Chapters authored
Total Quality Management in a Resource-Starved Nation
Total quality management (TQM) is defined as management approach, which empowers employees to adequately satisfy the customer needs. For efficient TQM, management is required to be fully committed, focused and goal-driven. The needs of employees such as tools and resources required for efficiency, self-improvement and corresponding recognition to reward for hard work are paramount in TQM; to achieve this in a resource starved nation such as Nigeria is a huge challenge. In 2016, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) decided that it was adopting TQM in its research and development activities. The challenge, however, was lack of infrastructure and trained personnel in this highly specialized and sensitive area. Respite came when the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the United States Pharmacopoeia Convention Promotion of Quality Medicines (USP/PQM) agreed to provide support. Two years later (2018), NIPRD laboratory has been accredited by the American National Accreditation Board (ANAB) as the only academic institution and probably the only academic-based research institute in West Africa. We discuss herein TQM in a resource starved nation like Nigeria and propose that developing countries should collaborate in all areas of TQM with a view to upgrading institutions to international standards.
Part of the book: Quality Management and Quality Control