Module III. Leadership
Module III. Leadership
Module III. Leadership
Module in
Operations
Management and
TQM
(BUMA 20093)
Prepared by:
Carag, Jhomyl S.
Ladringan, Justine Jane R.
Ramos, Mary Joyce D.
Suma, Sittie Ainah G.
BSA 2-1
A.Y. 2019-2020
Faculty/ Facilitator:
Dr. Danilo Valenzuela
Module III: Leadership
Module III
Topic:
Leadership
Definition of TQM
Elements of TQM
Leadership for TQM
Deming’s 14 Points for
Top Management
Ten Strategies for Top
Management
Objectives
Concepts
“It takes the right leadership to move the performance of the firm to the next
level.”
There are many sources that explain the theory of the Total Quality
Management (TQM) process of the firm. Leadership puts these principles into
action. Without sound leadership, the quality control process would be likely far
less effective.
Essential Questions
1. What is leadership?
2. What is Total Quality Management and its elements?
3. What is the relationship of Leadership and Total Quality Management?
4. What is “Deming’s 14 Points for Top Management”?
5. What are the strategies applied by the Top Management?
Introduction
There is no universal definition of leaderships and indeed many books have been
devoted to the topic of leadership. Various dictionary provided objective definitions. There
are also notable people that defined it in a more subjective manner.
Lesson Proper
3.1 Leadership
Merriam-Webster dictionary defined leadership as the
following: (a) the office or position of a leader, (b) capacity to lead and (c)
the act or an instance of leading. Additionally, Oxford Learner’s dictionary
emphasized that leadership is having the ability to be a leader or the
qualities a good leader should have.
“Leadership is the catalyst that transforms potential into reality.”
In Newstrom’s “Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work”, leadership is
viewed as the process of influencing and supporting others to work enthusiastically
towards achieving an objective. It is the critical factor that helps an individual or group
identify its goals, and then motivates and assists in achieving the stated goal.
One word that has been associated with leadership is “management”. The two
terms are both related to governance, but each of them has their own focus. In order to
grasp their difference, a Table 1 is provided for easier comparison.
Table 1. Leadership vs. Management
Leadership Management
“Lead people” “Manage actions”
Leaders: Managers:
Inspire others to share their vision Plans and budgets
Motivate others to act on that Organizes and allocates
vision resources
Encourage others and help them Coordinates and solves problems
overcome obstacles in pursuit of
that vision
One of the concepts that have been linked with leadership is Stephen Covey’s The
7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This is an intensive, application-oriented learning
experience that focuses on the fundamentals of great leadership and its execution.
Habit 1– Be Proactive
Being proactive means taking responsibility for your life– the ability to choose the
responses to a situation. Proactive behavior is the outcome of conscious choice based
on values whereas reactive behavior is based on feelings. Proactive people let
carefully thought about, selected and internalized values tell them how to respond.
Habit 6– Synergy
Synergize is the habit of creative cooperation and can only be achieved by valuing the
diverse paradigms and opinions of others. In a synergistic environment, true
collaboration takes place because the whole is always greater than the sum of its
parts.
TQM focuses on ensuring that internal guidelines and process standards reduce
errors. Total quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company
that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs.
These elements can be divided into four groups according to their function. The groups
are:
I. Foundation
TQM is built on a foundation of ethics, integrity and trust. It fosters openness,
fairness and sincerity and allows involvement by everyone. This is the key to
unlocking the ultimate potential of TQM.
• Ethics
Ethics is an element that is concerned with the understanding of the
good and bad in any situation at the workplace. It is a two-faceted subject
represented by organizational and individual ethics. Ethics of an
organization set up the business code which outlines the guidelines that
every employee is expected to follow. Individual ethics include personal
rights or wrongs.
• Integrity
Integrity refers to honesty, values and an individual’s sincerity at
workplace. It involves respecting fellow workers and the policies of the
organization. This is one of the important characteristics for which the
customers expect. Avoid spreading unnecessary rumors about your fellow
workers. Total Quality Management does not work in an environment
where employees criticize and backstab each other.
• Trust
The by-product of ethical conduct and integrity is trust. It stimulates
complete participation of all members in the organization. Trust improves
relationship among employees and eventually helps in better decision
making which further helps in implementing total quality management
successfully.
• Training
Training is very important for employees to be highly productive.
This responsibility falls solely on the supervisors who are responsible for
implementing Total Quality Management in their respective departments.
Employees must be trained under decision making, problem-solving,
interpersonal skills, technical skills, and business economics and so on.
This is done so that the employees can work effectively and produce
efficient results for the company.
• Teamwork
Rather than working individually, employees need to work in teams.
When individuals work in unison, they are in a position to brainstorm ideas
and come up with various solutions which would improve existing
processes and systems. Team members ought to help each other to find a
solution and put into place. It helps the business to receive effective and
efficient solutions to the problems. Teams also provide a permanent
improvement in process and operation. There are mainly three types of
teams that TQM organizations adopt:
a) Quality improvement teams or excellence teams (QITs)
– These are temporary teams with the purpose of dealing
with specific problems that often recur. These teams are set
up for period of three to twelve months.
b) Problem solving teams (PSTs) – These are temporary
teams to solve certain problems and also to identify and
overcome causes of problems. They generally last from one
week to three months.
c) Natural work teams (NWTs) – These teams consist of
small groups of skilled workers who share tasks and
responsibilities. These teams use concepts such as
employee involvement teams, self-managing teams and
• Leadership
It is possibly the most important element in TQM. It appears
everywhere in organization. This is one of the crucial elements which must
be constructive, effective and positive. Leadership provides a direction to
the entire process of Total Quality Management. Total Quality Management
needs to have a supervisor who acts as a strong source of inspiration for
other members and can assist them in decision making. A leader himself
needs to believe in the entire process of TQM for others to believe in the
same.
III. Binding Mortar
Binding mortar is an element which binds all the other elements together. The
key element of this category is Communication.
• Communication
It binds everything together. Starting from foundation to roof of the
TQM house, everything is bound by strong mortar of communication. It acts
as a vital link between all elements of TQM. Communication means a
common understanding of ideas between the sender and the receiver.
Information needs to be passed on from the sender to the recipient in its
desired form. It is necessary to make sure that all the levels of
communication among the suppliers, member and the customers are kept
open. The communication among employees or the members of the
organization is done in three ways. They are:
a) Downward communication – This is the dominant form of
communication in an organization. Flow of information takes
place from the management to the employees.
Presentations and discussions basically do it. By this the
supervisors are able to make the employees clear about
TQM.
b) Upward communication – Flow of information takes place
from the employees to the top level management. By this
the lower level of employees are able to provide suggestions
to upper management of the effects of TQM. As employees
provide insight and constructive criticism, supervisors must
listen effectively to correct the situation that comes about
through the use of TQM. This forms a level of trust between
supervisors and employees. This is also similar to
empowering communication, where supervisors keep open
ears and listen to others.
c) Sideways communication – Communication also takes
place between various departments. This type of
communication is important because it breaks down barriers
between departments. It also allows dealing with customers
and suppliers in a more professional manner.
IV. Roof
The roof consists of a final element which tops off all the other elements of
TQM. It is called recognition.
• Recognition
This element involves the suggestions and achievements for the
teams and the individuals including positive feedback and encouragement.
Employees strive to receive recognition for themselves and their teams. As
people are recognized, there can be huge changes in self-esteem,
productivity, quality and the amount of effort exhorted to the task at hand.
Recognition comes in its best form when it is immediately following an
action that an employee has performed. Recognition comes in different
ways, places and time such as:
a) Ways – It can be by way of personal letter from top
management. Also by award banquets, plaques, trophies
etc.
b) Places – Good performers can be recognized in front of
departments, on performance boards and also in front of top
management.
c) Time – Recognition can be given at any time like in staff
meeting, annual award banquets, etc.
“An organization’s senior leaders should set directions and create a customer
focus, clear and visible values, and high expectations. The directions, values and
expectations should balance the needs of all your stakeholders. Your leaders should
ensure the creation of strategies, systems and methods for achieving excellence,
stimulating innovation and building knowledge and capabilities. The values and strategies
should help guide all activities and decisions of your organization. Senior leaders should
inspire and motivate your entire workforce and should encourage all employees to
contribute, to develop and learn, to be innovative and to be creative.
Senior leaders should serve as role models through their ethical behavior and their
personal involvement in planning, communication, coaching, development of future
leaders, review of organizational performance and employee recognition
As role models, they can reinforce values and expectations while building
leaderships, commitment and initiative throughout your organization.”
There are many sources that explain the theory of the Total Quality Management
(TQM) process of the firm. Leadership puts these principles into action. Without sound
leadership, the quality control process would be likely far less effective. A firm may have
all the industry "best practices" employed, but it takes internal leadership to take quality
management to a level that will put the firm in the best possible position to succeed.
These total quality management principles can be put into place by any
organization to more effectively implement total quality management. As a total quality
management philosophy, Dr. Deming’s work is foundational to TQM and its
successor, quality management systems.
which people can realize their potential. You motivate them to want to do their best, and
they deliver their best.
into business process improvement. If your processes work well, then your business is
already delivering good quality and working productively.
We also can’t expect generalized goals to become personal ones. Deming
recommends setting individualized goals for every person, and along with the new goals,
there needs to be a roadmap that shows them how to achieve them.
Simply put, reducing defects means finding out where they occur and how the
process allows them to occur. Increasing productivity means identifying obstacles to
productivity and removing them. Use tools like Fishbone Diagrams to help you get down
to root causes before you suggest solutions.
12. Remove Barriers that Prevent Teams from Feeling Proud of Their Work
Deming believed that taking pride in one’s work is essential to quality and
process improvement. You’ve probably experienced this yourself. When you love what
you do, you do it better, and you feel good about the results. But if people are constantly
criticizing you and comparing you to others, you stop enjoying what you previously loved.
It’s natural that some workers will acquire skills faster than others, and it’s natural
that they will get better results than their counterparts. While it’s great to recognize
achievements, the rest of the team should never feel judged or be made to feel that they
are valued less than others are. Deming says that the quality system will ultimately get
everyone working according to the same standard.
Process problems also cause workplace frustration. You’re expected to deliver
X output, but to do so, you need Y input, and Z tools would help you to get your job done
more easily. If you don’t have the right inputs and the right tools, delivering X becomes
a daily nightmare. Are you to blame? No, the process needs fixing so that you have the
tools and inputs you need.
Let’s take the analogy further. You’ve been struggling with your job for the last
year because the process you’re working in is flawed. When it comes to your
performance appraisal, the numbers show that your work is barely acceptable. How
much do you love what you do right now? Meanwhile, a colleague who constantly makes
mistakes gets praised because the numbers look good.
Deming makes a tough call on managers. As a leader, your job is to help other
people do their jobs by creating systems that work. If someone falls outside of the
system, you have to correct that, but if they’re working inside the system, you need to
work with them to figure out where the system fails.
They have to foresee what will happen in the future and take advance
action. It also deals with “Proper management needs proper system”
References
• Barone, A. (2019, November 18). How Total Quality Management (TQM) Works. Retrieved
December 1, 2019, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/total-quality-management-
tqm.asp.
• Bridges, J. (2018, October). Retrieved from
https://www.projectmanager.com/training/leadership-vs-management
• Cortez, S. (2013, January 4). TQM Leadership. Retrieved December 1, 2019, from
https://prezi.com/pl6dv-xlo7q2/tqm-leadership/.
• Farrington, J. (2011, May 4). Never Rest On Your Laurels - Even the Best Performance
Can Be Improved! Retrieved December 1, 2019, from https://www.allbusiness.com/never-
rest-on-your-laurels-even-the-best-performance-can-be-improved-15583929-1.html.
• Leadership. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/leadership
• Leadership. (n.d.). Oxford Learner's Dictionary. Retrieved from
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/leadership?q=leadership
• Mariano, A. (2013, August 25). TEN STRATEGIES FOR TOP MANAGEMENT. Retrieved
December 1, 2019, from https://prezi.com/ycmyzj0nsxat/ten-strategies-for-top-
management/.MSG Management Study Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2019, from
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/elements-of-total-quality-management.htm.
• Mrotek, J. (2014, November 6). Retrieved from
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141106190850-228512303-the-role-of-leadership-in-
total-quality-management-tqm
• Mulder, P. (2019, November 19). 7 Habits of Highly Effective People summary (Covey).
Retrieved November 30, 2019, from https://www.toolshero.com/leadership/7-habits-highly-
effective-people/.
• Newstrom, J. W., & Newstrom, J. W. (2015). Chapter 7: Leadership. In Organizational
Behavior: Human Behavior at Work (14th ed., pp. 171–172).
• Rouse, M. A. (2019, August). Total Quality Management (TQM). Retrieved December 1,
2019, from https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/Total-Quality-Management.
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2019, from
https://www.leaderinme.org/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/.
• The Eight Elements of TQM. (2012, September 5). Retrieved December 1, 2019, from
https://www.isixsigma.com/methodology/total-quality-management-tqm/eight-elements-
tqm/.
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People in TQM - IIBM Institute LMS. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 30, 2019, from http://www.iibmindialms.com/library/management-basic-
subjects/total-quality-management/seven-habits-highly-effective-people/.
• Thomson, J. (2019, March 4). Key Elements of Total Quality Management. Retrieved
December 1, 2019, from https://goodmenproject.com/business-ethics-2/key-elements-of-
total-quality-management/.
• VIRTUAL ORGANIZATIONS. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2019, from
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Tr-Z/Virtual-Organizations.html.