What are the Core Concepts of TQM?

First time poster and relativley new lurker. I'm trying to find the "core concepts of the TQM" this is what I have but not sure if its correct:

produce quality work the first time
focus on the customer
have a strategic approach to improvement
improve continuously
encourage mutual respect and teamwork

If anyone knows or could lead me in the proper direction of the source I'd greatly appreciate it.

Phillip Crosby was probably the prime proponent of TQM (Total Quality Management).

sometimes his principles are boiled down to these
Crosby's response to the quality crisis was the principle of "doing it right the first time" (DIRFT). He also included four major principles:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_B._Crosby#cite_note-Creech-6

1. The definition of quality is conformance to requirements (requirements meaning both the product and the customer's requirements)
2. The system of quality is prevention
3. The performance standard is zero defects (relative to requirements)
4. The measurement of quality is the price of nonconformance

His belief was that an organization that established a quality program will see savings returns that more than pay off the cost of the quality program: "quality is free".

Another set of important factors comes from this book written by General Wilbur Creech who wrote under the pen name Bill Creech (http://www.amazon.com/The-Five-Pillars-TQM-Management/dp/0452271029) "The Five Pillars of TQM: How to Make Total Quality Management Work for You"

They are:

1. Product,
2. process,
3. system,
4. people and
5. leadership

form the five pillars of TQM.

Essentially, Creech had zero original ideas. His book is really only a compilation of case histories and distillations of the ideas of Quality gurus like Crosby, Juran, Deming, etc. The case studies are old (the book was written in the early 1990s) and the author's style of writing made it one I soon passed on in a donation bin rather than keep as a reference.

May we ask WHY you have an interest in a quality concept like TQM?

TQM has been distorted over the years by a number of people who either

• engaged in mission creep, expanding general principles into "MUST DOs" and making life miserable for the worker on the job,
  OR
• completely ignored the "prevention" aspect, continuing to waste time, money, and energy in trying to "inspect in" quality to a product AFTER it had been manufactured.

Most TQM folks also ignored the idea of TQM applying to service, not just products.

TQM is a jargon that represents - effectively managing all Business activities with the aim of making money, today and forever. Of course, you can't do that without finding a right balance in delighting Customers and all stakeholders of the Business.

Generally speaking, most people associate TQM with Dr. Deming. But when he was asked about TQM, he would answer "TQM - what's that? I don't know what it is".

So as with even Six Sigma, TQM has morphed over the years. Generally it is associated with application of Quality ACROSS the whole enterprise (this the "Total Quality" part) and leadership by Management, thus the M. In the 80's the US Navy used the acronym Total Quality Leadership, and I did take the official training to be a Total Quality Leadership facilitator.

Dr Juran coined the terms Big Q and little q:

http://www.juran.com/blog/its-all-about-big-q/

...perhaps TQM morphed into Big Q.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. I've been in the automotive manufacturing and defense sectors the majority of my life. I've always had an interest in Quality Management. So I have chosen to take a course that will lead to a Quality Assurance Certification and possibly a new role. I'm in the beggininng stages of the course and this was one of the questions that I struggled with. There was no concrete answer that I could find. I read as much as I could on the suject and formed my own opinion and answer on what the core values were.


Thanks again for the replies.
Regards,
Tweedmuir

The fact is that there are various versions of "TQM". No-one quality "guru" owns the term. There are many - examples as previously - but you can add to those and no-one can tell you you are wrong. TQM usually places most responsibility on people to control quality, using different tools and techniques.

Deming has his 14 points. Juran with his Quality Control Handbook is also a way to look at TQM. Some would say that Walter Shewhart is also a founder of TQM with his PDCA cycle which is so prevalent. Just Google TQM and see what you get!