The history of quality management, from mere 'inspection' to Total Quality Management, and its modern 'branded interpretations such as 'Six Sigma', has led to the development of essential processes, ideas, theories and tools that are central to organisational development, change management, and the performance improvements that are generally desired for individuals, teams and organisations.
These free resources, materials and tools are an excellent guide to the quality management area, for practical application in organisations, for study and learning, and for teaching and training others. The materials are pdf files, for which you will require 'Acrobat Reader', available free from adobe.com.
These free materials are provided by permission of the UK Department of Industry - now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform - which is gratefully acknowledged. The materials listed and linked from this page are subject to Crown Copyright.
Please note that since the replacement of the UK Department of Industry by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the branding on the materials is now obsolete. Nevertheless, since the Quality Management technical and historical content is unaffected by the DTI branding the materials remain relevant for training, learning and reference.
It is appropriate to note the passing of Joseph Juran, a seminal figure in the history of quality management, who died 28 February 2008, age 103. Juran did not only teach the Japanese about quality management. He was also arguably the first quality expert to emphasise that no quality management system works unless people are empowered and committed to take responsibility for quality - as an ongoing process - effectively for quality to become part of part of people's behaviour and attitudes - an ethos.
Further total quality management information and quality management terminology explanations are on the Six Sigma page.
The roots of Total Quality Management can be traced to early 1920's production quality control ideas, and notably the concepts developed in Japan beginning in the late 1940's and 1950's, pioneered there by Americans Feigenbum, Juran and Deming... More about Quality Management and TQM history.
Quality Management resulted mainly from the work of the quality gurus and their theories: the American gurus featured in the 1950's Japan: Joseph Juran, W Edwards Deming, and Armand Feigenbum; the Japanese quality gurus who developed and extended the early American quality ideas and models: Kaoru Ishikawa, Genichi Taguchi, and Shigeo Shingo; and the 1970-80's American Western gurus, notably Philip Crosby and Tom Peters, who further extended the Quality Management concepts after the Japanese successes... More about the Quality Management gurus and their theories, including the development and/or use of the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle, Pareto analysis, cause and effect diagrams, stratification, check-sheets, histograms, scatter-charts, process control charts, system design, parameter design, tolerance design ('Taguchi methodology'), Quality Improvement Teams (QIT), Just In Time (JIT), Management By Walking About (MBWA), McKinsey 7-S Framework, etc.
Total Quality Management features centrally the customer-supplier interfaces, (external and internal customers and suppliers). A number of processes sit at each interface. Central also is an organisational commitment to quality, and the importance of communicating this quality commitment, together with the acknowledgement that the right organisational culture is essential for effective Total Quality Management.... More about the fundamentals and structures of the TQM model, including the people, processes and systems in the organisation.
Understanding processes is essential before attempt is made to improve them. This is a central aspect to Total Quality Management, and also to more modern quality and process improvement interpretations and models such as Six Sigma.... More about Total Quality Management process and process improvement methods.
A wide range of tools and techniques is used for identifying, measuring, prioritising and improving processes which are critical to quality. Again these ideas and methods feature prominently in modern interpretations of Total Quality Management methodology, such as Six Sigma. These process improvement tools and techniques include: DRIVE (Define, Review, Identify, Verify, Execute), process mapping, flow-charting, force field analysis, cause and effect, brainstorming, Pareto analysis, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Control charts, bar charts, 'dot plot' and tally charts, check-sheets, scatter diagrams, matrix analysis, histograms..... More about tools and techniques for process evaluation and improvement.
People are a fundamental component within any successfully developing organisation. Take away the people and the organisation is nothing. Take away the people's motivation, commitment and ability to work together in well-organised teams, and again, the organisation is nothing. Conversely, inspire the people to work well, creatively, productively, and the organisation can fly. Logically therefore, the development and proper utilization of people are vital to the success of all quality management initiatives. There are a wide range of models that are used in selecting, assessing, training and developing and motivating people, among which are classical models such as Belbin, Myers Briggs Type Indicator (see the personality models section), Bruce Tuckman's 'Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing' model, John Adair's Action Centred Leadership model.... More about people and culture within quality management.
There are many other methods and models for optimising the effectiveness of people within organisations on this website. Look at the main index if you are not already on the main website.
A 'Total Quality Organisation' generally benefits from having an effective Quality Management System (QMS). A Quality Management System is typically defined as: "A set of co-ordinated activities to direct and control an organisation in order to continually improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its performance." Customer expectations inevitably drive and define 'performance' criteria and standards. Therefore Quality Management Systems focus on customer expectations and ongoing review and improvement.... More about Quality Management Systems, what they are, and how to set up a good QMS.
There are many ways to measure organisational performance other than financial output or profit. Modern measurement focuses on the essential activities, resources and other factors - many less intangible than traditional indictors - that impact on final outputs. These include modern methods such as Balanced Scorecard... More about performance measurement, and cost of quality.
The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model® is a useful framework for developing quality and excellence within an organisation... More.
Any organisation can assess itself provided it has the commitment to so so, and a framework for the self-assessment... Here are some ideas, and a process for quality and excellence self-assessment.
Benchmarking is a widely used term within the field of organisational measurement and management .... Here is an explanation of benchmarking, and a questionnaire by which an organisation (or a department or process team) can assess its readiness for benchmarking.
Here is a framework and 'blueprint' for the implementation of a quality improvement or 'excellence' initiative. It includes the following elements:
This blueprint for achieving organisational excellence is based on many years of research, education and advisory work in the European Centre for Business Excellence (ECforBE), and the research and education division of Oakland Consulting plc. It is, along with the other resources in this section, information and advice initially from the UK Department of Industry, now replaced by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Here are a number of case studies featuring organisations that have implemented quality management and process improvement initiatives. These case studies illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the various methodologies, tools, techniques and concepts included within quality management and quality process improvement theory.
Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors
Tuckman's Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing model
Sharon Drew Morgen's Facilitation model
and the many other related performance management and organisational development materials on the main businessballs website, if you are not already there.
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