Total Quality Management System in Total Company

Introduction

Total quality management refers to a management approach. Its focus is mainly on the quality that the organization delivers in the path towards achieving its goals and success. The main aim of total quality management in an organization is to achieve maximum customer’s satisfaction with benefits for all the stakeholders as well as the society in general. Total Company is the sixth largest oil company in the world. It has its operations across all the continents with a branch in the United Arab Emirates. The Total branch in the country is referred to as Total Abu Al Bukhoosh (ABK) and has been in operation since 1974. The company has grown tremendously in the past three decades to become one of the leading companies in the oil-rich nation. It works with the support of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) working closely with its subsidiaries to create an integrated petroleum industry in the UAE. Total ABK has continued to grow in the country in oil exploration, refining and distribution to all parts of the world.

Analysis

An analysis of Total ABK’s total quality management system explains why the company has enjoyed tremendous success in UAE’s oil industry. Total quality management encompasses all the efforts of an organization to create a stable and permanent climate and market for effective operations. The efforts are aimed primarily to ensure that the organization delivers quality goods and services to all its customers. Each company uses special techniques and strategies to ensure that it achieves the maximum customer satisfaction. Total quality management efforts simply guide the management to develop techniques and tools for effective quality control. There are no specific control approaches but they depend on the organization’s goals and objectives as well as its environment. Total ABK’s goals and objectives determine the total quality control approaches it applies. The company aims at developing the country’s oil, gas and energy industry’s potential in the global market. It is also guided by ADNOC’s policies and objectives, and promoting employment opportunities in the country. Moreover, the company aims at contributing, expanding and developing strategies and policies that promote responsibility, diversity, responsibility and mobility in the international oil industry (Donoghue, 2009).

Total ABK’s primary industry deals with provision of oil production and exploration services in the UAE and other countries. The company also provides other secondary services in the country such as gas exploration and production, training facilities and education in vocational trade. In order to deliver quality goods and services to customers, the company applies specific total quality management approaches. Total ABK’s total quality management system is made up of four basic components. The first important component of the system is leadership. According to the company’s Vice President in institutional development Sultan Al Hajji, the company’s leaders have been competent and responsible for its growth. Total ABK’s directors choose leaders that have proven their skills and abilities in the company. They focus on supporting the country towards sustainable development as well as achieving organizational objectives. The company’s top executives are on the frontline to enhance quality delivery of goods and services. The leaders are responsible for making key organizational decisions that influence goods and service delivery. The company also enjoys a wide reach of consultants from other Total Company affiliates and subsidiaries. The company’s leaders have established unity of direction and purpose in the organization’s internal environment. They bring the workforce together towards achieving a common goal (Naidu & Rajendra, 2010).

The other important component of total quality management in Total ABK is teamwork. It involves bringing people from all levels of the organization to work together with good interpersonal relationships. The company has proper communication channels between all departments to ensure that it runs smoothly. It gives its workers an opportunity to make suggestions on its future. Teamwork has enabled Total ABK to remain ahead of its competitors in the UAE. Focusing on customers is also an important component of total quality management in the company. Total ABK carries out surveys to determine consumer’s feedback on the goods and services that they offer. The management depends on the feedbacks to understand the current and future market needs (Richardson, 2011). Through collecting feedbacks, Total manages to meet the market requirements and develop new products and services to meet customer expectations. Total quality management relies entirely on the ability of an organization to continuously receive positive market responses such as high demand and efficient supply. Total ABK carries out market surveys in every financial year not only in the UAE but also in other international markets to determine quality compliance levels. The performance measurement surveys ensure that the company always has continual improvement. The decision-making process has to take a factual approach based on the available data analysis and information. Total ABK applies scientific approaches to analyze data and make important market decisions (Speegle, 2009).

Total ABK has also started the first institution of its kind in the UAE, namely the Total ABK Academy. The academy has been on the frontline in ensuring quality service delivery by providing the company with the best minds. It also trains the company’s participating employees in new technologies in the energy industry to ensure that they always deliver the best services. The academy has been in operation for the past forty years. With experience in the energy, oil and gas industry, it has managed to train most of Total ABK’s workers as well as mentoring some of the company’s top executives. With a well-skilled workforce, Total ABK prioritizes on quality goods and services. Cost effectiveness is a crucial component of total quality management. Therefore, Total ABK has designed services and products that are cost-effective to ensure sustainable development. It also works closely with environmental agencies across its areas of operation to assist in conservation projects. Total quality management also requires a company to come up with effective measurement of quality. Total ABK employs a team of internal and external auditors to ensure that they evaluate all their operations (Jain, 2001). They also use a team of quality assurance experts to ensure that there are zero defects in all products. By applying the total quality management approaches, Total ABK has managed to create a strong and reliable brand, increase its competitive advantage and reduce problems with customer services.

Recommendations

There are several strategies that the company can apply to improve its total quality management approaches. One of the most important tools is benchmarking. Total ABK can set specific benchmarks to achieve at a specific time. After setting the objectives, the company should communicate the targets to all their employees and make reviews every three months to determine the levels of success. There are specific benchmarks that the company can set depending on their goals and objectives. The world is in a search of a sustainable source of energy that is environmental friendly. Given total’s experience in the energy industry for the past five decades, it is on the frontline in establishing a new source of energy. The company should set benchmarks to invest on renewable sources based on green energy concepts. The company should use its influence in the energy industry in the UAE to influence both funding and training programs in renewable energy. Several companies such as Standard Oil have partnered with countries in the Middle East to start nuclear and solar energy programs. Total should use its strong capital base to invest in such programs in the UAE. Allowing external forces to drive the energy industry will lead to exhaustion of the natural resources without replenishment. Total should also focus on fuels that reduce environmental emissions. Companies such as Shell have come up with fuels that reduce engine emissions significantly. Thus, the managers should apply total quality management strategies to design researches on such fuels and energy sources (Richardson, 2011).

After designing the appropriate strategies to improve on product quality and market needs, the organization should also come up with effective techniques and tools to determine the degree of performance. Total ABK needs to design a performance measurement tool that examines the employee and customer satisfaction. The level of quality delivery depends on how much all the employees know about customer requirements. Therefore, Total should also set up seminars that bring together employees and customers to discuss the quality of services delivery. The seminars will assist the company in making important decisions involving product or service changes in the market. In addition, employee motivation is an important component of total quality management. Therefore, Total ABK should introduce a program whereby it rewards its employees for top quality products. Through emphasis on quality production of goods and service delivery, the company will go a long way in creating an organizational culture that promotes continual development (Dahlgaard & Kristensen, 2008).

Conclusion

Total ABK is a customer-based organization that applies total quality management strategies to improve its profitability. The Company uses the strategies to address challenges that it faces to increase its productivity and remain ahead of its competitors. The company has managed to remain on top in UAE’s energy business. However, it has a long way to go since it is operates in one of the most oil-rich countries in the world. It requires using more quality management strategies in order to penetrate the international market without depending on its mother company. It can use its current influence in UAE’s oil exploration, production and education sectors to map the future of the oil, gas and energy industry. The company should continue applying effective total quality control procedures to reduce the time-to-market cycles as well as improve its brand name. It has the potential to become one of the most influential players in the international energy industry in the future.

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