Total Quality Management
Advantages of TQM
Short-term and long-term advantages are present in any management style. Total Quality Management has few short-term advantages. Most of its benefits are long-term and come into effect only after it is running smoothly. In large organizations, it may take several years before long-term benefits are realized.
Long-term benefits that may be expected from Total Quality Management are higher productivity, increased morale, reduced costs, and greater customer commitment. These benefits may lead to greater public support and improvement of an organization’s public image.
Eliminating errors and doing things right the first time saves time and resources. The savings may then be used for expansion of services or made available to employees in their efforts to increase service quality.
Total Quality Management may create an organizational atmosphere of excitement and sense of accomplishment through the rewarding of creativity. When experimentation-oriented failures are accepted as a part of the learning process, employees feel free to use their creative energies to develop new ideas.
Instead of mistakes being hidden from management or denied, and thus being allowed to blossom into larger less easily rectified problems, they are tolerated and employees are encouraged to try again. Employees begin to develop a commitment to the organization rather than looking at it as just their employer. When employees feel they are an integral part of the organization, they feel needed and enjoy work more, which may further increase service quality.
Total Quality Management’s extensive use of teamwork gives employees the experience of problem solving and using their knowledge and experiences in a collaborative effort. As employees gain experience with team problem solving, they may be used to form cross-sectional ad-hoc "mega teams" that can attack larger organization-wide problems. TQM gives an organization greater problem-solving flexibility and increases the quality of work life for all employees.
Total Quality Management may be a "profit generator," even for public organizations. It does not actually create profit for the organizations, but if implemented properly, it may identify costly processes and cost-saving measures. Once fully implemented, the only expense of TQM is the cost of routine operations. In public organizations, saved resources may be viewed as "profits."
Total Quality Management does have some detractors who have pointed out some of the disadvantages of TQM.