Lausell is committed to superior customer services and their achievement is shown in their financial success. They have been able to improve their manufacturing capabilities over the years to remain competitive and provide the quality products that their customers desire. They listen closely to the voice of their customers and try to anticipate their needs. Their efforts focus on achieving better quality at a lower cost. TQM provide them with a process that uses fact based analytical tools and methodologies to prevent defects and eliminate unnecessary excess in products, process and services. This further reduces cycle times and helps them manage costs, which ultimately allows them to generate greater values for their customers.
We did not find any information about the TQM that Empresas Lausell use but similar companies utilize Six Sigma to provide them the process of TQM.
According to Six Sigma System, Six sigma is a philosophy of doing business with a focus on eliminating defects through fundamental process knowledge. Six sigma methods integrate principles of business, statistics and engineering to achieve tangible results. Six sigma tools are used to improve the processes and products of a company. They are applicable across every discipline including: Production, Sales, Marketing, Design, Administration and Service.
TQM and Six Sigma have, in other companies, allowed the contribution of all employees from management on down to machine operation to express their needs. It is the teamwork that is the key to success and TQM promotes this company wide. Employee involvement is also the key to the implementation of new ideas and simply using Six Sigma tools to promote out of the box thinking and aids in shifting toward continuous improvement.
The service sector in the world business is also involved with Total Quality Management. Starbucks is one example of this sector. Starbucks was founded in 1971, and the mission statement of the company is “to establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow.” (Starbucks webpage)
According to Starbucks website, most of the drinks they sell came from customer suggestion. This means that they run their business based on customer-driven quality. They sell quality coffee that they know will sell because the idea comes from their customer. The customers become the controller of quality of the product that they serve. As a result, total customer satisfaction is always possible.
The government sector we selected is the Social Security Administration (SSA). The SSA is one of the largest federal service agencies, based on the number of clients and employees and the size of its budget. The SSA provides service to the public by processing their requests for claims and benefits nationwide. The goal for SSA is to provide high quality, superior stewardship, achieve and meet the needs of current and future generations, and strategically manage and align a staff that supports the mission.
According to the SSA webpage, “Total quality management” (TQM) is an organizational tool used to restructure an organization through “continuous improvement” to deliver a complete, well-defined service to a specific group of users. TQM emphasizes the cooperative efforts of workers and managers to find new and better ways of defining and relating goal-oriented tasks.
SSA has had a TQM effort underway for some months, with a number of active TQM committees and the vigorous support of most of the top managers. This initiative figures largely in all of the plans.
A more drastic organizational improvement strategy is reengineering, which reflects the growing realization that continual improvement and “aims to disrupt and redefine established procedures on a one-time basis.” (SSA webpage)
Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical con-temporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service, and speed.
Leadership is possibly the most important element in TQM. It appears everywhere in organization. Leadership in TQM requires the manager to provide an inspiring vision, make strategic directions that are understood by all and to instill values that guide subordinates. For TQM to be successful in the business, the supervisor must be committed in leading his employees. A supervisor must understand TQM, believe in it and then demonstrate their belief and commitment through their daily practices of TQM. The supervisor makes sure that strategies, philosophies, values and goals are transmitted down through out the organization to provide focus, clarity and direction. A key point is that TQM has to be introduced and led by top management. Commitment and personal involvement is required from top management in creating and deploying clear quality values and goals consistent with the objectives of the company and in creating and deploying well-defined systems, methods and performance measures for achieving those goals.
Conclusion
Although, TQM is seen as the “fix-all” for any company suffering problems with providing quality products or services to their customers, it has yet to be actively practiced by many companies in the service, government or manufacturing. These are attempts at providing TQM within each sector, but each has its own methods of quality control and leadership capabilities that lead to their ultimate success as an origination.
No matter what method the company use, their overall goal is to provide quality service and quality products that produce customer satisfaction and that begins with leadership.
References
Nayantara Padhi, The Eight Elements of TQM Retrieved on June 16, 2007 from http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/c021230a.asp
The Social Security Administration's Decentralized Computer Strategy: Issues and Options. Retrieved on June 17, 2007 from http://www.ssa.gov/history/pdf/ota94.pdf
Starbucks.com. Retrieved on June 16, 2007, from starbucks.com
U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, Retrieved on June 16, 2007 from
http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/def/NDEF31.HTM
What is six sigma and lean manufacturing?, Retrieved on June16, 2007 from
http://www.sixsigmasystems.com/what_is_six_sigma.htm