While dealing with an organization, it is very much likely that an individual will have issues with the quality of services or products offered. These experiences occur because those employees and managers in charge of quality control processes either do not have the resources or are simply not bothered about delivering their customers a qualitatively superior experience. The consequences? A depleting list of clientele and presenting the market to the competitors on a platter.
A Proven Way of Improving Quality Standards
Successful companies fully understand the powerful impact customer-driven quality can have on business. That’s why quality management is implemented in many competitive companies to continually increase their quality standards. Total quality management is an integrated organizational effort designed to improve quality at every level.
Often, quality management is implemented in an organization after there is a compelling event or experiences that result in significant loss of sales and market share or when there is a major drop in profits. This forces companies to have a relook at the quality aspect of their business. A few others may embrace total quality management as a part of their vision for the future. It, therefore, implies that, for a company to be successful and earn profits, adhering to the highest standards of quality management is imperative.
What Quality Means to a Company and Consumers?
There is no single, universal, and accepted definition of quality. Most view it as performing to expected standards or meeting the needs of customers. For an organization, quality management involves conforming to specification standards set by the industry. For consumers, quality is always measured in terms of value for money. However, on a broader view, quality is not limited to a product or service. It can also mean people and processes and the manner in which the organization controls it.
Is Quality Management an Option or an Inherent Need of a Business?
A common misconception that existed in the past was that quality management is for large scale units and corporate companies. Smaller businesses investing in quality control measures were a waste of limited revenue. This thinking has been turned on its head by today’s market situation and consumers with a growing awareness about quality and highly conscious about where they are putting their hard-earned money. Increasing liberalization and globalization of the marketplace means that total quality management has to be an inherent part of any business.
Today, with most enterprises going online with their business and the concept of geographical boundaries becoming redundant, companies can survive the cut-throat business environment only if they offer customers better quality products and superior services.
How Organizations Can Achieve Results?
However, for a quality management program to deliver results, there must be no gap between the actual concept and its implementation at the lower levels of the organization. It is usually seen that the extent of implementation of quality management processes varies at different levels in an organization and largely depends on the quality of the management.
There are well-established methods of measuring performance against a well-designed quality management program. The leadership of a company must focus on customer satisfaction and drive the message across the board to the lowest level employee. Companies that focus on creating value and take care of the quality needs of their customers are the ones that succeed despite various market obstacles that keep coming their way.
