Issue
Quality management should be the organization’s primary objective since the managerial process sustains overall organizational performance.
Theories
General quality management is an aspect of the management of the enterprise as a whole. It is performed by top managers to ensure that the quality of every product, service, task and decision at a company is maintained at a high level (Fernandes, Sampaio, Sameiro, & Truong, 2017). While all the employees are involved in the performance of an organization, it is the manager’s task to control and maintain its high quality. Many researchers highlight the importance of quality management in the 21st century as competitiveness has been increasing in the free-market system (Gunasekaran, Subramanian, & Ngai, 2019; Gurau, n.d.). Indeed, in the era of technologies and artificial intelligence, managers are challenged to apply the available tools and techniques effectively to ensure their company’s quality service. According to Pambreni, Khatibi, Azam, & Tham (2019), the tasks quality managers need to accomplish include guaranteeing that products and services meet customers’ needs, designing error-free features, maintaining continuous improvement, and sustaining efficiency. Hence, by making quality management the primary objective, a company encompasses the most crucial issues and tasks and makes a qualified specialist responsible for their accomplishment.
Application
In this regard, considering the quality management principles that work in the real world can be beneficial for others. For example, Nguyen, Phan, & Matsui (2018) studied the “relationship between quality management practices and sustainability performance” at enterprises in Vietnam (p. 375). The authors concluded that several quality management practices could be advantageous for sustainability. As Nguyen et al. (2018) state, “top management support for quality management, quality design, quality data and reporting, and continuous improvement” are the critical factors for sustainability goals (p. 375). At the same time, Olenski (2016) argues that consumers in the modern world prefer long-lasting quality products that are safe for the environment and not overpriced. Every company claims the quality of its products nowadays, so consumers do not take these words for granted anymore. Hence, Olenski (2016) suggests that companies find “meaningful and evocative words to describe their product’s superiority over the competition” (para. 16). At this point, the quality manager should interfere and build a company that will correspond to the claimed philosophy.
Other examples involve the use of quality management regulations and platforms. For instance, as stated in “Quality management” (n.d.), an automated platform was used to “change control, CAPA and deviation activities with standardized processes and instant visibility, in real-time” (para. 3). Solutions of this kind are offered for different companies, including a laboratory service enterprise, a medical diagnostics manufacturer, a biotechnology organization, and many others (“Quality management,” n.d.). These companies’ experience is just an example of what technological opportunities are available for managerial purposes today.
Conclusions
It can be concluded that quality management is the foundation of a company’s high performance and quality service, and quality managers are the gatekeepers of all the tasks and processes within a company. Many researchers support this hypothesis, allowing companies to learn from others’ experiences and apply techniques and tools that have proven to be efficient. In particular, quality data, reporting, continuous improvement, developing the corporate philosophy that customers will believe, and applying technological tools and platforms can be named examples of efficient quality management. The importance of quality management is evident in the modern world, where customer satisfaction defines the organization’s objectives and can put the company’s reputation at stake.
References
Fernandes, A. C., Sampaio, P., Sameiro, M., & Truong, H. Q. (2017). Supply chain management and quality management integration. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 31(1), 53-67.
Gunasekaran, A., Subramanian, N., & Ngai, W. T. E. (2019). Quality management in the 21st century enterprises: Research pathway towards Industry 4.0. International Journal of Production Economics, 207, 125-129.
Gurau, A. (n.d.). Why is quality so important for an organization? Web.
Nguyen, M. H., Phan, A. C., & Matsui, Y. (2018). Contribution of quality management practices to sustainability performance of Vietnamese firms. Sustainability, 10(2), 375.
Olenski, S. (2016). Why brands must never lose sight of quality. Forbes. Web.
Pambreni, Y., Khatibi, A., Azam, S., & Tham, J. (2019). The influence of total quality management toward organization performance. Management Science Letters, 9(9), 1397-1406.
Quality management case studies. (n.d.). Web.