ISSN 1753-9439 Paper 2 Vol 1 No 1 Pages 45 – 84
Sustainable development of total quality management through Deming's PDSA cycle
This paper suggests Deming's Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle based approach to develop and sustain TQM. The least developed programs of TQM in firms are identified in this proposed method and sorted in the lowest to highest order of development. The result will help the top management in setting out priorities to achieve sustained growth of TQM process. The PDSA cycle suggested for TQM sustainability consists of four steps: (1) plan for TQM, (2) Implement TQM, (3) study and measure the level of implementation of TQM and (4) take necessary actions to improve the less developed programs of TQM. In this research, the level of implementation of TQM is measured with the help of quality index calculation algorithm. In order to provide an example of the application, possibilities and the benefits of our proposed model, a project developed for a major Indian auto ancillary company is presented. An empirical survey with 85 questions related to Quality-related Action Programs (QAPs) and 13 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) were circulated to the 9 department heads of the company to assess the level of TQM implementation. Data related to the current TQM implementation at various functional units of the company was collected. TQM Implementation Index (TQMII) for the selected QAPs, CSFs and firm as a whole were calculated and presented to the company. The suggested methodology was useful to audit how much of TQM the firm has implemented into their organization.
Keywords: TQM, PDSA, CSF, QAP, TQMII, sustainability