What is a key characteristic of Total Quality Management (TQM)?

A key characteristic of Total Quality Management (TQM) is the involvement of all employees in improving processes. TQM is an integrated organizational approach that seeks to enhance quality and improve performance across all levels and functions within an organization. This entails encouraging every employee, from top management to frontline workers, to contribute to quality initiatives and participate actively in problem-solving and process improvement.

The philosophy behind TQM is that quality is not just the responsibility of a specific department—such as quality control—but rather a shared responsibility among all employees. This comprehensive involvement fosters a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone is encouraged to identify areas for enhancement and work collaboratively towards common goals. This collective effort drives the organization toward higher quality outputs, improved customer satisfaction, and operational excellence.

In contrast, the other options present narrow perspectives that do not represent the holistic nature of TQM. Solely focusing on production efficiency limits the broader scope of quality management principles that emphasize customer satisfaction and process optimization. Emphasizing external audits overlooks the importance of internal processes and continuous improvements that employees can drive. Relying exclusively on upper management contradicts the foundation of TQM, which is about empowering all levels of staff to take ownership of quality improvements.