Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management philosophy that originated in Japan in the 1950s and is now applied worldwide. It is not merely a technique but a comprehensive approach to managing an entire organisation to achieve excellence. TQM is centered on quality, based on customer satisfaction, and aims to benefit all members of an organisation and society.
Definition and Core Concepts
The name "Total Quality Management" can be broken down to understand its core ideas:
- Total: This implies that everyone in the organisation is responsible for quality, regardless of their position. It requires a comprehensive and rigorous systems view.
- Quality: In TQM, quality is defined as meeting customers' needs at the lowest possible cost, consistently and every time. Definitions from TQM experts, or "gurus," include "fitness for use or purpose" (Joseph M. Juran) and "a predictable degree of uniformity and dependability at low cost and suited to market" (W. Edwards Deming).
- Management: This refers to the process of achieving continuous improvement through a network of communication and control, with the commitment of top managers and the optimal use of resources.
The philosophy is built on three fundamental principles:
- Customer Focus: The primary goal is customer satisfaction. An organisation's success is dependent on its ability to meet the needs and wants of its customers. In a library context, this translates to fulfilling the expectations of its users.
- Process Improvement: TQM focuses on continuously improving organisational processes, which in turn leads to high-quality products and services.
- Total Involvement: Every employee in the organisation must participate in and be responsible for quality. This requires a well-trained and committed workforce.
Elements and Implementation in Libraries
The successful implementation of TQM is guided by six key elements: Leadership, Education and Training, Communication, Supportive Structure, Measurement, and Reward and Recognition.
In a service organisation like a library, where producers and consumers meet face-to-face, TQM is a way of life. When implementing TQM, a library must ask key questions such as: Who are the customers? What do they want? How can the library meet their expectations?. Library users typically judge quality based on:
- Collection adequacy and relevance.
- The range and quality of services and products.
- The skills, behaviour, and attitude of the staff.
- Physical infrastructure and facilities.
To implement TQM, libraries can take practical steps such as conducting user surveys, improving signage, offering electronic document delivery, and developing active outreach programmes. However, challenges like funding shortages, resistance to change, and lack of support from top management can hinder implementation.
Technology Management
Technology management is a critical area of focus for modern library managers, as libraries are profoundly affected by technological advances. The sources highlight the transformative impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on all library operations and services.
Key technologies that require management in a library setting include:
- Computer and Network Technology: This involves managing hardware, software, and the network infrastructure (LAN, WAN, wireless) that connects library systems and provides access to users.
- Library Automation and Integrated Library Systems (ILS): An ILS is a software system used to automate core housekeeping operations like acquisition, cataloguing, circulation, and serials control by sharing a common database. Managing these systems, whether they are commercial or open source, is a key responsibility.
- Digitisation and Digital Libraries: This involves the management of digital content, which includes creating, organising, preserving, and providing access to digital collections.
- Web and Communication Technologies: Managing the library's presence on the web, including its website, Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), and the use of internet services like email and web sharing tools, is essential for modern service delivery.
The Synergy of TQM and Technology Management
While the sources do not contain a single unit dedicated to "TQM and Technology Management," they provide ample information to demonstrate how technology management is an essential enabler for achieving the principles of TQM in a library environment.
Technology Enhances Customer Focus: Technology allows libraries to offer services that are more responsive to user needs, a core principle of TQM.
- Improved Access: An Integrated Library System (ILS) provides a user-friendly Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) that allows users to search the library's collection efficiently. Web-enabled OPACs further enhance customer satisfaction by offering 24x7 remote access, freeing users from the physical and time-based constraints of the traditional library.
- Expanded Resources: Digital libraries and consortia-based subscriptions to e-journals provide users access to a vast range of information resources that a single library could not afford on its own, thereby better meeting their exhaustive information needs.
Technology Drives Process and Continuous Improvement: The TQM principle of continuously improving processes is heavily supported by technology.
- Efficiency in Operations: Library automation streamlines and mechanises routine housekeeping operations, which increases efficiency, reduces errors, saves staff time, and improves the overall quality of services. Technologies like RFID can further improve the efficiency of circulation and inventory management.
- Performance Measurement: An ILS can function as a Management Information System (MIS) by generating extensive reports and usage statistics. This data is crucial for performance measurement and tracking, which are central components of TQM. For electronic resources, standards like COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources) provide a consistent way to measure usage, supporting the evaluation of service quality.
Technology Supports Total Involvement: TQM requires the participation of all staff members, and technology can provide the tools to facilitate this.
- Training and Skills: Both TQM and the effective use of modern technology require a well-trained workforce. The need for librarians to possess ICT knowledge and skills creates a direct link between human resource development for quality and for technology.
- Improved Communication: One of TQM guru W. Edwards Deming's 14 points is to "break down barriers between staff areas". Modern communication technologies such as email, intranets, and other collaborative tools can foster teamwork and facilitate the interactive network of communication and control that TQM requires.
In conclusion, TQM provides the guiding philosophy for a library to achieve excellence through a focus on user satisfaction and continuous improvement. Technology management, in turn, provides the practical tools and infrastructure—from automated systems to digital resources—that are indispensable for implementing this philosophy in the modern information environment. The successful integration of TQM principles with strategic technology management allows libraries to enhance their services, improve efficiency, and ultimately deliver greater value to their users.