(1) How 'controlling' act as an important role in assisting the managers in a company? 

Controlling can be defined as a function of making sure that actions of the employees of an organization are directed towards the attainment of a common goal and the work is being performed as planned by the management.

Features of Controlling in management

1)   Controlling is a dynamic process-Controlling is a dynamic process. A manager is required to take a different course of actions when an employee fails to match the standards of performance. A manager should have the skills to decide how to react to a certain situation.

2)   Controlling is an end function-Controlling is an end function because it comes into action once the task is completed. The performance standards are decided before the work is assigned to the employees and once the work is complete the performance of employees is compared with the standard performance, and if the performance of the employees is same as that of the standard performance then no actions are required to be taken but in case the performance doesn’t match then the manager is required to take the corrective actions.

3)   Planning and controlling go hand in hand-A manager is required to plan so that he can control the actions of employees in order to achieve the desired outcome. without planning, controlling is meaningless, and without controlling planning can’t go as desired.

4)   Controlling is a pervasive function-it can’t be escaped at any level of the management. All management is required to control at all levels. For example, a top-level manager will control the actions of a middle-level manager and supervise the performance of the manager and similarly, a low-level manager is answerable to a middle-level manager. In this way, the controlling is done at all levels. However, there might be a difference in the methods of control, and different corrective actions are taken when the performance of the employee is not as desired.

5)   Controlling is looking forward-A manager can control the performance of an employee by controlling the past actions. A manager keeps track of the performance of the employee, so that follow up can be made when the time comes to compare the performance. 

 

 (10 marks)

 
(2)In your opinion, why do you think Total Quality Management (TQM) is important in business? (write in your own word).

 

  ‘Total Quality Management often abbreviated as ‘TQM’ is the practice introduced by a popular American management consultant, William Deming, who has a great influence on Japanese manufacturing. In this article, we will discuss Total Quality Management Benefits.     

 

At my point of view, TQM is important because there are many benefits by implementing TQM. Some of the Benefits of Total Quality Management are as below:

 

1. Cost Reduction and Increased Profitability

TQM helps in reducing total quality costs. It is based on the principle of preventing defective products/services rather than being at an expense of quality failure cost. So basically, it aims to manufacture zero defect products/services. Consequently, this brings in cost reduction and thus increased profitability. Many companies such as Toyota Motors and Motorola have bought in manufacturing cost reductions by implementing TQM techniques.

 

2. Facilitates Productivity

Cost reduction is a means of increased productivity. Productivity implies maximum output with optimum utilization of resources. Thus, the superior quality of resources and infrastructure, high-end technology and competent employees enhance productivity.

 

3. Reduces Redundant Activities

TQM applies a systematic approach by assigning quality improvement teams so as to reduce unessential tasks, waste of resources, thus, bringing in efficiency. This also saves time and duplication of tasks.

 

4. Promotes Innovation Process

TQM enables the organizations to conduct research on any undergoing challenges/ problems so as to come up with solutions for the same. Thus, organizations escalate their research and bring in innovative marketing decisions. The implemented innovative approach to the core and peripheral services attracts the customers.

 

5. Market-Specific Products/Services

Since the main focus of TQM is on customer satisfaction, it provides a pathway to understand the needs and demands of the consumer market. Therefore, it enables the organization to deliver products/services specific to the market.

 

6. Holistic Approach to Management

Many organizations struggle with non-engaging and non-participative attitude of the employees. TQM enables to bring changes in the behavioral pattern of the employees by facilitating good work culture, team-work, promoting self-development, employee engagement and thus extracting better performance.

 

7. Promotes Continual Improvement

The basic fundamental of TQM is of continually improving for long-term success. Therefore, TQM practices are designed to bring in continual improvement to the quality standards of a product/service. This results in a continuous revival of processes.

 

8. Facilitates Competitive Edge

The increasing competition challenges the organization to meet the ever-increasing demands of the consumer market. TQM practices prove useful in understanding the market trends and competition so as to develop effective strategies to overcome the same.

 

9. Promotes Good-Will

As TQM focuses on consistent delivery of good quality product/services, the consumers hold favorable reputation about the organization. The internal stakeholders (employees and investors) get lucrative incentives and good returns respectively, while external stakeholders (customers) get superior quality of goods. This results in a good brand image and goodwill in the long run.

 

10. Facilitates Effective Communication and Employee Morale

Often, improper and ineffective communication are a hindrance to the proper functioning and development of an organization. This results in improper understanding, low productivity, inferior quality, waste of time and efforts, thus contributing to low morale. Whereas, TQM facilitates effective communication and interaction within members of different departments and hierarchies of management. This boosts employee morale and team-work.

 

11. Facilitates Customer Satisfaction

Since TQM is all about delivering a superior quality of products/services to the customers in the long run, the amount of customer complaints is quite less. Therefore, it signifies less use of resources and increased customer satisfaction. Thus, the market share also increases as the existing customers act as the ambassadors to attract new customers.

 

Therefore, it is obvious that TQM not only brings in tangible results like superior product quality, reduction in costs, increased profitability, increased market share, and productivity. But, also, intangible returns like better communication, teamwork, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, goodwill, and increased employee morale. However, TQM also requires employees to undergo a substantial duration of the training period, company-wide involvement and participation to quality improvement. All levels of the organizational hierarchy must be involved to make the TQM program successful. However, with any short-coming in the efforts or improper utilization of resources, could make the success of TQM program doubtful and collapse the internal bonding of the company. TQM techniques give the best results when they are supported strongly by all levels of the management and employee teams, and if there are persistent efforts on process improvisation with a negligible margin for errors.

 

Now, that we know the several benefits of TQM, its needless to say it should be an integral management technique for every organization.

 

                                                         
(15 marks)

Use TQM to Improve Customer Satisfaction

A primary focus of TQM and most Quality Management Systems is to improve customer satisfaction by having a customer focus and consistently meeting customer expectations.  Customers are almost always satisfied when their expectations are met. When they expect a certain product or service, and you deliver it without problems and at a fair price, you’ve built a solid customer relationship.  Happy, satisfied customers become repeat customers and they provide word-of-mouth marketing – the most powerful kind.

There are three Total Quality Management components that work toward achieving customer satisfaction:

Amir Imran Khan bin Adam Khan
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