S/OM/23. Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a style of managing which gives everyone in the organisation responsibility for delivering quality to the final customer, quality being described as `fitness for purpose' or as `delighting the customer'. Total Quality Management views each task in the organisation as fundamentally a process which is in a customer/supplier relationship with the next process. The aim at each stage is to define and meet the customer's requirements in order to maximise the satisfaction of the final consumer at the lowest possible cost. A quality strategy combines the `hard' edge of quality (its tools and techniques) with its `soft' side: the cultural changes that will be needed to achieve success. It is not just another management gimmick: it is a way of life.