Managing Quality

Chapter 1. TQM: An Overview

B. G. Dale, A. van der Wiele and J. D. van Iwaarden

Introduction

In today's global competitive marketplace the demands of customers are for ever increasing as they require improved quality of products and services. Also, in some markets there is an increasing supply of competitively priced products and services from low labour cost countries such as those in the Far East, the former Eastern bloc, China, Vietnam and India. Continuous improvement in total business activities with a focus on the customer throughout the entire organization and an emphasis on flexibility and quality is one of the main means by which companies face up to these competitive threats. This is why quality and its management and the associated continuous improvement are looked upon by many organizations as the means by which they can survive in increasingly aggressive markets and maintain a competitive edge over their rivals. The companies that do not manage this change will fail. As a result of the efforts made by organizations to respond to these marketplace demands the quality of products, services and processes has increased considerably during the last two decades. Feigenbaum and Feigenbaum (1999) point out that:

Total Quality is a major factor in the business quality revolution that has proven itself to be one of the 20th century's most powerful creators of sales and revenue growth, genuinely good new jobs, and soundly based and sustainable business expansion.

Having said this, ...