ASPECTS OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPLIED IN ...

Annals of the University “Constantin Brâncuşi”of Tg-Jiu, No. 1/2008, Volume 2,
ISSN: 1842-4856
Surviving within the economic market depends mainly on the ability of innovation of any
company, especially referring to all products and services that the company provides, and to the
marketing and internal process. These could provide the increasing of the income and the reducing
of the costs.
But what happens in case the organization innovates and considers that it is enough to
imitate other companies within the market? Almost inevitably, the market quotation of the company
would lower and the competition could easily take advantage of that. The competition would
instantly look up for solutions in order to satisfy their more and more sophisticated clients, and they
would find ways to reduce the costs and come up with new marketing approach; and finally, they
would succeed in eliminating the organization off the market.
Innovation could be stimulated through innovation management programmes and
implementation of creative methods and techniques. Thus, any company should come up with its
own policy for stimulating organization innovation, and encouraging new valuable ideas and
improving their implementation until they turn into trading “goods”.
2. Innovation and Creativity Management (2)
The transition from the market based on “supplier market” towards the economy based on
“the customer market” has enabled the competitiveness become the key for success. No matter the
size of the company, no matter the strategy for enabling the competitiveness, innovation must be a
number-one concern of the executive management. Although, research is the engine of innovation,
we have lately seen that it gets different shapes, starting with technological innovation up to
management techniques and organization structures, finding new sources for supply or creating new
marketing strategies. Step by step, specialists have become aware that the market is the inspiring
source and the determining element for research-development. In order to make advantage of that
“source of inspiration”, companies should come up with their own business solutions that could
ensure a permanent interaction with the market. Capturing, distributing, securing and to re-using
information, methods, and procedures involved within the innovation and creation process, it is an
important step towards performance.
3. Knowledge for innovation
In order to come up with the best features which would refer to the need for company
development, each company needs at least a number of conditions: dedicated stuff, the decisionmaking
for enabling the process of learning and the appropriate tool – the technology – who should
be used according to company strategies (established goals and objectives).
Therefore, I find interesting a short story about a Caucasian teacher who has decided to be
“paid” by the parents of his pupils: he should receive a bottle of brandy at the end of each month. At
the end of the month, he has been surprised to see that the cask was filled with water instead of
brandy. Each parent has thought that no one would see that he had filled the cask with water instead
of brandy, since it would have been one bottle of water mixed up with brandy, but everyone else
had tried to do the same thing. They all had wanted to win but, instead they had lost.
The same is valid in case of information because very few people seem to be interested in
revealing their professional “secrets” or methods/resources who allow any company to win a
“competition” against other companies – to receive more public acknowledgement. Metaphorically
speaking, no company desires to “provide” some other company with intellectual features without
being secure that such actions would finally turn negative and harm the financial interest of the
company itself.
4. European innovation scoreboard, used by Eurostat (3,4)
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