What are the pros and cons of total quality management? Free Essay Example

Starting off it is imperative that one understands the true definition of what total quality management is, total quality management has at it heart three basic functions or three aims i. e. to embed the value of quality inside the whole of the organization, to satisfy the share holders with the value of the returns and last but one of the most important factors of total quality management is customer satisfaction.

Total quality management looks to focus on the consumer of the product and bring changes within the products and services and also the organization so that the consumers can have the best product possible at the cheapest rates possible.

The possible advantages or the pros of the total quality management are that when policies with total quality management in mind are developed and implemented then every one is encouraged to work above par and make things much more better within the organization, since the focus is on empathizing with the consumers this gives a totally new perspective and helps a great deal in product development and also in understanding what the real needs of consumers are, for example in the mid 90’s many video record makers felt that the consumers wanted more sophisticated recorders but that was not true, what they really required were recorders that were simple to use and this mismatch resulted in the down fall of many of the video record companies in that era, had total quality management been a part of the industry at that time it might not have had to face such a situation.

Another advantage with total quality management is that it aims to do things correctly the first time so that precious energy and resources are saved and hence it also aims to be a money saving tool for the organization in the long run. The cons or the negative aspect of the total quality management is that when continuous improvement is on the agenda then things that are already working well might be disrupted and regular intervals and no process might have the appropriate time that it requires to reach its peak.

People might feel that they are being put a lot of pressure on because new processes are being introduced continuously and people need to adapt and also because total quality management focuses on doing things right the first time, employees might feel the heat. A very important point of the negative impact of total quality management is that since people are encouraged to empathize with the consumers they might never be bold enough to sophisticate the product. For the reasons that have been mentioned above I believe that as an individual one needs to continuously strive for betterment not only in the organizational sense but even in ones life as an individual because change is the engine of human growth, and there could be no better way to bring about change than continuously monitor oneself and ones environment so that the needs of an individual and the society can be met.