too high, would be considered lacking in quality under this definition (Garvin 1998).
FEATURES OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
As its name suggests, Total Quality Management is an attempt to maximize quality within and throughout an organization. It requires that various departments be seen as "internal" customers as well as considering the needs and requirements of external customers (the company's traditional customers). By combining techniques such as just-in-time inventory (JIT) control, quality circles (QC) and other innovative management approaches, the goal is to maximize productivity and bring defects to zero. Tolerance of defects becomes very low since each step in the manufacturing or service process is dependent on the step before with little or no room for delay or error. As a result, the entire organization is brought into the TQM process, from procurement through manufacturing and including accounting (Monteith & Kusiatin 2003).
Key to TQM is the concept of redefining "defects". Recognizing that companie
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