Xerox and Total Quality Management

The Xerox Company was founded in 1906 as The Haloid Photographic Company, manufacturing photographic papers and equipment (Hiltzik &Michael 1). Time went on and with scientific innovation, brought more opportunities thereby changing the name of the company to Xerox Corporation in 1961(Hiltzik &Michael 1). This was to match which the diverse and versatile products produced by the company. Rise of Xerox Corporation. The Xerox Corporation came to gloom in 1959 when it introduced the Xerox 914 photocopier, becoming the leading successful single product of all the time (Stevenson &Mehran 1). Stagnation of sales. Stagnation in sales was due to a discredited system program planning. The machines reached the market faster nevertheless; they were neither cheap nor reliable. For instance, Xerox introduced series 3300 Copiers unfortunately none of them worked (Spencer & Barbara 446).

Few months after introducing the copier, Xerox Corporation received overwhelming complaints (Spencer & Barbara 446). This is an important mode of manufacturing process and the working of the machine that determines the success of the company. An automated production process smoothen the flow of work saving on time and labor requirement for each task. The production process is streamlined to ensure that they deliver to their esteemed customers according to the objectives of respective customer (Powell & Thomas 16). Customer satisfaction is the main thing which determines success. In a production process where the system can be customized to meet needs of a specific group of customers is most appropriate. The main role of the market function is satisfaction of customers. The company engages customers by conducting customer relationship surveys, transactional surveys and tracking customer satisfaction to get feedback (Swiss & James 357).

The suppliers are an important link of the company in delivery of value to customers (Porter et al 14). It is suppliers that sell resources of production to the corporation facilitating production of goods and services. Problem arising between the company and its suppliers is likely to have an adverse effect especially if not given serious attention to solve. The trend of improvement has increased the business opportunities from just manufacturing to offering of automation services (Porter et al 14). Xerox Corporation acknowledges that best results are achieved when the environmental considerations are put into place at all stages of designing the product before it is released to the market. The company has therefore committed itself in designing environmental friendly products, in 2005 the company stopped using mercury and lead in the design of its products (Porter et al 14).

Curbing environmental pollution is a collective responsibility that calls for each individual person to act. Thinking globally and acting locally responsible is the main drive to solving our world problem. Penetration of leading industries. Xerox Corporation had a lion share of the market from the beginning of 20th century for being the pioneer company (Spencer & Barbara 450). The company has maintained the share throughout the century through research thereby pioneering more innovations. In mid 20th century, Xerox Corporation diversified into information technology keeping it on top of the market share. Japanese tried to penetrate the American market by introducing more affordable photocopier machine than Xerox machine (Hendrizks et al 270). Productivity Xerox Corporation invented photocopier machine and maintained the monopoly for a number of years.

The company’s market reduced after some time with entry of some other companies such as Kodak came into play too (Spencer &Barbara 450). Xerox therefore started suffering due pride, rejecting outside ideas. Eventually, the Xerox Corporation did a virtual bench marking analyzing; every duty and task of production, cost of production and quality of the products. This improved Xerox Corporation productivity therefore confirming the importance of bench marking (Spencer &Barbara 450). , and Sherry L. Jarrell. "The effects of total quality management on corporate performance: an empirical investigation. " The Journal of Business 71. Hendricks, Kevin B. "Total quality management in UK higher education institutions. " Total Quality Management 10. Porter, Leslie J. , and Adrian J. Parker. " Academy of management review 19. Stevenson, William J. , and Mehran Hojati.

Despite staying active for close to 4 decades, the company only acquired its commercial rights in xerography by the fall of 1947. The most significant development occurred in 1959 when Xerox introduced the 914 xerographic copiers that albeit having been in existence for a while, had not received trading recognition. Following the success witnessed in its first machines, the company expanded its line of operation, launching both information and publication products. By 1985, Xerox Corporation had developed printers, copiers as well as digital production presses among other useful publication technologies (Sunny, 2013). Although the company had retained its market monopoly for a long time, it experienced the most devastating decline in market share by over 35% due to its inability to compete effectively with new entrants including IBM.

Even though most other firms use different strategies, the overall secret centers on the quality of services and the value of the products. Ideally, every human being has fascinating in his or her life. Identifying and exploiting various avenues about consumers is essential in influencing the volume of performance. It is this secret that Xerox has discovered and inscribed within its mission. Actually, studies indicate that Xerox has over-qualified personnel who are capable of translating the needs projected from the consumers’ end (Nanda & Robinson, 2011). In fact, through benchmarking, the firm was laying a foundation to improve the quality of its services. The ultimate result was encouraging. Nearly all areas were making drastic progress, and there was a new life again. This practice resulted in the reduction in the cost of manufacturing among other right moves.

Like in other firms, Xerox considers its Total Quality Management as an essential component of its core activities such as manufacturing, production, and supplies. Xerox is not an excuse for this development (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund & Hansen, 2012). Mostly, the executive is aware that success is not just about management, it is also an aspect of bringing together diverse attributes. An entire workforce comprises of people with significant variations in their fields of specialization. Other differences also emerge from cultural alignment, religion or gender. Respect for these distinctions among employees results in an instant performance boost (Sunny, 2013). As a result of this trend, Xerox witnessed the most challenging economic time in its history especially after 1985. Its sales volume dropped by a large margin, and it was likely to collapse.

Luckily, leadership transition rekindled the company’s hope though it still lagged behind its competitors – thanks to the introduction of benchmarking approaches. The emergence of portable memory card slots and emails has also posed a significant threat to the performance of copier industries. Initially, people would save their products in paperwork form. Its survival in the market has occurred due to its willingness to adapt to the dynamics of the industry. Despite having monopolized the copier business for several years, there was a turn of events against Xerox. The entry of other firms such as Kodak shifted everything, and the rate of sales stagnated significantly pushing Xerox from top leadership. Fortunately, Xerox Organization responded swiftly by adopting Total Quality Management measures that would ensure it retraced its original market leadership.