TOTAL QUALITY IN THE MODERN ENTERPRISE

1.What is this subject about, and what is important to know

The terms Quality and Total Quality are being used in all business activities today, however, man has felt the concern to use them over time, it could be said since the beginning of time. There are countless examples of the work of man on earth, so we have the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China, as current evidence that the project carried out in antiquity, endures through the years, enduring the influences of time and the attitudes of man that have conditioned wars, looting and the painful historical reality forgotten by all. Throughout its development, the concept of quality has had contributions from many authors, including Jurn, Crosby, Deming, Ishikawa, and others, who have managed to evolve the concept through their contributions and studies. Joseph M. Jurn born in 1904, was a graduate in law and engineering, taught the doctrine of Quality Management, and contributed to the great Japanese power revolutionizing its way of thinking and its aptitude for the use of products and services that globalize the world.

Among its contributions are concepts associated with reducing the costs of non-quality, progressing in quality over time, and correcting chronic failures associated with the lack of quality. Philip B. Crosby born in 1926, created the concept of the supplier-customer relationship and the concept of "Zero Defects" in the early sixties, contributions that are components of companies as part of their management. He believed that the key to improving quality was to change the mentality of senior management. If what she expected were imperfections and defects, she would have them since her workers would impose similar expectations on her work.But if it permeated a performance more

With high and made good communication at all levels, it was possible to achieve "zero defects".

W. Edward Deming was born in 1900 in the United States and among his contributions stands out the quality management through statistical control and the improvement of the quality of products coinciding with the needs of consumers. In 1958 he was the promoter of quality management in Japan, being curious that it took more than thirty years for American companies to realize quality management. Such a contribution merited the institutionalization of the Deming Prize in recognition of his work. Kaoru Ishikawa born in 1915 in Japan, was a director of many Japanese and American companies and is the founder of the "Quality Circles", as well as a promoter of the diagram known as the cause-effect diagram, or fishbone. He designed a quality circle based on six integrated stages, which are: the definition of the objectives, definition of the method, training, execution of the task, control of the results, and taking actions.

In addition, its contribution includes the principles of quality based on the total commitment of management and middle managers, participatory administration, adherence of staff to quality objectives, and training on quality tools. Thus, Total Quality has been in force in the world and many countries such as the United States, England, and Spain have developed models based on these concepts currently, the evolution of Total Quality is combined with other strategies such as those associated with process management, knowledge management to application in technological businesses. Some quality concepts Quality has several meanings that depend on the context in which it is used.

Thus, there are two internal types of quality, understood as the way an organization manages the quality of its processes, products, services, and external quality, which is the perception of the client, consumer, or user who has regarding the product or service he buys or uses. Modern organizations place much more emphasis on external quality through the reinforcement of the concept of internal quality The evolution of the concept of Quality has been enriched by the contribution of various authors and scholars, who express themselves as follows: "Quality is the level of excellence that the company has chosen to achieve to satisfy its key clientele".(Horovitz, 1995: 1) "Quality is to satisfy the needs of customers and their reasonable expectations" (BERRY, 1995: 2) "Total quality is a management philosophy that involves the involvement of all members of the organization in the constant search for self-improvement and improvement continuous improvement" (CHIAVENATO, 2002: 690) .

A generally accepted definition is that which identifies Quality with the degree of satisfaction offered by the characteristics of the product / service, in relation to the requirements of the consumer to whom it is intended, that is, a product or service is of quality, when it satisfies the needs and expectations of the customer or user, depending on certain parameters, such as security, reliability and service provided. It can be said that the concept of Quality has been characterized by the effectiveness in the manufacture of the product or the provision of the service, and hence the contribution of the Master of Quality has been gradually introducing aspects related to the feeling of the client and the efficiency of the business; this is how the concept evolves to total quality. The term Total Quality (TC), is used to describe the process of making quality principles part of the strategic objectives of an organization, applying them to all operations along with continuous improvement, and focusing on the needs of the client to manufacture things well done the first time

It is important to understand Total Quality, beyond appearing as a complete concept and evolving from other more basic meanings of the word Quality; it implies a philosophy of work, and even of life and a path to excellence. In this sense, Total Quality, quality management, or total quality management, is a new paradigm or management model that seeks to focus the company's strategy on giving the customer what they need and when they need it, with a competitive price and in the most efficient way possible. Characteristics of Total Quality An organization, whatever the activity it carries out, if it wishes to maintain an adequate level of competitiveness in the medium and long term, must use analysis procedures and formal decisions, to systematize and coordinate all the efforts of the units that make up the organization aimed at maximizing overall efficiency.

There are several approaches to Total Quality management, experienced and implemented around the world. Almost everyone insists that the commitment to total quality applies to the efforts of all people in the organization and all aspects of operations, from the procurement of inputs and resources to the manufacture of finished products and services rendered. It will be important for companies today to take into account the seven characteristics listed below: Total Quality is organizationally broad and surpasses all functional departments. Total Quality focuses on the quality of the processes that lead to the product or service. Total Quality is a process of continuous improvement Total Quality requires support from senior management and the involvement of all people in the activity, to achieve quality. Total Quality focuses on the customer, the user, or the consumer.

Total Quality lies in the solution of problems and the empowerment of the workforce. Total Quality implies a team approach In this context, companies have to continue assuming the protagonist that corresponds to them to contribute to the growth and social and economic development of our Country, achieving greater efficiency and providing quality products and services. Competitiveness means a sustainable benefit for the business, as well as the result of continuous improvement of quality and innovation. The Total Quality strategy, well applied, responds to the need to transform the products, services, processes, structures, and culture of companies, to ensure their future.Housekeeping (order in the company)

Those who manage to make organizations survive in the current and changing competitive world are of course the people, who are the ones who will ultimately put the products and services in Consumer Hands, this is why results are important and (not difficult) that employees at all levels that make up the organization, take into account the Five S Program, which is nothing more than putting an order in the company, and this practice aims to make better use of space, eliminate the causes of accidents (which in many cases raise costs to the company), develop team spirit and ensure the good looks of the organization. The implementation of the Five S program requires that all employees be responsible for the following activities within the organization: Seiri: separate the necessary from the unnecessary, the essential from the accidental Seiton: organize, put things in the proper place Seiso: groom, keep the environment clean and pleasant Seiketsu: standardize, simplify things Shitsuke: This program that is implemented very successfully in Japanese companies and that can easily be adopted (if the will exists) in companies whether large, medium or small, completely changes the behavior of people in organizations, who instead of being simple workers, are responsible for the work of their area, without being an island within the organization, but that the work done is by the aforementioned criteria and also manage the task and the environment in which it works.

Total Quality is everyone's task, always and in all the activities of the company. Strategic approaches for the modern company The XXI century will be a time characterized by greater competitiveness where companies due to accelerated change and globalization, will have to rethink the role they are playing and focus their actions on continuous improvement. The term competitiveness continues to be used not only in business circles but also in political and socio-economic circles in general. In certain markets, this is due to the extension of the reference framework for economic operators moving from a local attitude to a more open and expansive, and proactive one. Competitiveness is not the product of chance, nor does it arise spontaneously; it is created and achieved through a process of learning and negotiation by representative collective groups that shape the dynamics of organizational conduct, such as shareholders, managers, employees, creditors, customers, by competition, the market, government and society in general. To win in this new environment, organizations must articulate themselves in three dimensions namely: 1. Add the largest number of people in the activity of thinking about new businesses or improving the existing ones. 2. Work with the final production in mind, not control over the media. 3. Put an end to the dogmas about the property.

The use of these dimensions implies a continuous orientation towards the environment and a strategic attitude of both the companies in force, as in those of recent creation, and in general, in any kind of organization. It is necessary to take into account that the concept of success forces us to think about the idea of excellence, that is, with characteristics of efficiency and effectiveness of the organization Companies must-have products and services that customers want, having the capacity of competitive production, being efficient. It should not be forgotten that at present it is the customer who becomes the "boss" and is the one who dictates the orders regarding what he wants to buy. For this reason, it will be necessary to take into account aspects such as customer orientation, continuous improvement and innovation, leadership-oriented towards the transformation of total quality, a corporate culture of support, training, and finally communication with the client. Customer orientation In a market of free competition, the customer seeks quality, price, and availability offered by companies. Faced with a large number of companies that offer the same products and services, you will compare supply and demand and decide who to buy from; then the survival of the company will be in the hands of the customer. The products and services offered by companies must reflect the expectations and needs of customers, what the customer considers important.

Its interest lies in the fact that the minimum qualitative level produced is always higher than its expectations, is the quality of the service is as important as the product. It is the customer who qualifies the quality of the product or service offered, hence the quality should not be taken in its absolute or scientific value, but for improving the existing one. 2. Work with the final production in mind, not control over the media. 3. Put an end to the dogmas about the property.

The use of these dimensions implies a continuous orientation towards the environment and a strategic attitude of both the companies in force, as in those of recent creation, and in general, in any kind of organization. It is necessary to consider that the concept of success forces us to think about the idea of excellence, that is, with characteristics of efficiency and effectiveness of the organization Companies must-have products and services that customers want, and have the capacity for competitive production, being efficient. It should not be forgotten that at present it is the customer who becomes the "boss" and is the one who dictates the orders regarding what he wants to buy. For this reason, it will be necessary to consider aspects such as customer orientation, continuous improvement, and innovation, leadership-oriented toward the transformation of total quality, a corporate culture of support, training, and finally communication with the client.

Customer orientation in a market of free competition, the customer seeks quality, price, and availability offered by companies. Faced with many companies that offer the same products and services, you will compare supply and demand and decide who to buy from; then the survival of the company will be in the hands of the customer. The products and services offered by companies must reflect the expectations and needs of customers, what the customer considers important. Its interest lies in the fact that the minimum qualitative level produced is always higher than its expectations, is the quality of the service is as important as the product. It is the customer who qualifies the quality of the product or service offered, hence the quality should not be taken in its absolute or scientific value, but- Organize for improvement - Know the process - Modernize - Carry out measurement and control.

- Make continuous improvement Thus, if you have become the best, you have not reached the end of the cycle, rather you are at the beginning and must continue to constantly improve Leadership oriented towards the transformation of Total Quality All change within the company, has a direct relationship with the quality of the leadership exercised. Although it is thought that the leader has to be an emotionally expressive person, he is most effective when structuring an intelligent organization. The personal skills that the leader must possess must be focused on forming followers and promoting change, so the role of the leader is essential within an organization. Total Quality requires, as said, an improvement of products and services, processes, and all aspects of the organization, but above all and this is the most important thing: the people and work teams that must meet the objective of generating products and services that provide customer satisfaction.

The main challenge of a leader is to ensure that all the individuals who make up the organization actively participate in the achievement of institutional objectives, integrating into a compact work team, to achieve the institutional mission. Therefore, the main responsibility of the leader is, first of all, to define a vision and mission, making them internalized throughout the organization. Based on these aspects, a quality policy and objectives to be achieved are defined. Thus, Total Quality as a modern management style, which promotes the participation of all company personnel in pursuit of continuous improvement, can be defined as: "A management style that gives people the training, responsibility, authority, guidance, feedback, support and motivation necessary to self-control and continuously improve their work, so that it can meet the needs and expectations of external and internal customers." Many companies today continue to carry out a traditional leadership style, where the boss is responsible for thinking and planning, giving orders, making decisions, and assuming all authority and responsibility, that is, he thinks that it is he who has "power"; however, this is a danger in the short term to achieve the results proposed in the company.

Leadership for Total Quality, responsible for the company cares about being up to date with the methodologies and techniques of Quality, practices and disseminates the principles and values of Total Quality, develops, and raises the level of self-esteem of its employees, encourages teamwork, and achieves their confidence and promoting their creativity in solving problems as well as recognizing their achievements. Finally, the modern Leader of Total Quality develops and maintains a focus on the customer, promotes the process approach, and drives change towards continuous improvement. Supportive corporate culture Another relevant aspect, together with total quality leadership, is the corporate culture. Like individuals who have a personality that characterizes them, organizations also possess characteristics that identify them, they can be rigid or flexible, unfriendly or helpful, innovative or conservative. Specifically, culture in an organization is understood as "A system of shared meaning within an organization, which determines, to a high degree, how employees act." (ROBBINS, 1994: 73). Organizations also have cultures that govern them and the way their members should proceed. There are every organizational pattern or system of values, symbols, myths, and practices that have evolved. These shared values largely determine what employees see and how they respond to their world. When problems exist, organizational culture restricts what employees can do, to conceptualize, define, analyze, and solve problems. All organizations have their own culture, but not all have the same impact on their employees. There are strong cultures and weak cultures.

A strong culture has a greater influence on employees. The more employees accept the organization's key values and the greater their commitment to those values, the stronger the culture. A strong culture exerts great influence on the behavior of members and the stronger the culture of an organization, the less management should worry about establishing formal norms and rules to predict staff behavior. The strength or weakness of the organizational culture depends on several factors such as: - Stability of the members of the organization - Homogeneity of the management team - Time of working together - Risk tolerance - Team learning mechanism - Structure and identity of the members - Rewards to performance Once a culture is established, there are practices within the organization that preserve it, by giving to the members a series of similar experiences. Culture is transmitted to employees; language is used by many organizations as a means of identifying the members of a culture. By learning that language, members attest to their acceptance of the culture and in doing so help preserve it. Total Quality contributes to the change of organizational culture.

Training is essential to an effective process. Employees within the company are integrated into the improvement process and for problem-solving. A team cannot be effective unless its members know how to spot and identify opportunities and problems. Employees do not develop an attitude towards quality and consider the customer first, without a modification of their actions, and actions are not modified if there is no training. If you want to form attitudes, then you have to modify the behavior. Different actions produce different results, which in turn, form new attitudes and so on. But you should not carry out isolated actions by departments or simple talks about quality, this process must be continuous if you want to achieve the results. Many training programs indicate that there are few opportunities for trained people to put their new knowledge into practice immediately. Using what you have learned in immediate ways is the best way to fully develop new capabilities and cultivate them to perfection.

Those who receive training will be well prepared to work as a team and will be able to do so effectively to solve Quality problems. They will also discover how their confidence is significantly increased. People's performance improves substantially. The training establishes a common language within the organization, which is a powerful tool and broadens organizational levels and boundaries between functions. The content of the training is also important, so it's good to start with a vision of Total Quality.

A well-planned process is essential to achieving effective development. Many companies are trapped by providing a minimum amount of training because it is considered a cost, this is particularly false given that training represents the necessary impulse to carry out Total Quality.

An effective program can cover the following aspects: - Introduction to Total Quality - Workshop for team members - Quality Leadership - Statistical techniques for Quality teams - Quality Management (for the executive levels of the company) Formal training should be complemented by an atmosphere of continuous learning so that people learn more and more. Specialized libraries can be organized, including books, magazines, and videos. You can also buy software about quality and form a learning center. External exhibitors and conferences on Quality should be invited.

The important thing to keep in mind is that the training program alone is not enough. A continuous learning environment must be created to obtain the results Quality to preserve a long-term atmosphere. Communication with the customer Continuous communication with customers is needed to identify problems and their main needs. It is convenient to carry out continuous surveys and always be in contact, if possible, staff with them.

The quality formula is simple as important C = PC. Where C = PC Quality = Customer Perceptions.

There are many ways to monitor customer perceptions and their changing needs.

These include:

1. Internal survey

2. Personal interview

3. Meetings with clients

4. Questions to staff who have contact with the customer

5. External investigations

6. Correspondence with customers

7. Suggestion boxes

8. Visits in their localities

In the case of surveys, the client should be asked what they want, but do it with courtesy and not force them to answer. Surveys should be presented in such a way that in some cases they may ignore them or not answer them. This last aspect is important because if you have not managed to make customers part of the company, in many cases they will not tell us their requirements and needs.

Therefore, we should not guess what the client wants, we have to facilitate the way to tell us, it is important to use short questionnaires, and fundamentally not to harass the client in search of answers. A company interested in satisfying its customers will use many techniques, and here the continuous learning environment is not only applied to training but also customer knowledge.

Once gathered the data relates to the needs of customers and their level of satisfaction or frustration, in no case should be kept under lock and key, this is important even if negative feedback is received from the leadership or employees, this customer feels is the best feedback tool,is the response that is expected from customers. In this case, if the culture is strong, the problems that arise are opportunities for improvement, so the concerns of customers within the company must be shared and of course, give a quick response to the needs of customers.

Employees who work in pursuit of Total Quality need information on both problems and achievements, so it is recommended to do so on an ongoing basis. Final Comment We are going through an era where the lack of opportunities must be discarded, rather we have to see how to undertake them, apply new technologies, analyze the market, create businesses, and make business synergy in different segments.

Companies have to be structured to add more brains, not to remove them, and be more flexible in the search for new business opportunities, you have to move from the sergeant manager and the self-sufficient entrepreneur to one of the business openings, where the individual plays his important role. Organizations operate in a dynamic and competitive environment and Total Quality is becoming a strong strategic advantage in the conquest of customers, through continuous improvement it will be possible to achieve business excellence.