Total Quality Management (TQM) - one problem with this term is that there is no accepted definition. In common practice it mean a management method adopting some of the quality tools such as the Seven Basic Quality Tools and Seven Management and Planning Tools.
The term came into widespread use in the 1980's after the NBC white paper, If Japan Can Why Can't We, explored the success Japan was having using Deming's management philosophy and the subsequent rush by American business to adopt "Quality" methods.
The Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) define TQM (Aug 2005) as "a set of systematic activities carried out by the entire organization to effectively and efficiently achieve company objectives so as to provide products and services with a level of quality that satisfies customers, at the appropriate time and price."
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