Total Quality Management (TQM)

Organisational stress has become a crucial challenge for contemporary business undertakings. There is adequate empirical evidence which indicates a strong correlation between organisational stress and total quality management (TQM). TQM programmes had their origins in the US companies in the 1980s in response to the competitive onslaught of Japanese companies in the automobile and electronics industries. Companies in many other industries quickly followed suit, as did the consulting firms to help companies adopt TQM. TQM is viewed as the continuous improvement of work processes to enhance an organisation's ability to deliver high quality products/services in a cost-effective manner. It typically involves a number of interventions like identification of customer requirements, cross functional teams, selection of suppliers based on quality, and use of a variety of technical (scientific) methods to enhance analysis and process management methods. TQM also involves a multiple stakeholder philosophy which values community, customers and employees equally. Implicit in this philosophy are values of teamwork and collaboration. There is little doubt that when implemented properly, TQM can have a dramatic impact on the performance and culture of an organisation.