TQM Paradoxes and their Strategies

In today's changing and dynamic environment, the basic challenge of management is survival, growth and success in industrial and business sector. Total Quality Management (TQM) is the philosophy and approach of management that in it, all employees, customers and suppliers work to achieve the mentioned goals.In total quality management, in addition to organizational survival,there are some other aims that customer satisfaction, service providing with high quality, cost deduction and organization profitability are the most important of them. Achieving these goals needs to effective and efficient implementation of total quality management. And this requires for understanding of its hilosophyand principles by managers and employees.There are some paradoxes in the total quality environment that,understanding of them requires focusing on the elements creating the quality culture. These paradoxes arise from various sources: the company's effort to achieve multiple goals, trying to meet customer needs and wants in an efficient and realistic manner, broader roles for employees, and new ways of structuring tasks. Moreover, a number of principles in total quality management indeed are contradictory.In this article, with reviewing theoretical background, the seven paradoxes of Total Quality Management are introduced, and the ways of managing of them are provided. Then in a conceptual model, these paradoxes are related with TQM's focal points. The article is followed by conclusion, managerial applications and suggestions for future researches.