention and growth in business.

Quality Management System (QMS): It is a set of processes, which is use to develop the quality of the product and services. Toyota also uses this total quality management to meet the needs of the customer in a standard way. It is also a cost effective process and the need for this TQM technique is keep on growing in every business sector (Chandna, 2014). The quality management system helps to measure the financial and non-financial results and detects the process based causes.

DMAIC Tools: It provides variation from business and manufacturing process. The five steps approaches of DMAIC are Define, Measures, Analyze, Improve and Control. It is the most defect free process and highly effective for long process. It is very competitive in nature an results positively (Ebrahimi, Wei & Rad, 2014).

The user survey is use to generate information from the people about the product and services they are using. It helps to understand the requirement and needs of the potential customers. It also helps to improve the products and services by knowing the actual needs of the customers.

Feedback: The main benefit of the survey is to know that whether the customer is satisfied with the Toyota’s product or not. It gives a chance to the people to share their relevant views towards the company products and services. The user survey allows the potential customer to offer their loyalty towards the company and the company will know that how the customer is feeling after buying their product.

Commitment: The people like the idea that the company is so much concerned about their customer and they are providing after sales services. A long-term commitment always attracts the customer to purchase the same brand in the future. It is also a sign that the company is caring enough for their customer that they are trying to improve their product on the references of their valued customers.

Non-user survey is conduct to know the people reasons that are not using the Toyota products and services. It helps to develop a strategy to target the non-buyer and turn them into a loyal customer.

Create Awareness: This kind of survey helps the company to create awareness about their products and services. The people are aware about the company and its product and is helps to influence the future buying decisions of the customers.

Target New Market and Customer: The Non-user survey helps the company to target a very new market and new customers. During the process of survey, they also provide information about the Toyota product and help people to make buying decisions.

There are several methods, which are use to encourage the under-represented groups. The following are some of the major methods:

Telephone surveys: It is one of most effective tool to measure the perceptions and expectations of the under-represented groups. It allows to directly speaking to the customers about their experiences about the company’s product and services (Edwards, 2013).

Mail Surveys: It is one of the most cost effective ways to know the views of the people in an adequate manner. It gives a lot of time to the customer to think on their views and necessity to answer the given questions related to the survey.

Interviews: A personal interview is the best possible way to know the taste, choices and preferences of an individual. So a individual is chosen randomly from the group to share his concerns and information about the company and the product. It allows the individual to share his concern in a broader way. Personal interviews are considered to be as one of the most effective ways of communication between two people.

Group interviews: It helps to analyze the actual situation of a particular group and allows everyone to share their concerns. It is the effective way to discuss the real facts and the group decision is very much necessary for any crucial prospects (Gimenez-Espin, Jiménez-Jiménez & Martínez-Costa, 2013).

Every company implements some complaint procedure to make sure that the customer is satisfied after buying their product. It is use to identify that whether the customer is facing any problems regarded to the product or not. Toyota uses this tool to make sure that his valued customers will be always loyal to them and no problems can affect their future buying decisions ('Overhaul for complaints process', 2013). The system of complaining gives the opportunity to the company to identify the problems related to their product and services. The complaint on a particular product shows that the product needs improvement that helps the company for future development. The data gathered during as complaints used to modify the strategies and helps to develop the product in such a way that helps to fulfill the needs and demands of the customers.

The procedures of making complaints in Toyota is very simple and easy, they do value the important concerns of their potential customers and always try to suggest them with some appropriate solutions. It gives a detailed view of the problems faced by the customers and the customers will get satisfied when they get a quick and effective response from the company (Prashar, 2015).

The most important aim of every organization to get a sustainable growth in the market and to achieve success self-assessment is very much necessary that requires a systematic review. The self-assessment plays a very vital role in the field of achieving success and identifies new and innovative ideas ('Self-assessment', 2013). It also encourages the employees to increase their productivity according to the current situation of the company. Toyota always focuses on self-assessment to improve the quality of his product and services. It is one of the cost effective process, which allows the company to develop their services according to the needs and demands of his valued customers. The self-assessment process adopted by Toyota believes in providing quick and fair results and helps to increase the benefits for the company. It is a very effective way to formulate a strategy, which helps in controlling the quality management, and it requires a very little amount of time.

The total quality management plays a very important role in eliminating defects from the company products and services (Calabrese & Corbò, 2014). The process of self-assessment is founds to be the most successful reason for the product sustainability and development.

Communication:

The Toyota Company is of the leading company in today’s world, because of its quality of products and services. For any leading organization, it is very important to make the proper communication to its own employees and as well as to the customers, because communication is the only way through which the organizations can reduce the conflicts, or the communication gaps. Toyota doing its business through worldwide, so it is very important for the Toyota Company to communicate to its branches and stores, so that everyone can know that what is going on. Through communication, only the employees of the company can know about the present situation of the company.

Record keeping:

The process of the record keeping is very important for any organization for collecting the information. The record keeping is the book in which there is a record about the customers of the company (Domosh, 2015). For the Toyota Company record keeping is necessary because, it can give them the record of the customer from where they can pull out the information about the customers and can follow up the active customers. Record keeping system can also help the Toyota Company to progress the business, by giving the proper information about the customers. A good record keeping system can help the company in many ways like; it can provide the full information and can use for the benefit of the company in the future.

It is very necessary for every organization that employees should share their views and ideas with each other and discuss new plans for the growth and development of the company. The proper way of communication and consultation among the employees indicates the healthy environment of the organization. The continuous consultation among the staffs help to implement new and developed plans related to the quality management. Every organization has to appraise the effective communication and consultation. The senior management has to support the implementation of new and effective ideas for innovation in the field of quality schemes. Everyone in the organization has the right to share his views and concerns along with the employees. Toyota is a very big brand and always encourages new and innovative ideas to get a sustainable growth and development in the market. They believe in delivering quality services to their valued customers and earn their loyalty towards the product.

There are various safety measures that can be use by the Toyota Company to improve the service quality of the Toyota (Sigala & Kyriakidou, 2015). The Toyota company can make calls to the customers for providing the after sale service, which is very important in terms of the customers, because the customers always want to the first servicing very quickly and neatly. As there is always anxiety in the mind of the customers for the first servicing of the new car and about its features. The Toyota Company can also collect the feedback from the customers, so that it can help them to know about the satisfaction level of the customers and it will help the Toyota for improving the quality of service. The collection of the feedback system can be important way for improving the quality of service for the Toyota Company, because from this feedback system, the Toyota Company can understand the problems that are facing by the user of the Toyota cars, and it will help the Toyota Company to rectify those issues.

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