answersLogoWhite

0

Total Quality Management has been around for longer than Six Sigma. They both deal with improving quality, but TQM focuses on the problem by approaching it collaboratively while Six Sigma deals with it statistically.

(Edit by LUMINIS India, follows)

TRUE DIFFERENCE from practical point of view of business

TQM was the flavor of the day in years 1970-1980s in western industrial world and had varying degrees of success and was built upon the fundamentals of scientific management. However, Six Sigma originated in late 1980s at Motorola, but it gain popularity & momentum, after it was given a robustness at GE under the guidance of Jack Welch in 1995-96. Six Sigma went on to acquire all the 'good' of TQM and presented itself as a very powerful & practicable (STRUCTURED) methodology to bring about the serious reduction in defects & variation in the process outputs.

Does it all give answer to the original question asked here?

No. Let's see what is the biggest & most profound difference between TQM & Six Sigma.

Promises were not realised, high profile organisations that had claimed to be practising Quality Programs (Read: TQM), went into decline, and staff had seen slogans and Mission Statements published with each TQM initiative, which focused on customer service and people; at the same time with these Quality Programs, they had seen being followed by redundancies and drastic cuts in training budgets. There were some success stories but there were also many failures with TQM.

Therefore it was not surprising that a CEO could actually draw very little comfort from the writings of quality gurus in order to select an appropriate quality program (Read: TQM) in their organisation. There was little doubt that managers were confused too by the variety of advice available.

It all changed drastically when Six Sigma emerged at the horizon. Because it was Six Sigma (at General Electric/Honeywell), which DIRECTLY connected the BOTTOM-LINE (monetary) benefits to each improvement project undertaken in the name of Quality. As they said, "No Black Belt Project would be approved, if its expected monetary benefits (results) are less than $250000. Six Sigma brought in the language & terminology, which every CEO wanted (wants today) to hear from his/her quality implementations.

Thus, it is, Direct linkage with bottom-line, which is the biggest difference between TQM & Six Sigma. It is where Six Sigma scored heavily over the TQM.

With thanks,

LUMINIS INDIA

User Avatar

Wiki User

9y ago

Still curious? Ask our experts.

Chat with our AI personalities

ProfessorProfessor
I will give you the most educated answer.
Chat with Professor
ReneRene
Change my mind. I dare you.
Chat with Rene
TaigaTaiga
Every great hero faces trials, and you—yes, YOU—are no exception!
Chat with Taiga

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: What is the main difference between Total Quality Management and Six Sigma?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp