What does TQM cover?
The total in TQM applies to the whole organisation. Therefore, unlike an ISO 9000 initiative which may be limited to the processes producing deliverable products, TQM applies to every activity in the organisation. Also, unlike ISO 9000, TQM covers the soft issues such as ethics, attitude and culture.
What is the TQM philosophy?
There are several ways of expressing this philosophy. There are also several gurus whose influence on management thought in this area has been considerable, for example Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa and Imai. The wisdom of these gurus has been distilled into eight principles defined in ISO 9000:2000.