• Always insisting on having full respon- sibility for each task you are assigned • Demonstrating self-control in a conflict or when you are provoked Total Quality Management (TQM) A major problem facing the armed services today is a lack of money. The budgets of our forces are not going to increase in the foreseeable future. Indeed, they will probably continue to shrink. Although our present system of doing business is adequate, it doesn’t allow for many improvements in productivity. We have done an excellent job with our present system. To wring any more bang from our buck, however, will mean a change in the way we do business. Management by objectives is a time-honored principle of management. However, we now must change our objectives. Today’s managers must set their sights on a larger, system-wide objective. That objective is increased productivity through better quality. The Department of the Navy (DON) has recently adopted the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) as the means of meeting DON needs into the 21st century. Executive Order 12637, signed April 27, 1988, establishes the Productivity Improvement Program for the federal  government.  TQM  IS  THE  NAVY’S ANSWER  TO  THAT  ORDER.  The  Navy  has adopted the civilian TQM concept and changed the name to a more military sounding name— Total Quality Leadership (TQL). TQM, What Is It? TQM focuses on the process by which work gets done. The person most familiar with that process is the individual worker responsible for making  it  work.  Often,  a  process  is  either unmanageable or just plain unworkable. In a rigid bureaucracy, for workers to persuade upper echelons of a need to change a procedure is nearly impossible. Under TQM, management is responsible for making a particular job as easy as possible for workers. Supervisors and managers monitor  the  work  process  and  respond  to suggestions  from  the  work  force  concerning unworkable procedures. Sailors in particular are infamous for coming up with nonstandard (but workable) solutions to problems. In some cases, this results in unsafe practices. However, these solutions are often extremely practical. We must develop the ability to ferret out these improve- ments  and  incorporate  them  into  standard procedures. That serves a dual purpose. First, it ensures the recommended improvement is usable and meets all applicable standards. Second, the improved method is made available to everyone involved in that process. Both of these purposes serve a practical application of "working smarter, not harder." Benefits of TQM A popular myth among military managers holds that increased quality results in increased costs and decreased productivity. In reality, improved quality ultimately results in decreased costs and increased productivity. How can this be? A focus on quality extends the time between failures on equipment and improves the efficiency of our operations. It reduces rework requirements as  well  as  the  need  for  special  waivers  of standards. It also reduces mistakes and produces monetary savings through more efficient use of scarce resources. Direct benefits of TQM are as follows: • Increased pride of workmanship among individual workers • Increased readiness • Improved sustainability caused by extended time between equipment failures • Greater mission survivability • Better justification for budgets because of more efficient operations • Streamlined maintenance and production processes The bottom line of TQM is “more bang for the  buck.” The Concept of Quality Management The  concept  behind  quality  management revolves around a change from management by results  to  management  by  process  (quality) improvement. Managers are tasked with con- tinuously improving each and every process in  their  organization.  That  means  combining quantitative methods and human resource manage- ment techniques to improve customer-supplier 3-21