Total Quality Management: Text with Cases (3rd ed.)

Citation

Narasimhan, K. (2007), "Total Quality Management: Text with Cases (3rd ed.)", The TQM Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 88-89. https://doi.org/10.1108/09544780710720862

John S. Oakland, Executive Chairman, Oakland Consulting Plc, is the head of its research and education division, the European Centre for Business Excellence. He is also Professor of Business Excellence in Leeds University Business School, UK. He has worked in a variety of industries and has spent over 25 years as an academic and consultant before setting up his own consultancy. He has published widely and is widely known as the UK's quality management Guru.

The book comprises 16 chapters grouped into six parts and 11 case studies. The book is structured around a new model for TQM introduced in the previous edition, which addresses both hard and soft issues of quality. The new model is based on the “hard management necessities” of 4Ps (Performance, Planning, Process, and People) and three “soft gelling agents” or Cs (Culture, Communication and Commitment). The essence of each chapter is highlighted at the end and each part ends with a number of “Discussion Questions”. Useful bibliography is also included.

Part One contains three chapters and deals with the foundations of total quality management (TQM). Chapter 1 deals with the importance of delighting customers to gain a competitive edge and the fundamentals of the supplier/customer “quality chains”. The differences among controlling, assuring and managing quality are highlighted. In Chapter 2, early TQM frameworks and excellence/quality award models, and their limitations, are briefly covered before introducing the new 4Ps and 3Cs model. The topic of Chapter 3 is leadership and commitment, which are essential for effecting continuous improvement.

Planning for TQM is the theme of Part Two, which comprises three chapters. Six basic steps for integrating TQM into the policy and strategy of an organisation and for providing a good foundation for the implementation of TQM are dealt with in Chapter 4. Planning and managing external (especially supplier) partnerships in line with overall policies and strategies and just‐in‐time management are very briefly covered in the next chapter. The focus of Chapter 6 is “Design for Quality”; the topics covered briefly include the design process, quality function deployment, design in the service sector, FMECA (failure, mode, effect and criticality analysis) and the links between good design and managing the business.

Part Three on Performance also comprises three chapters. In the first chapter, after briefly covering the role of performance measurement and the classification of quality costs, a four‐level performance framework linked to a balanced Scorecard is proposed. The next chapter deals with self‐assessment using European Excellence model, and securing prevention by audit and review of the management systems. The final chapter of this part is about the why, what and how of benchmarking.

TQM Processes, the theme of Part Four, is covered in four chapters. The Process Classification Framework developed and copyrighted by APQC (The American Productivity and Quality Centre) International Benchmarking Clearinghouse is covered in some depth in Chapter 10, along with process flow charting and related leadership, people and implementation aspects. Process redesigning/engineering issues are covered in the following chapter. ISO 9000:2000 forms the topic of the next chapter. Continuous improvement using a systematic approach and some basic tools such as force field analysis, Pareto and fishbone diagrams, statistical process control, matrix diagrams, etc., is covered in the final chapter of this Part.

People issues form the theme of Part Five comprising three chapters. The topics covered respectively in them are human resource management, culture change through teamwork, and communication, innovation and learning. In the chapter on culture change, the application of the FIRO‐B (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation Behaviour) instrument explained.

In the single chapter of Part Six, issues related to TQM implementation are briefly covered with the aid of a framework.

I found the book very informative. It is not only useful in academic courses but is valuable as an introductory reading material for managers intending to enhance their knowledge of quality management.