Quality management has different meanings in various business sectors. There is no special definition of the term quality management. The general meaning of the term seems to be production of good quality product. The true definition however is the system which ensures that a product or an organization meet a stringent set of standards consistently. A quality management system has four basic components. These are planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. It is focused on creating means to achieve better product quality. It uses quality assurance for this purpose and also generates stringent process controls.
This assignment looks at the methods adopted by the famous food company Tesco. It is a market giant in grocery and is renowned for its high quality products. We will observe the goals for quality management in Tesco and the improvements that they have produced in company's products and services.
Discussion
Quality Management
Quality management is a recent phenomenon. Clients in old civilizations chose goods that were made at higher standards than normally produced ones. Arts and crafts were run by very skilled masters who would then impart their knowledge on their students. This system could not follow in the modern times of civilization. These days, we mass produce all objects. There are very little items that now are produced by hand in exclusivity. In mass production, repeated work processes are used that are continued in order. This produces goods at a much faster rate. The scientific management of large industries produced the concepts of methodological production. This ensured the consistent quality of finished goods regardless of the skill of the worker involved. Henry Ford is credited with creating the world's first linear assembly line production. In the period of the Second World War, the emphasis was to produce goods by using methods to reduce the cost and decrease the time for production (Hoyle 2007).
Shewhart produced a milestone in evolution of quality management. He created a method of quality control. He used statistical data to devise and run the method. His methods were later applied in war days. They produce amazing improvements in production procedures.
Principles of Quality Management
Quality management adheres to the use of some guidelines and principles that are detrimental in improving product performance. These principles are employed by the management to ensure an improved performance. Some of these principles are discussed below.
Customer focus
All organizations produce their earnings from their customers. This requires them to have a better understanding of the clients and their precise needs. They must put emphasis on the needs of the customers. They should not only cater the requirements of the customer but must try and adapt to production that exceeds the required level of production performance. Customer focus is attained when all the components of the organization are completely familiar with the needs of the clients of the organization. They must be sure to meet certain necessary customer requirements (Sukhija 2009).
Leadership
Leadership is very important for the development of an ...