158212377 TQM Barriers to TQM Implementation

8/12/2019 158212377 TQM Barriers to TQM Implementation

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Introduction

TQM is management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational functions

(marketing, finance, design, engineering, production, customer etc) to focus on meeting customer

needs and organizational objectives.TQM vies an organization as a collection of processes. !t

maintains that organizations must alays strive to continuously improve these processes by

incorporating the knoledge and e"periences of orkers.

Implementation of Quality

The implementation of total #uality is similar to that of other decentralized control

methods. !n developing TQM, companies need to understand ho consumers define #uality in

both goods and services offered. !f a company pays more attention to #uality in its production

processes, feer problems are bound to occur hen the product is in the customers$ hands.

Management should make a commitment to measure the performance of a productrelative to its #uality through customer surveys, hich can help managers to identify design,

manufacturing or any other process that has a bearing on the #uality of a product or service, and

therefore provide an opportunity for continuous improvement.

%n obstacle is an object, a thing, an action or a situation that causes an obstruction.

&bstacles can be physical, social, economic, technological or political. There are a number of

barriers that face the process of TQM implementation.

'iscussed belo are some of the barriers or obstacles that total #uality management face

during implementation. Most scholars ho have researched on the subject choice to focus on the

specific industries like the construction, %griculture e.t.c and specific economies. hat e came

up ith are general barriers that are likely to cut across the economic board.

1. Competitive markets

% competitive market is a driving force behind many of the other obstacles to #uality.

&ne of the effects of a competitive market is to loer #uality standards to a minimally acceptable

level. This barrier to #uality is mainly a mental barrier caused by a misunderstanding of the

definition of #uality. nfortunately, too many companies e#uate #uality ith high cost. Their

definition leads to the assumption that a company can$t afford #uality. % broader definition

needs to be used to look at #uality, not only in the company$s product, but in every function of

the company. %ll company functions have an element of #uality. !f the #uality of tasks

performed is poor, unnecessary cost is incurred by the company and, ultimately, passed to the

customer. TQM should ork by inspiring employees at every level to continuously improve

hat they do, thus rooting out unnecessary costs. 'one correctly, a company involved ith TQM

can dramatically reduce operating costs. The competitive advantage results from concentrating

resources (the employees$ brainpoer) on controlling costs and improving customer service.

2. Bad attitudes/abdication of responsibility/management infallibility


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The competitive environment, poor management practice, and a general lack of higher

e"pectations have contributed to unproductive and unhealthy attitudes. These attitudes often are

e"pressed in popular sayings, such as *!t$s not my job+ and *!f ! am not broke, don$t fi" it. uch

attitude sayings stem from the popular notion that management is alays right and therefore

employees are+ only supposed to implement management decisions ithout #uestioning.

-ethargy is further propagated through management$s failure to train employees on TQM

fundamentals that build better attitudes by involving them in teams that identify and solve

problems. uch training can transform employees from being part of the problem to part of the

solution. This ill foster motivation and creativity and build productive and healthy attitudes that

focus employees on basic fundamentals, such as keep customer needs in mind, constantly look

for improvements, and accept personal responsibility for your ork.

3. Lack of leadersip for !uality

/"cess layers of management #uite often lead to duplication of duty and responsibility.

This has made the loer employees of an organization to leave the #uality implementation to be

a management$s job. !n addition, #uality has not been taken as a joint responsibility by the

management and the employees. 0oupled ith the notion that management is infallible and

therefore it is alays right in its decisions, employees have been forced to take up peripheral role

in #uality improvement. %s a result employees ho are directly involved in the production of

goods or delivery of services are not motivated enough to incorporate #uality issues that have

been raised by the customers they serve since they do not feel as part of the continuous process

of #uality improvement. Moreover, top management is not visibly and e"plicitly committed to

#uality in many organizations.

". #eficiency of cultural dynamism

/very organization has its on uni#ue ay of doing things. This is defined in terms of

culture of the organization. The processes, the philosophy, the procedures and the traditions

define ho the employees and management contribute to the achievement of goals and meeting

of organizational objectives. !ndeed, sticking to organizational culture is integral in delivery of

the mission of the organization. 1oever, culture has to be revieed and for that matter re2

adjustments have to be done in tune ith the prevailing economic, political, social and

technological realities so as to improve on efficiency. !n ade#uate cultural dynamism has made

total #uality implementation difficult because most of the top level management of many

organizations are rigid in their ays of doing things.


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$. Inade!uate resources for total !uality management

ince most companies do not involve #uality in their strategic plan, little attention is paid

to TQM in terms of human and financial resources. Much of the attention is dran to increasingprofit margins of the organization ith little regard as to hether their offers3 supply to

customers is of e"pected #uality. There is paltry budgetary allocation made toards employee

training and development hich is critical for total #uality management implementation.

/mployee training is often vieed as unnecessary cost hich belittles the profits margins hich

is the primary objective for the e"istence of businesses and as a result TQM has been neglected

as its implementation *may not necessarily bring gains to the organization in the short term+.

%. Lack of customer focus.

Most strategic plans of organizations are not customer driven. They tend to concentrate

much on profit2oriented objectives ithin a given time frame. -ittle (if any) market research is

done to ascertain the product or service performance in the market relative to its #uality. uch

surveys are regarded by most organizations as costly and thus little concern is shon to #uality

improvement for consumer satisfaction.

&. Lack of effective measurement of !uality improvement

TQM is centered on monitoring employees and processes, and establishing objectives

that anticipate the customer4s needs so that he is surprised and delighted. This has posed aconsiderable challenge to many companies. Measurement problems are caused by goals based on

past substandard performance, poor planning, and lack of resources and competitor2based

standard. orse still, the statistical measurement procedures applied to production are not

applicable to human system processes.

'. (oor (lanning

The absence of a sound strategy has often contributed to ineffective #uality

improvement. 'uran noted that deficiencies in the original planning cause a process to run at a

high level of chronic aste. sing data collected at then recent seminars, 'uran (5678) reportedthat although some managers ere not pleased ith their progress on their #uality

implementation agenda, they gave #uality planning lo priority. %s &akland (5676) said, the

pre2planning stage of developing the right attitude and level of aareness is crucial to achieving

success in a #uality improvement program.

9eell and 'ale (566:) in their study observed that a large number of companies are

either unable or unilling to plan effectively for #uality improvement. %lthough many


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performed careful and detailed planning prior to implementation, not one of the firms studied or

identified beforehand the stages that their process must endure. ;erhaps the root cause of poor

plans and specifications is that many oners do not understand the impact that poor draings

have on a project$s #uality, cost, and time.


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vital players in the decision making processes regarding to #uality improvement as involving

them ould have motivating effect on implementation of #uality programs.

11. Lack of proper training/Inade!uate -uman +esource #evelopment

There is evidence that lack of understanding and proper training e"ists at all levels of any

organization, and that it is a large contributor to orker resistance. chein (566:), for e"ample,

mentioned that business school failure to teach relevant process skills contributed to manager

ineffectiveness.TQM re#uires a ell2educated orkforce ith a solid understanding of basic

math, reading, riting and communication. %lthough companies invest heavily in #uality

aareness, statistical process control, and #uality circles, often the training is too narroly

focused. ?re#uently, 'uran$s arning against training for specific organizational levels or

product lines is unheeded. This has also been underscored by 9eell and 'ale ho argue that

poor education and training present a major obstacle in the development and implementation of a

#uality program. . ?or a company to produce a #uality product, employees need to kno ho todo their jobs. ?or TQM to be successful, organizations must commit to training employees at all

levels. TQM should provide comprehensive training, including technical e"pertise,

communication skills, small2team management, problem2solving tools, and customer relations.

Conclusion and +ecommendation

The advantages of TQM have been idely discussed, but the challenges of

implementation have received little attention. % #uality philosophy is re#uired for the successful

implementation of a #uality project. This philosophy must facilitate a long2term lifestyle change

for a company. 0ommitment of top management is essential. ubstantial inflo of resources,ade#uate training, orkforce participation and effective measurement techni#ues are some of the

key success factors. % successful TQM program is uni#ue, and it should motivate middle

management to focus on long2term strategies rather than short2term goals.

Teamork is the key to involvement and participation. @roups should be encouraged to ork

closely and effectively, and should focus on #uality improvement and customer satisfaction.

%ll organizations should focus on the folloing for successful TQM implementation

i) 0reate consistency of purpose toard improvement of the product and service so as

to become competitive, stay in business and provide jobs.

ii) 0ease dependence on mass inspectionA re#uire, instead, statistical evidence that

#uality is built on.

iii) %dopt the ne philosophy. e are in a ne economic age. e no longer need live

ith commonly accepted levels of delay, mistake, defective material and defective

orkmanship.

iv) !mprove the #uality of incoming materials. /nd the practice aarding business on the

basis of price alone. !nstead, depend on meaningful measures of #uality, along ith

price.


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v) ?ind the problemsA constantly improve the system of production and service. There

should be continual rise in productivity and a decrease in costs.

158212377 TQM Barriers to TQM Implementation

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