Total Quality Management - CII Institute of Logistics

Total Quality Management
Implementation of TQM
Introduction
Before a Quality Improvement Program (QIP) can be successfully implemented, senior
management must recognize the need for Quality Improvement and must understand the
total commitment required from them if it is to succeed.
Having committed themselves to implement Quality Improvement, they then need to put
together a detailed plan to guide the implementation of the Program.
3.1 Management Commitment and Involvement
Having recognized the need for Quality Improvement, the first objective it to ensure
management commitment to the new company culture, focusing on preventing errors,
rather then merely fixing them once they have arisen. The commitment required from
management to a QIP is absolute if the Program is to succeed.
It is then necessary to gain the support and commitment of the entire workforce. The
attitudes and actions of employees are generally determined by what they believe
management wants of them. It is therefore essential that management defines clearly and
unambiguously its requirements in relation to Quality. This is recorded formally in the
Quality Policy of the Company.
The Quality Policy is an important statement of management’s intention as regard
Quality. But it is the demonstration by every manager in their day-to-day work that they
are never prepared to compromise their commitment to the Quality Policy that will make
a Quality Improvement Program succeed.
Gaining the support and commitment of senior management is not easy and is one of the
major reasons for the failure of a Quality Improvement Program. The go-ahead to
implement a Program may be relatively easy to attain. It is the personal commitment and
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