Critical Success Factors of Total Quality Management

Abstract

The past decade has seen many firms focusing on Total Quality Management (TQM) as a means of improving profits, market share and competitiveness. Although TQM is a proven approach for success in manufacturing, services and the public sector, several organizations failed in their campaigns because of many reasons like lack of top management commitment, ignoring customers etc. This paper presents a study on certain specific factors that impact the success of the TQM implementation purely based on the secondary research. The research points out that, though most organizations start TQM efforts for their success, they are frequently exposed to the factors which may cause their TQM efforts to delay or even fail. TQM is a sure bet to reverse poor performance, but when it did not yield the expected results, it was deemed a failure. The review has been done to identify the common problems that lead to the failure of TQM implementation in the organization and has pointed out the critical success factors of TQM. Nevertheless, the overall results of this research imply that the understanding of the elements that cause failure to the TQM implementation can provide needed help for companies involved in long-term continuous improvement efforts. If the advanced TQM approach is properly followed, it will help the companies to achieve organizational excellence.