In the last meeting, a group reported about a topic that is well-timed due to recent events: business process management. One method of BPM that was discussed was Total Quality Management or TQM. TQM is basically a business philosophy or culture wherein the company or organization strives to provide their customers with products or services that satisfy their need. This method requires high quality in all aspects of the company’s operations, with defects and wastes are eradicated from the operations system immediately. The high quality referred is defined relative to the customer’s expectations, which means that it could either be based on durability, ease of usage, cost, or other choices of measurement. Some of the more popular companies that are practicing TQM are Ford Motor Company, Motorola, Phillips Semiconductor, and the recently scandal-stricken Toyota Motor Company.
Toyota Motor Company is known to have been practicing Total Quality Management throughout the decades. Their famous principles, also known as “the Toyota Way”, include the importance of being a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement. Despite these paramount efforts, Toyota was still unable to completely avoid meltdowns, and was unfortunately hit with a massive scandal. In the later parts of last year, Toyota decided to recall almost 3.8 million vehicles in the USA due to malfunctioning accelerator pads. At first, they just presumed that the floor mats were merely blocking the accelerator pads from functioning properly. However, after a fatal accident that killed a California Highway Patrol Officer and three other members of his family, Toyota finally realized that it was indeed necessary for a call back. Popular vehicles such as the Toyota Camry, the luxury car Lexus, and the Toyota Prius are all part of recall.
Because of this huge mistake, Toyota has been greatly losing sales and good reputation. Some experts even believe that it will be very difficult for Toyota to rise again from this unexpected tragedy. Many are questioning what had gone wrong despite huge efforts of efficiency. Because of this, other similar companies using the same philosophy should be warned and be also asking themselves another important question: how total is total in their total quality management scheme?
