Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma

Overview Total quality management (TQM) and Six Sigma are among the most popular quality management strategies. TQM developed from approaches applied to ensure quality in the early years of 20th century. The approach became well defined in 1950s where Japanese companies applied it to improve quality.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More By 1970s, TQM was the popular approach in many organizations in the world. Six Sigma is mostly considered an improvement on TQM. The approach originated from Motorola in early 1980s and has gained popularity with many organizations. Total Quality Management TQM refers to a management approach that aims at offering customers with products that meet or go beyond their quality expectations. The approach is focused on customers and ensures all sectors on an organization are keen on quality. The term ‘t otal’ indicates that all individuals in an organization must be dedicated towards quality. The approach is based on continuous improvement in all sectors of an organization in order to achieve high quality (Daft Marcic, 2008). A number of important principles, with hope that by adhering to the principles an organization can be able to achieve and maintain high quality, drive TQM. An organization that chooses to implement TQM is expected to show commitment to the approach by appropriate initiatives and resource allocation. Top executive management play important to success of TQM and are expected to show leadership towards high quality. The approach emphasizes on use of appropriate methodology and tools to determine nonconformity and use of measurement when making decisions on quality (Daft Marcic, 2008). To achieve quality standards, TQM emphasizes on need for training and ensuring that quality improvement enhances customer satisfaction. Company culture and continuous impro vement are the most important principles of TQM (Daft Marcic, 2008). An organization implementing TQM is expected to develop a culture for high quality and make continuous steps to improve quality continuously.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Nissan Motor Company is one of successful companies that implements TQM. The company was in operational and financial crisis when it chose to implement the principles of TQM. TQM principles enabled the company to improve on quality of its products and increase customer satisfaction. Six Sigma Six Sigma is a quality management approach that aims at ensuring that 99.99966 percent of products meet quality specifications. The approach has become very popular with many organizations for setting high expectations on quality. An organization that implements Six Sigma is expected to keep defects below 3.4 defects in a millions manufacture d products (Truscott, 2003). Six Sigma approach seeks to achieve the high quality expectations by identifying and elimination sources of errors. In addition to implementing various quality management methods, Six Sigma leads to quality experts recognized by ‘Green belts’, ‘Black Belts’ and others (Truscott, 2003). The designations indicate an individual’s expertise in implementing Six Sigma principles. Two methodologies: DMAIC and DMADV are associated with Six Sigma. DMAIC is implemented to improve existing processes while DMADV is applied on new products or processes. Motorola, Inc. is the best example of organizations that implement Six Sigma. Motorola has implemented Six Sigma since 1981 as its key quality management strategy. The approach has helped the company to provide high quality products consistently. Although the company lost dominance in mobile phones to Nokia in 1990’s, through high quality the company is regaining market share. S ummary Low quality products and services can be very expensive to an organization. There are several quality management strategies to enhance quality, but Six Sigma and TQM are the most popular. The two approaches have similarity in that they emphasize on companywide culture for quality but Six Sigma set higher standards for quality. Many organizations are abandoning TQM for Six Sigma or integrating the two. Reference List Daft, R. Marcic, D. (2008). Understanding Management. New York: Cengage Learning.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Truscott, W. (2003). Six sigma: continual improvement for business: a practical guide. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. This assessment on Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma was written and submitted by user Krystal Park to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

how useful is the concept of elite to the distribtion of power essays

how useful is the concept of elite to the distribtion of power essays Sociology Essay How useful is the concept of elite for understanding the distribution of power in either Britain or the United States? In America perhaps only race is a more sensitive subject than the way we sort ourselves out in the struggle for success. The eminent sociologist Robert Merton calls it the structure of opportunity. In the understanding of the usefulness of the term elite, there are some common historical variables, which must be looked at in order to appreciate the power organisms at work even in American society, and how from the days of Thomas Jefferson to the era of Newt Gingrich, the assumption of superiority is an undercurrent in American life and society. In this essay I will attempt to show that elitist power in America is controlled by a few at the top of the political, corporate, social and religious pyramid. Moreover, the concept of natural aristocracy, or meritocracy, has a powerful resonance even in the United States of America. In understanding the usefulness of the term elite in American society, late 19th and 20th century history provides the pretext for what was called a fluid society . This was a highly mechanized, industrial age in which peoples roles were being determined by their merit, talents, character and grit. By 1910, Harvard Professor Frederick Jackson Turner was influential in transforming this ministerial training school into an Ivy League institution, dominated by the children of a distinct upper class... most Northeastern and mostly business. This class came to be known as the Episcopacy, after its predominant religion Episcopalianism. The genesis of the Episcopacy at the end of the 19th century represented the merger of what appeared to be an irreconcilable conflict between two rival elite groups: the old pre-industrial New England based on upper-class norms, with its high-minded, non-ur...

Blockbuster Organizational Failure Research Paper

Blockbuster Organizational Failure - Research Paper Example At the same time, it also created numerous challenges in the market place regarding competitiveness, innovativeness as well as sustainability, which has greatly influenced company sustainability in many sectors. Focused on a similar notion, this paper will entail critical analyzes regarding the failure of Blockbuster LLC, which was formerly recognized as Blockbuster Inc. Overview of Blockbuster Organization Blockbuster is a global retail chain, which offers a vivid array of video games, home movie and rental services for DVDs and VCDs at reasonable price to its discriminating global customers. Besides, the organization is also dedicated to provide its customers with adequate product choices and unique purchasing experiences. Currently, Blockbuster is operating with more than 2,500 retail stores spread worldwide. Being an American MNC, the company owns its maximum number of retail stores in the US, apart from Europe, Asia and Australia. The primary objectives of the company over the y ears have been to provide a world class entertainment experience to the consumers with a vivid assortment of movie and game genres, serving to around 90 million people all around the world (Blockbuster, 2013). Irrespective of its success since its establishment, with the increasing pressure of competition in the global platform, the company had to witness a decline in its revenue structure. It was in the year 2010 that the organization filed for bankruptcy and was consequently acquired by Dish Network (Almeida, 2011). Analysis of the Organizational Failure Factors In order to analyze the reasons behind the failure of Blockbuster, the following subject areas will be taken into consideration, which shall be helpful to obtain an in-depth understanding of the role played by various external and internal business environment factors to secure the sustainability of a company in the long-run. Competitive Advantage According to Michael E. Porter (2008) competitive advantage is a strategy of gaining benefit over competitors by offering customers high value through reasonable price, good product quality, product variety, innovativeness as along with other value added services (Porter, 2008). In the current phenomenon, competitive advantages are not only necessary to assist a company in obtaining larger market share, greater profit and brand value, but it is also necessary to assure long-term leadership position of the company, in the modern era. However, when studying the incident of Blockbuster’s failure, it can be observed that the most significant aspect of competitive advantage is to guarantee the sustenance of a company, apart from the aforementioned benefits. It is in this context that apparently, due to its business model limitations, Blockbuster was in a competitively disadvantageous position. The industry context can be accounted as responsible in this regard, to a large extent. The current market structure of the entertainment industry tends to be highl y volatile, where both the suppliers and the customers possess high degree of bargaining power, majorly due to the availability of close substitutes. Additionally, with frequent occurrences of forward and backward acquisition and mergers, Blockbuster also had to witness the threat of new entrants. Hence, given the limitations of the business model followed by the organization in terms of ill fit with external environmental changes, rigidness to adapt innovative ideas and cost as well as time intensive characteristic, the organization failed to preserve its