MARY ROSE A.

MEJILLANO

BSBA FM II

QUALITY GURUS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO TQM

Total Quality Management (TQM), a managemnt phklosophy that helps companies and
organization improve their performance at global level. TQM begins with the knowledge provided by
gurus of quality: Deming, Juran, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa, Crosby and Taguchi. A guru, by definition, is a
good person, a wise person and a teacher. A quality guru should be all of these, plus have a concept and
approach to quality within business that has made a major and lasting impact. The implementation of
TQM has been strongly influenced by the writings of Deming (1986)21, Juran (1993)22, Feigenbaum
(1993)23, Ishikawa (1993)24 and Crosby (1989)25, which helped us to understand the essence of TQM.

First guru and considered as one of the most influential gurus, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a
statistics professor, specialized in sampling. His contributions are the following: (1) Statistical Process
Controlling (PRC) which is process which aims at achieving good quality during manufacture through
prevention rather than detection; (2) Deming Philosophy-the quality and productivity increases when the
process fluctuation decreases; (3) Deming 14 points; (4) Deming Cycle- Plan what is needed, Do it, Check
that it works and Act to correct any problems or improve performance; and (5) Deming's Seven Deadly
Diseases or points that can be seen as the ingredients which organizations require to carry out the total
transformation that is based on company-wide quality improvement philosophy. Dr. W. Edwards
Deming’s principles support the global success of Toyota, Proctor & Gamble, Ritz Carlton, Harley-
Davidson, and many other leading organizations. His teachings are essential for the effective application
of Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and Loyalty/Net Promoter and other quality improvement, customer
retention and business growth methods. Dr. Deming’s profound, yet simple; success strategies offer your
organization a proven system to achieve lasting growth and success. Dr. Deming helped Toyota—and
other leading Japanese exporting companies—develop the vital management philosophy andpractices
that enabled them to become market leaders around the world. Dr. Deming came to Japan following
World War II in order to teach industry leaders methods of statistical quality control, as well as to impart
the significance of quality control in management and his overall management philosophy. He was an
invaluable teacher, playing an indispensable role in the development and revitalization of post-war Japan

The next guru is Joseph M. Juran . He is an internationally acclaimed quality guru, similar to
Deming, strongly influencing Japanese and world's manufacturing practices. His contributions and ideas
are: (1) Quality as fitness of purpose; (2) Breakthrough Concept- sequences of process improvements; (3)
Internal Customers- where quality is associated with customer's satisfaction and dissatisfaction; (4)
Quality Cost (Appraisal, Prevention, Failure, Internal Failure and External Failure); (5) Juran Pareto
Analysis- a universal problem solving methodology in which we list the key problems and ranking them
frkm highest to lowest and trying to solve the deficiencies; and (6) Quality Trilogy (Quality Planning,
Quality Improvement and Quality Controlling). Joseph M. Juran is characterised by a remarkable span
and an extraordinary intensity. He has been called the "father" of quality, a quality "guru" and the man
who "taught quality to the Japanese". He is recognised as the person who added the human dimension
to quality, broadening it from its statistical origins to what we now call TQM. He wrote the standard
reference work on Quality Control, first published in 1951. In 1954, he delivered a series of lectures to
Japanese managers which helped set them on the path to quality. In addition to these accomplishments,
there is Juran's seminal role as a teacher and lecturer, both at New York University and with the
American Management Association. He also worked as a consultant to businesses and organisations in
forty countries, and has made many other contributions to the literature in more than twenty books and
hundreds of published papers.

Armand V. Feigenbaum was an American quality control expert and businessman. It is difficult to
hear the word "Quality‟ without thinking of Armand V. Feigenbaum, the man who coined the term Total
Quality Control (TQC) known today as TQM and for more than 60 years has shaped its development.
TQC, a foundation of modern management, has been widely accepted as a viable operating philosophy
in all economic sectors. Its commercial success is indisputable when faced with its large number of
proponents throughout the global business community. Using financial performance as an indicator of
poor quality, Feigenbaum was one of the first engineers to speak management‟s language. He was also
one of the world‟s first true quality professionals. His other contributions are: (1) Concept of "hidden
plant" idea that so much extra work is performed in correcting mistakes that there is effectively a hidden
plant within any factory; (2) Accountability for quality; and (3) Three Elemnments of Quality: Quality
Leadership, Modern Quality Technology and Organizational Commitment.

Kaoru Ishikawa (1915-1989) was a Japanese professor and influential quality managemnt
innovator. Kaoru Ishikawa is probably best known for the quality tool named for him: the Ishikawa
diagram, also known as the “Fishbone or Cause and Effect Diagram” which identifies many possible
causes for an effect or problem and can be used to structure a brainstorming session. But Ishikawa
accomplished much more than just developing the fishbone diagram concept. Ishikawa wrote 647
articles and 31 books, including two that were translated into English: Introduction to Quality Control
and What Is TQC? The Japanese Way. He was involved in efforts to promote quality ideas throughout
Japanese industry and amongst consumers. While the idea of focusing on the customer is still the
fundamental element of quality and has become the norm, it was Ishikawa who drove home the point
that customers are the only reason for a business to exist. The fishbone diagram and quality circles were
some of the most important tools Ishikawa developed, but his key role in helping create a quality
strategy specific to Japan may be his most important quality contribution. The Japanese approach
focuses on broad involvement in quality not only top to bottom within an organisation, but also start to
finish in the product life cycle.

Philip B. Crosby (1926-2001) known as the 'Fun Uncle of Quality Revolution'. He also popularized
the idea of the "cost of poor quality" that is , figuring out how much it really costs to do things badly. He
stressed the importance of “doing it right the first time”, laid out the road map to qualityimprovement in
his 14 step approach and established the four absolutes of quality. But amongst a lengthy list of
accomplishments, Crosby is perhaps best known for promoting a standard of excellence based on
nothing-the concept of zero defects. Eventually, the concept spread to other organisations. “Everywhere
it was presented, the defect rates dropped, morale improved, and there was a feeling of
accomplishment”, Crosby wrote. “Ideas for preventing problems emerged by the batch”. The idea had its
share of detractors who claimed the standard was unattainable and that the costs incurred in striving for
it were too extreme. In 1979, his final year at ITT Crosby penned his seminal work, quality Is Free, which
laid out his 14 steps to improvement. That same year, he was elected the 30th President of ASQ. Crosby
maintained a place of prominence in the quality world until his death in 2001, but through PCA, his
teachings have reached leaders at some of the topcompanies in the world, including General Motors,
Motorola, Xerox and Hewlett-Packard30

Another quality guru was Bill Conway. Bill Conway has been referred to as the Deming’s disciple.
He considers that quality management is the management of the various stages of the development,
manufacturing, purchasing and distribution processes with consideration of economic viability and a
desire to improve on various activities to reduce material waste and time wastage. He considers that
quality problems are often caused by management’s lack of conviction of commitment. Quality
improvement according to Conway has to come from a new way of management thinking and also the
wide utilization of statistical tools. He proposes a list of six guidelines as shown below.

Other remarkable quality gurus are: (1) David Garvin a Professor of Business Administration at
Harvard Business School. His idea is about the Eight Dimensions of Quality (Performance, Features,
Reliability, Conformance, Durability, Serviceability, Aesthetics and Perceived Quality); (2) Shigeo Shingo a
Japanese industrial engineer who contributed the "Poka Yoke" (mistake proofing) System which aims to
stop errors to become defects; (3) Genichi Taguchi was an engineer and statistician who developed the
methodology of applying statistics known as Taguchi Methodology which aims to improve the quality of
manufactured goods.

The quality qurus stated or mentioned above are only a part of numerous quality gurus with
great minds, principles and philosophies that shaped and continoisly shaping the concept of Quality
Management today. Through their help and ideas business are continously improving, progressing and
satisfying their customers.