Total Quality Management (TQM) is a key feature of Nissan's way of working. TQM involves making customer satisfaction top priority. Given this goal, everything the organisation and its people do is focused on creating high quality. To achieve this, Nissan has to:
• understand customer requirements
• consider the processes involved in providing quality, not just the end result
• prioritise and standardise tasks to deliver quality
• Educate all employees to work in this way.
In practical terms TQM involves:
• identifying customers and their requirements
• establishing and using objectives (targets) for all areas of activity
• basing decisions on researched hard facts rather than on hunches
• identifying and eliminating the root causes of problems
• educating and training employees.