Role of Information Technology and Information System as an Antecedent to Successful Implementation of TQM

Abstract

Many organisations have used Information Technology (IT) and Information System (IS) for successfully implementing Total Quality Management (TQM). With the aid of IT many firms have been able to provide higher quality goods and services. Competition at the international level has expanded the importance of quality in the area of business. The world of business now faces more competition than ever with challenges and pressure growing day by day. Therefore, the focus on quality of product and services is now more paving the way for TQM practices on a large scale. As we are aware, Technology drive the world so how can the business world remain unaffected by it. Hence it is widely used for achieving the desired result. TQM is a management philosophy and IT is best explained as the telecommunication, hardware and software that helps in processing, collecting, storing and transmitting multimedia information. One of the many reasons for the expanding TQM practices is also the cost ratio, which has been possible because of computer processing. This has made the procedure economical in firms. Information System is an integral part of a firm because information is one of the main assets of a firm. Many firms depend on technology based information system for the organisation’s day-to-day activities such as decision making at a managerial level and for getting strategic advantages. It aids in decreasing wasteful spending helps in excellent and error free documentation, analysis and measuring all activities of an organization. The combination IT and TQM plays a vital role in ensuring a bug free and easy to maintain procedures and applications of the changing needs of a firm. The technologies that are used are Database management system (DBMS); Distributed data processing; Object Oriented Programs; Parallel processing; Data Warehousing; Replication; Networks; Neural Networks and Information Communication System Programs.. Basic objectives of Information Systems are to enhance the production, quality development, enhanced service delivery, reduced costs, and increasing the competitiveness of the organization's. An organization’s development expansion and growth require a combination of IT and IS and TQM go hand in hand. This study aims to present the role of Information Technology and Information System on TQM. The present study comprises of a thorough conceptual analysis of 29 review papers in order to compare the standard of literature taken from different papers like TQM practices, approach, Role of IT in TQM, Role of IS in TQM etc.