Satisfying the 'Internal Client' to Delight the Customer
Total Quality Management refers to a philosophy of achieving perfection ('zero defects') by
ensuring quality at every stage in the process of manufacture, or delivery of a service, rather than
merely carrying out 'quality checks' at the end of the production line or customer interface. This
therefore involves a commitment to quality througout the organisation and is achieved by
'continuous improvements' at all levels to eliminate errors and get it 'right first time'.
Total Quality Management begins with the customer's point of view and then works backwards through the
system to improve every process which leads to satisfying the customer - and ultimately 'delighting the
customer'. As W Edwards Deming said: "The customer is the most important part of the production line."
So for example a problem in achieving customer satisfaction may be traced back to a process
several steps before delivery to the customer. This 'customer focus' philosophy is adopted throughout the
process so that colleagues are regarded as 'internal clients' or 'internal customers' and so one department should strive to
do all it can to serve other departments well, as if they were customers.
Total Quality Management was adopted in the West from Japan, where Total Quality helped in the growth
and success of Japanese manufacturing. Unlike in the West, where Quality was only the concern of
quality inspection engineers, in Japan Quality was the concern of senior executives. Ironically
it was an American, W Edwards Deming, who
influenced the Japanese with his emphasis on Quality during the rebuilding of Japanese industry
following the Second World War. Whereas Deming focused on Quality as engineering, Juran emphasised
the human relations aspects of Quality.
"The impact of Juran, and of Deming as well, went far beyond quality. By drawing the attention of Western
managers to the successes of Japan, they forced Western managers to challenge some of their most basic
beliefs about the capabilities of their employees and the expectation of their customers."
- Gary Hamel
Note: This web page is not intended to provide comprehensive coverage of the subject, merely a brief introduction to provoke thought and to lead to a more in depth understanding and application of the topic, either through further reading - or from me as your management consultant, executive trainer or personal coach in a consultancy project, training course, workshop or seminar.
References and Further Reading
Deming, W E. Out of the Crisis. MIT Cambridge MA. 1982
Crosby, P. Quality is Free. McGraw-Hill. 1979
Juran, J. Planning for Quality. Free Press NY. 1988
Oakland, J S. Total Quality Management: the route to improving performance. Butterworth Heinemann. 1989