It is axiomatic that any activity that reduces cost and increases revenue will necessarily have a positive impact on profits . If there are management processes that can increase profits by increasing organizational quality, it is important to have at least a cursory understanding of the fundamental principles underlying Total Quality Management and its quality improvement cousins. The following features tend to characterize an effective TQM system. TQM is a management system of planning, controlling, and making decisions about quality. TQM requires companywide commitment and an organizational culture focused on quality.
Quality is customer driven.
Quality products and services are expected to match or exceed customer expectations. Employees are empowered to make decisions and be responsible for the outcome of their decisions. TQM calls for management practices that continuously build in quality at every stage of a production process. TQM also shifts the responsibility for quality away from quality specialists and into the hands of the production work force. Although businesses have utilized quality control in one form or another for years, there are significant differences between the traditional quality control operations and the new quality improvement initiatives.