TQM is an abbreviation that stands for "Total Quality Management," a term commonly used in corporation and business management. TQM is a customer-focused approach that involves several principles for effective business management and prevents defects and quality issues within a company. These principles include leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, analysis, human resources, process management and seeing business results.

Structuring a System of Leadership

Structuring your system of organized leadership within a business will enhance overall management and productivity within a company. Full commitment is needed at the top of the business hierarchy. Eliminating performance ratings and placing an emphasis on stability and consistency in effort will help to create small gains that will add up over time

When making large-picture changes to the business or the business model, include all team members in decisions. Look for feedback and ideas from your staff, suppliers and clients.

Strategic Planning and Quality Control

Having a focus and a strong perspective on quality in production and in work levels allows personnel at all ranks to constantly plan for improvements. Awareness of a desire for perfection in workplace operations and an emphasis on consistency, stability and steadiness will help to promote productive processes for creating products and managing customer satisfaction. Strategic planning also encompasses quality control.

Quality control is also responsible for speed of delivery of products, company-wide compliance with procedures, eliminating waste within production and personnel and keeping every member of the team focused on an emphasis on customer satisfaction.

Customer & Market Focus

Understand how your marketing and personnel influence customer satisfaction. Customer and the satisfaction of the customer that makes your attempts worth the effort.

Information and Analysis

There should be time set aside to spend measuring business data and the continuity of the level of organization within the company. Information on how a business is performing can help to eradicate bad practices that create racist, sexist issues or problems with nepotism and favoritism. It is important to have a long-term goal for profits, production quotas and growth of the business that all members of the team understand, and to spend less time focused on the short term.

Human Resource Focus

Employing the people who will most carry your team toward an overall goal of customer satisfaction is key to the functioning of any business. Prevent problems before the occur by continually evaluating personnel and processes within the company. Evaluation will keep the company from investing resources and time into processes that cause errors and problematic wasted efforts.

Functional Operation and Process Management

Keeping a team focused on the functional operation of work systems and devising plans that help employees to be educated and well-trained in their particular fields will allow for the company to grow and flourish. Have a definitive mission for the company and aim for continual satisfaction of customers while maintaining motivation and satisfaction in team members.

Streamlining Efficiency and Business Results

Improving different areas of business models will help companies to see overall improvement in customer service within the company, product performance, finances within the business and customer satisfaction Other expected benefits of streamlining efficiency in the workplace include improved organization, better feedback, better performance standards, increased economic growth, increased customer loyalty, brand recognition, improved products and better offered services.