total quality in service companies
Total Quality Management in the Xerox Corporation
By: Jennifer Zook
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a term used to define quality programs corporations use to help increase the profit share and the customer relations of the corporation. Total Quality Management can consist of different programs that different companies use to obtain the results of customer satisfaction, better quality products, and a decrease in the defects of the products. Total Quality Management in the Xerox Corporation includes programs such as benchmarking, reduced supplier base, and leadership teams (Evans-Correia, 1991). In the following paragraphs Xerox�s strategies for TQM, the Baldrige Award, and the effects of TQM on the Xerox Corporation will be discussed as well as a background of the Xerox Corporation.
The Xerox Corporation started its thrive towards TQM in the 1970�s with the invention of PARC, Palo Alto Research Center. This center was created to do research in computer science, electronics, and material science (Brown, 1992). There are same basic principles that PARC has identified as important to research, "1. Research on new work practices is as important as research on new products, 2. Innovation is everywhere; the problem is learning from it, 3. Research can�t just produce innovation; it must �coproduce� it, and 4. The research department�s ultimate innovation partner is the customer" (Brown, 1992). Research is a key component when it comes to Total Quality Management. The only way to make yourself better is to learn new things and learn when you are doing things wrong so that the errors can be fixed. By opening up PARC Xerox has given itself a place to help with the innovation process of the corporation and thus allowing the corporation the means to do its job better. Alos, PARC is used as a way of finding out what the customer wants, if the customer can be satisfied then the corporation is one step closer to being a strong thriving company with Total Quality
By: Jennifer Zook
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a term used to define quality programs corporations use to help increase the profit share and the customer relations of the corporation. Total Quality Management can consist of different programs that different companies use to obtain the results of customer satisfaction, better quality products, and a decrease in the defects of the products. Total Quality Management in the Xerox Corporation includes programs such as benchmarking, reduced supplier base, and leadership teams (Evans-Correia, 1991). In the following paragraphs Xerox�s strategies for TQM, the Baldrige Award, and the effects of TQM on the Xerox Corporation will be discussed as well as a background of the Xerox Corporation.
The Xerox Corporation started its thrive towards TQM in the 1970�s with the invention of PARC, Palo Alto Research Center. This center was created to do research in computer science, electronics, and material science (Brown, 1992). There are same basic principles that PARC has identified as important to research, "1. Research on new work practices is as important as research on new products, 2. Innovation is everywhere; the problem is learning from it, 3. Research can�t just produce innovation; it must �coproduce� it, and 4. The research department�s ultimate innovation partner is the customer" (Brown, 1992). Research is a key component when it comes to Total Quality Management. The only way to make yourself better is to learn new things and learn when you are doing things wrong so that the errors can be fixed. By opening up PARC Xerox has given itself a place to help with the innovation process of the corporation and thus allowing the corporation the means to do its job better. Alos, PARC is used as a way of finding out what the customer wants, if the customer can be satisfied then the corporation is one step closer to being a strong thriving company with Total Quality
Bibliography: Brown, John Seely. (1992). Research That Reinvents the Corporation. The McKinsey Quarterly, Spring (2), 78-97. Evans-Correia, Kate. (1991). How Xerox Made Its Comeback. Purchasing, 110 (1), 134-138. Gronstedt, Anders. (1996). Integrated Communications at America�s Leading Total Quality Management Corporations. Public Relations Review, 22 (1), 25-43. Pell, Arthur R. (1994). Commit To Continuous Improvement. Managers Magazine, 69 (4), 28-30. Webster. (1979). New World Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 131. What Drives Quality. (1992). Internal Auditor, 49 (2), 38-46.