TQM in German Auto Project Management

Quality is an old concept that is used by various engineers, business leaders, marketing people, lawyers, media channels, ordinary people, and architects. The quality word is used to indicate the difference between 2 objects or show perception towards the object (Anttila & Jussila 2017). Total quality management is a philosophy of continuous improvement to meet the quality of outputs for the satisfaction of the expectation of consumers. In the total quality management process, companies focus on the consumer requirements and involve all the employees in making integrated systems and improving communication for providing the best quality products to the market (Othman et al., 2020). Total quality management consists of various tools and techniques which assist the company in providing the best quality products and services to the consumers. In recent years, the manufacturing industry and automobile industry are adopting total quality management as a best practice to improve the quality of the products and obtain business excellence. The automobile industry is the fastest-growing sector in the world, and it provides a big contribution to the economy of the world. The automobile sector needs to maintain the quality of the products to ensure the trust of consumers (Muruganantham et al., 2018). Quality management is important in the automobile sector during the execution of various big projects which need a high level of quality, so total quality management can be very beneficial for the industry.

Problem Statement

In the modern world, people purchase cars and motorcycles for safe riding, high-quality services, effective performance, luxurious comfort, and long-term reliability. The automobile sector of Germany needs to produce advanced products that can assist various consumers in safe travel. However, the automobile industry of Germany is facing challenges due to the low quality of products and low customer satisfaction. In the automobile sector, regulation of quality is important because low quality can reduce output efficiency and create irregularities in suppliers’ quality requirements (Javaid et al., 2021). In this work application of total quality management will be discussed, which is beneficial in reducing quality problems in the automobile industry.

Aim

The aim of this work is to explore the applications of Total Quality Management that helps the German automobile sector to improve the overall performance and quality.

Objectives

The objectives of research work are –

To analyze the role of total quality management in the automobile sector.
To investigate the application of total quality management in project management functions.
To analyze the impact of total quality management in the German automobile sector.

Research questions

RQ1. What is the importance of total quality management in the automobile sector?
RQ2 What is the application of total quality management in project management functions?
RQ3 What is the use of total quality management in the German automobile sector?

Literature review

In the modern world, all the companies of different sectors want to achieve a competitive advantage over their rivals, so organizations are focusing on improving the quality and sustainability of the work. According to Eniola et al. (2019), total quality management is a management philosophy of aims for continuous improvement of various processes, services, and products to meet the customer needs. Companies are implementing total quality management in the businesses to improve the quality of products and create differentiation among the rivals. Total quality management can assist the businesses in generating more revenue, gaining more market positions, and giving superior performance in the market. In addition, Keinan and Karugu (2018) stated that the performance of the company depends on the effective quality management practices adopted by the managers to improve the quality. The theory of total quality management has been familiar since 1980 when the different companies were offering services of various qualities. An entity of the business is observed as total quality if that entity offers good quality services and products according to the requirements of the market and to satisfy the needs of the customer.

According to Kaiseroglou and Sfakianaki (2020), total quality management is a management approach that is not limited to the manufacturing or construction industry. Total quality management practices can be used in higher education and different primary or secondary schools. Total quality management can assist the teachers and management of the school in improving the quality of education and assessing the performance of students. Along with this, total quality management can also assist in solving complex problems related to management. However, Nguyen and Nagase (2019) demonstrated that it is very important for the health care service provider to deliver high-quality services in the competitive environment to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. Total quality management can be used in healthcare to provide excellent services to patients. The health care for quality aspects like process quality interaction quality, outcome quality, and quality of the environment is needed for the customer satisfaction and total quality management assistant achieving these quality aspects.

Total quality management has become an important part of management because of increased competition in the world and various quality issues associated with different companies. According to Ibrahim and Daniel (2019), Total quality management can be supported by higher authorities of management to provide improvement in the quality of products and increment in the organizational competitiveness. Total quality management is integrated with new technologies for reducing the fear of customer loss and providing quality products for customer satisfaction. Total quality management philosophy can be integrated with every department of the company and ensure that every person or process is working towards customer satisfaction. However, Bielova et al. (2019) demonstrated that project management is the approach of using skills, experience, knowledge processes, and methods to achieve the objectives of the project. All the principles of total quality management are based on the requirements of the consumers and standards of the respective industries for establishing continuous improvement processes of the products. In project management, total quality management is used for ensuring awareness about the quality of the project. Total quality management theory also assists the project manager to monitor the work of the project to fulfil the requirement of consumers. With the help of total quality management, every member of the project team is committed to providing quality services to ensure customer satisfaction at the end of the project. Integration of the total quality management in the project management functions increased the possibility of project success and allowed the project manager to avoid the common mistakes in the management of the project.

The automobile industry is the fastest growing industry in the world with the advancement of technologies and emergence of new companies in the field. The German automobile sector is recognized as an excellent sector in terms of outstanding engineering and high levels of innovation. According to Imran et al. (2018), various organizations of the automobile industry should adopt several strategies to attend the globalization in the trade. The strategies are resource requirement, overseas presence, licensing total quality management, and sustainability. Total quality management helps the automobile sectors organizations in making innovations, giving quality performance, and it can also benefit the organizations of various developed countries and developing countries. However, Xu et al. (2017) demonstrated that automobile manufacturers and dealers depend on each other for attracting and retaining customers. Good communication between the automobile manufacturers and dealers of auto parts increases the satisfaction of the consumers. In the automobile industry, all the customers want a good quality of the product along with this consumer also want good service quality. The assessment of service quality can affect the performance of the company and its position in the market because quality is a differentiator in the market between the companies. In terms of product quality, customers observe the safe, functional qualities and product design then review a product that contributes to the performance of the manufacturer company. Total quality management is an approach for the continuous development in the sector, so this approach needs various types of factors for the successful implementation like leadership and top management support, education and training to the workers, quality culture in the organization, standards in the company, standard procedures for product design, product innovation capabilities, supplier quality management, and knowledge management system in the organization. For achieving the total quality in the organization, all the operations of the production should be aligned with the quality and focus on the customer's needs (Sader et al., 2019). A total quality management approach can be applied in the industry if the top leadership is committed to the quality and continuous improvement culture is created in the organization.

Methodology

The research work methodology is the combination of various approaches which is used by the researcher to evaluate the collected data and assemble the relevant information to find a solution to the problem (Nayak & Singh, 2021). In the research field, various types of research methodologies like simulation, experimental observational, and derived types are used, which assist the researcher in collecting the data and evaluating it for best results. In this research dissertation, derived type methodology will be used because secondary data will be collected for the evolution and analysis. Research philosophy shows the path of the research, which is used by researchers to conduct the complete research. Research philosophy shows the way of data collection and methods of evaluation of data. Research philosophy assists the researcher in outlining the ideas and beliefs which is used in collecting data and accomplishing research work (Ryan, 2018). During research work, various types of research philosophies can be used, like realistic interpretivism, positivism, and pragmatism. During this research dissertation, positivism research philosophy will be used because it can assist in analyzing the collected information. During this research dissertation, qualitative data will be collected, so interpretivism philosophy will be used, which will assist in managing the qualitative data in a good manner. The research approach in a research work represents the way of data collection and data analysis, and it also shows the approach which is used in collecting the data from the various sources. The research approach also assists information of the research questions for the research dissertation. During this research dissertation, an inductive research approach will be used because research questions will be formed to increase the efficiency of the evaluation process. Research strategy provides information about the process of data analysis and data collection during research work. In the field of research, various strategies like grounded experimental, qualitative action experimental and case study can be used. During this research work, a grounded research strategy will be used for evaluating the qualitative data. In research, work time horizon represents the time consumed in the collection of various information, and it is also a combination of longitudinal approach and cross-sectional approach. Both approaches are used in the collection of data during the research. During this research work, a cross-sectional approach will be used because all the data will be collected at a single time to reduce the chances of security issues and storage issues. In this research, all the data will be collected from the online database, and previously printed journals and articles will be considered. The use of the journals and articles will increase the authenticity and reliability of the data.

Time Plan

S. No.	Activity	Duration
1	Project Planning	25 days
a	Problem Identification	10 days
b	Topic Formation	5 days
c	Topic Approval	10 days
2	Data collection	40 days
a	Applied research methodology	15 days
b	Collect current research article	15 days
c	Conduct literature review	10 days
3	Data analysis	15 days
a	Thematic analysis	15 days
4	Final Submission	20 days
a	Result & Discussion	10 days
b	Report Draft	5 days
c	Final Presentation	5 days

References

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Bielova, O. I., Hisham, S., & Elbaruni, J. E. (2019). Benefits of integrating the total quality management and management information system into project management. ??????? ???????? ????? ??????????? ?????????? ?????????????? ????????????. ?????: ?????????? ?????, (54), 5-9. https://doi.org/10.24025/2306-4420.0.54.2019.178504

Eniola, A.A., Olorunleke, G.K., Akintimehin, O.O., Ojeka, J.D. and Oyetunji, B., 2019. The impact of organizational culture on total quality management in SMEs in Nigeria. Heliyon, 5(8), p.e02293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02293

Ibrahim, A. U., & Daniel, C. O. (2019). The Effect of Total Quality Management on Project Management. European Journal of Business and Management, 2222-1905. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM

Imran, M., Jian, Z., Haque, A. U., Urba?ski, M., & Nair, S. L. S. (2018). Determinants of firm’s export performance in China’s automobile industry. Sustainability, 10(11), 4078. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10114078

Javaid, M., Haleem, A., Singh, R. P., & Suman, R. (2021). Significance of Quality 4.0 towards comprehensive enhancement in manufacturing sector. Sensors International, 2, 100109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sintl.2021.100109

Kaiseroglou, N. and Sfakianaki, E., 2020. A review of total quality management applications in schools. International Journal of Management in Education, 14(2), pp.121-134. 10.1504/IJMIE.2020.105405

Keinan, A. S., & Karugu, J. (2018). Total quality management practices and performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya: Case of Bamburi Cement Limited. International Academic Journal of Human Resource and Business Administration, 3(1), 81-99. http://www.iajournals.org/articles/iajhrba_v3_i1_81_99.pdf

Muruganantham, G., Vinodh, S., Arun, C. S., & Ramesh, K. (2018). Application of interpretive structural modelling for analyzing barriers to total quality management practices implementation in the automotive sector. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 29(5-6), 524-545. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2016.1213627

Nayak, J. K., & Singh, P. (2021). Fundamentals of research methodology problems and prospects. SSDN Publishers & Distributors. http://dspace.vnbrims.org:13000/jspui/bitstream/123456789/4653/1/Fundamentals%20of%20Research%20Methodology_Nayak.pdf

Nguyen, T.L.H. and Nagase, K., 2019. The influence of total quality management on customer satisfaction. International journal of healthcare management, 12(4), pp.277-285. https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2019.1647378

Othman, I., Ghani, S. N. M., & Choon, S. W. (2020). The total Quality Management (TQM) journey of Malaysian building contractors. Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 11(3), 697-704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2019.11.002

Ryan, G. (2018). Introduction to positivism, interpretivism and critical theory. Nurse researcher, 25(4), 41-49. https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2018.e1466

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Appendix

Gantt chart

Figure 1: Gantt chart

Exploring TQM application in German auto sector project management

Table of Contents

Title

Background