Continuous Improvement Process in TQM Philosophy: An Essential Part

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It gives me great pleasure to express my gratitude towards my professor who has also been my mentor. My professor has always been a source of confidence for me. Here I also want to express my gratitude towards my mother and my father who have always shown belief in me. My entire family, including my mother, fathers, sister and brother, all have continuously supported my throughout my life and my academic career. I would also like to express my gratitude towards my University and my Department, including the supervisors, faculty members and peers, for their continuous support during my research study.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this thesis to my family, who offered me unconditional love and support throughout the course of this thesis.

ABSTRACT

Total Quality Management is a management strategy, which seeks to create an organizational culture that encourages continuous improvement of the processes and the participation of all employees at all times, in order to achieve customer satisfaction. Therefore, it requires a process of change and improvement in operations and regulatory actions, and behaviors and beliefs of individual and the organization as a whole. On the other hand, the performance measurement, which is an integral part of a number of management strategies, helps organizations to identify problems that can be solved by modifying and improving existing processes. This paper shows how to use the Total Quality Management as a methodology to achieve the highest levels of performance through continuous improvement in the quality of products and services and customer satisfaction and thus achieve organizational excellence. The basic concepts of Total Quality Management is aimed at raising the level of performance and provide high quality services to customers through working groups and participation of staff and put effort on continuous improvement of operations and functions of the organization.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DEDICATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Rationale for the Research3

Significance of the Study3

Research Objectives5

Research Question6

Position of the Researcher6

Structure of the Thesis6

Chapter 1: Introduction6

Chapter 2: Literature Review7

Chapter 3: Methodology7

Chapter 4: Discussion8

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW9

Total quality management9

Concepts of Quality11

Evolution of TQM13

Other Definitions of TQM15

Continuous Quality Improvement19

Lean thinking23

Six Sigma25

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY28

Research Design29

Research Method29

Qualitative Research30

Pros and Cons of Secondary Research32

Additional Online searches32

Data Collection33

Time Schedule34

Literature selection criteria35

Search technique35

Trustworthiness35

Ethical Concerns36

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION37

Total Quality Management (TQM)37

Critical Factors of Total Quality Management40

The Concept of Continuous Improvement by TQM44

Implementation Principles and Processes46

TQM, Psychological and Behavioral Outcomes47

Steps in Managing the Transition51

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION54

Conclusion54

Limitations56

REFERENCES58

APPENDIX65

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

In this chapter of the dissertation, the researcher has provided an overview regarding the use of internet and information and communication technologies and their implementation in the field of education and learning, particularly online education and e-learning. This chapter also provides research aims and objectives and questions which the researcher wishes to explore in detail in the subsequent chapters. Problem statement, purpose and significance of the research conducted are also described briefly to give the reader a general idea about the topic which is studied. Finally, the nature of the study and rationale of the research is presented briefly to further ...