Total Quality Management

Essay by jrisherCollege, UndergraduateB, June 2009

download word file, 4 pages 3.0

As competition in the marketplace becomes fiercer, companies need to find not only attract new customers, but also find ways to maintain current customers. Quality control is one method of doing this. In the realm of quality control total quality management (TQM) is at the forefront of the movement. Companies must choose between a traditional management styles or a quality focused style as the best option for the organizations. Companies such as BridgestoneThe term quality can have many different meanings. Quality can referrer to products characteristics, as in what are the qualities of this item. The term quality can help to distinguish a product above leading competitors. Some consumer hears the term quality and automatically sees a product that performs as it should, meeting all requirements. (Burrill & Ledolter, 1999) If given a choice between different items with one item having the reputation of being superior to the other but costing a little more what item would more likely be chosen based on your return on investment? The higher the perceived quality of a product the more a current or potential consumer is generally willing to pay for that product, due to the perceived return on investment.

"A critical relationship exists between the customers' perception of product quality and the price the product can command in the marketplace. The better customers judge the quality of a product relative to its competitors, the more they are will pay for it" (Burrill & Ledolter, 1999).

Globalization has allowed companies to do business in countries around the world through limited or reduced tariffs and penalties for doing so. By reducing tariffs companies can import good manufactured in other countries and save money over having the same items manufactured in the Untied States. To help ensure that companies would receive quality...