Continuous Quality Improvement / Total Quality Management
Continuous Quality Management (CQI) is an approach to improving and maintaining quality that emphasizes regular, internally driven assessments of potential causes of quality defects, followed by action aimed at either avoiding a reduction in quality or correcting the quality defect at an early stage. Related to CQI is the broader management approach of Total Quality Management (TQM), which is a process for creating organization-wide participation in planning and implementing continuous improvements in quality. TQM emphasizes the need for all members of a production unit or team to understand the needs and desires of clients or ultimate users of the service or product; use of data-related techniques to assess and improve the quality of the team’s output.