Total Quality Management

Unit 2: Total Quality Management (TQM) in Library and Information Centres

Source Material Details:
Parent Organisation: Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) - School of Social Sciences
Publication Date: January 2014 (Second Revised Edition)

1. Introduction & Origins

Founder/Origin: Originated in Japan.

Date of Launch/Origin: 1950s.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a structured system of continuous improvement that employs participative management techniques centered entirely around customer needs. It is the art of managing the whole organization to achieve excellence by eliminating waste, maximizing efficiency, and involving every employee in the quality process.

2. The Concept of Quality & Important Standards

Quality measures the achievement of an organization in terms of customer satisfaction. It is a dynamic, multidimensional, and deeply user-oriented concept.

• Joseph M. Juran: "Quality is fitness for use or purpose."
• ISO 9000:2000 (Published in 2000): "Quality is the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements."
• Bill Conway: "Development, manufacture, administration, and distribution of consistently low cost and products and services that customers need and want."
• W. Edwards Deming: "A predictable degree of uniformity and dependability at low cost and suited to the market."

3. Why Organizations Need Quality

• To ensure customer satisfaction and happiness.
• To enhance organizational goodwill, public image, and market capture.
• To maximize profits and productivity while minimizing costs and operational losses.
• To establish common goals, performance measures, and foster strong teamwork among staff.

4. Core Components & Gurus of TQM

TQM is a philosophy based on three main components: Planning, Review, and Performance Tracking.

• Walter A. Shewhart: Introduced Total Quality Control (TQC) and PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act).
• W. Edwards Deming: Proposed 14 Points for Management, Statistical Process Control (SPC), and the PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act).
• Joseph M. Juran: Developed "Juran's Trilogy" comprising Quality Planning, Quality Control, and Quality Improvement.
• Armand V. Feigenbaum: Focused on Customer Requirements, Company-Wide Quality Control (CWQC), and Employee Involvement.
• Kaoru Ishikawa: A disciple of Juran & Feigenbaum who introduced Quality Control Circles (QCCs). He also developed the 7 Tools of Quality Control (Histograms, Check sheets, Pareto diagrams, Control charts, Scatter diagrams, Flow charts, and the Cause & Effect/Fishbone diagram).
• Philip B. Crosby: Formulated the Four Absolutes of Quality, Zero Defects, and a 14-step implementation program.
• Genichi Taguchi: Developed the Loss Function, Orthogonal Arrays, and the concept of Robustness.
• Shigeo Shingo: Known for principles emphasizing Zero defects.

5. Application and Steps for Implementing TQM in Libraries

In a library context, customer satisfaction equates strictly to fulfilling user expectations. A user-based approach dictates that the user is the ultimate judge of quality.

Areas of Quality Evaluation in Libraries:

• Collection, Services, and Products.
• Skills, training, and attitude of library staff.
• Library infrastructure and communication facilities.
• Effectiveness of the complaint and suggestion systems.

Functions and Steps to Apply TQM (Based on Sirkin's Suggestions):

1. Create comprehensive service brochures and information kits.
2. Conduct regular user surveys to assess needs.
3. Improve physical layout and directional signage.
4. Change hours of operation as needed.
5. Simplify the checkout processes and provide convenient material returns.
6. Establish flexible staff assignments and give new staff a thorough orientation.
7. Systematically track user complaints.
8. Develop active outreach programs and open satellite offices.
9. Publicize new services or changes in services.
10. Develop user and staff training materials.
11. Create interdepartmental library advisory groups.

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