Total quality management and project management

Superior quality products and high levels of customer satisfaction have given some foreign industries a larger share of the market than in previous decades.In response, many US companies have tried a plethora of quality improvement processes to better increase their market share.These attempts have not always been met with success.Limited success with quality improvement programs may be in part due to the failure to see the whole picture or system, not just the individual processes.Due to its multidisciplinary nature, a Project Management (PM) approach to Total Quality Management (TQM) is the perfect vehicle for implementing a holistic quality improvement program. TQM will have the chance to flourish and be integrated into all levels of an organization as it is intended.Using the 7 steps of Total Quality Management (TQM), project management implementation of TQM should provide a higher level of desired outcomes.