The Role of Total Quality Management: SME

Abstract

All kinds of businesses – big or small – require to help in improving performance and getting better result from the business world that is so competitive today. Small and Medium Enterrprises (SMEs) are often the backbone of many economies around the world and should adopt effective management strategy for survival and growth. One enterprise strategy which had been increasing in importance in recent years was Total Quality Management (TQM). In spite of the extensive knowledge about the holistic approach towards quality improvement, it has been a game ringer for a lot of SMEs, many of whom now have turned around operations, customer’s satisfaction and overall towards driving their own business success.In the fast moving market dynamics, SMEs are finding it difficult to get a desirable level of quality products and services time and again due to change in the consumer’s preferences. In this setting it is demonstrated that TQM is a strong weapon that enables such enterprise to meet and surpass customer demands as well as to optimize their internal processes. TQM gives SMEs the opportunity to play on same practical grounds as large organizations by fostering a culture of continuous improvement as well as member participation.This article also gets us deeper into the role of Total Quality Management in the performance improvement of SME’s; its origins, principles, challenges of its implementation and the benefits. Next, we will consider how the philosophy of TQM, specifically as decribed by the quality management leader W. Edwards Deming, can be appropriately adapted and utilized within smaller enterprises. Our interest stems from wanting to add value to SME leaders by studying the practices, reasons and impacts of TQM in order to use it as a guide for SME leaders during quality management journey.