Total quality management (TQM) is a customer-focused management philosophy with continual improvement as the ultimate goal. TQM involves the culture change, structural change and process change of an organization. Through implementing TQM, every member of an organization is empowered for continual improvement. With appropriate training, staff skills can be improved. Therefore, large and small improvements can be achieved in different areas of the organization's operation. The organization's overall competitiveness can then be improved.
TQM pays attention on all elements, from development of strategies, allocation of resources, risk management, process management, IT integration, knowledge management to setting critical controls, of an organization. It ensures that an organization is in the best form that can satisfy most of the customer expectations.
Many organizations have practiced TQM for a long period and acquired a lot of experiences. SIX SIGMA, which is discussed widely in different sectors, can be considered as a new generation of TQM. Through establishing a closed loop improvement system, SIX SIGMA is a proven methodology that can help organizations in achieving performance breakthrough. Therefore, an organization can be not only a successful organization now, but also in the future.
Business process reengineering is similar as undergoing a surgery. It can help an organization in difficulty to turnaround in a short period of time.
BPR involves the fundamental change and rethinking of selected process. It is common that a BPR project shall introduce new technologies and result in changes of organizational structure. Therefore, if it is implemented correctly, the organization can achieve a quantum leap.
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Copyright. Knowledge Workshop 2003.