Influences On The Total Quality Management Philosophy.



The Philosophy of TQM was born out of the concepts developed by namely four great gurus of Quality management.

  • W. Edwards Deming
  • Joseph M Juran
  • Armand V Feigenbaum
  • Philip Crosby

Here is a short introduction to their concepts and how these contributed to Total Quality Management Philosophy that we have today. 



W. Edwards Deming


Deming’s argument was that quality that is achieved though a reduction in statistical variation improves competitive position as well as productivity.

He defined Quality as being the direct result of quality of design, quality of conformance and the quality of the sales and service function.

A great believer in measuring quality by direct statistical measurement against specification, the goal of quality improvement is to reduce variation.

He developed a set of 14 points for management that express these issues. His beliefs were that quality management and improvement were the responsibility of all employees in a company.

Deming also believed that managers must change and to develop partnerships with those at the operating level of the business, one of the key elements in the Total Quality Management Philosophy.



Joseph Juran


Juran was probably the greatest contributor to the Total Quality Management Philosophy.

He developed his ten-point plan which is the backbone of TQM implementation nowadays. 


The Juran Method:

  1. Build awareness of the need and opportunity for improvement
  2. Set goals for improvement
  3. Organise to reach the goals
  4. Provide training
  5. Carry out projects to solve problems
  6. Report progress
  7. Give recognition
  8. Communicate results
  9. Keep the score
  10. Maintain momentum by making annual improvement part of the regular system and processes of the company. 


Juran defined Quality as being “Fitness for Use” and really emphasized the cost of quality.

He believed that it was important to take management structure as a starting point and to build the quality improvement programme from that baseline. 



Armand Feigenbaum


Feigenbaum was the originator of the term “Total Quality Control”. He believed that significant quality improvement could only be achieved by the participation of everyone in the organisation.

Fire-fighting quality management should be replaced with clear, customer-oriented quality management which the employees understand and can commit themselves to. 

Feigenbaum believed that the goal of Quality improvement was to reduce the total cost of quality to as low a percentage as possible.



Philip Crosby


Philip Crosby’s argument is that higher quality will ultimately reduce costs. He defined Quality as being the “Conformance to Requirements”.

He developed a programme with 14 steps that has the focus of changing an organisation using action plans for their implementation. 

His absolute beliefs were that 

  1. Quality means conformance and not elegance
  2. It is always cheaper to do a job right first time round
  3. The only performance indicator is the cost of quality
  4. The only performance standard is Zero Defects.


TQM Model

1. What is TQM?

TQM Process

2. TQM Process

TQM Tools

4. Tools & Techniques

TQM Culture

5. TQM Culture

Pitfalls Of Total Quality Management

6.TQM Pitfalls

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