What management philosophy focuses on continuous improvement to enhance competitiveness?

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management philosophy that emphasizes continuous improvement across all levels of an organization to enhance competitiveness and ensure customer satisfaction. TQM advocates for a holistic approach involving every employee in the process of improving quality and performance. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement, organizations can identify inefficiencies, reduce waste, and optimize processes, ultimately leading to higher quality products or services and improved customer loyalty.

This philosophy integrates various practices allowing organizations to focus simultaneously on improving processes, products, and services while engaging all employees in the quality improvement journey. In contrast, while Quality Assurance concentrates specifically on preventing defects and ensuring standards are met, and Operational Excellence focuses on achieving superior performance through efficiency, TQM encompasses all these elements, making continuous improvement its core principle. Strategic Planning, on the other hand, is more about setting long-term goals and defining the direction of the organization rather than the ongoing efforts to improve those processes. This is why Total Quality Management is the most appropriate choice among the options provided.