Total Quality Management at Gerber Products Company

Introduction: Total Quality and Gerber's Mission

In a world that is constantly changing, it is important to keep abreast of all the latest developments. Better still, one should anticipate those developments and be ready to meet them before they happen. This is the strategy that has been adopted by many forward-thinking companies — Gerber Products among them. The concept is called Total Quality Management, and it is about monitoring the quality of a product through all phases of production. This process begins even before a new product is proposed and continues until the consumer has used that product and expressed his or her complete satisfaction in the most tangible way possible: by purchasing another unit of the same product. Total Quality means ensuring that the product meets all specifications; that it has no hidden dangers or disadvantages; and that it meets and even surpasses consumers' expectations.

Meeting these goals requires putting quality and the consumer first, before any considerations of profit or corporate culture. All members of the corporate environment — whether at Gerber, Ford, or Seiko — must accept that they are a team working together to meet the needs of the marketplace and to anticipate those needs. The successful company stays ahead of trends and government regulations. It monitors the latest developments in science and technology not only to ensure that it possesses the most up-to-date methods of production and organization, but — even more importantly — to guarantee that its product line remains state-of-the-art.

Back in the 1940s, Gerber executives noticed the increasing use of pesticides in agriculture and, knowing that parents want only the best and purest food for their children, they quickly began monitoring exactly which chemicals were finding their way into Gerber products. Suppliers whose products did not meet Gerber's standards were eliminated. As nutrition came to the fore in the 1960s, Gerber officials concentrated on applying the latest available information on diet and early childhood growth and development to their products. As child psychologists produced new studies on how children learn and develop basic cognitive and motor skills, Gerber introduced a whole new line of products that answered these needs. They had never made toys or teethers before, but they began producing and selling them, knowing that parents would trust the Gerber name — and they did. A company's reputation is worth more than its products.

Total Quality is about complete consumer satisfaction. The company that adheres to its principles does not produce anything that fails to meet the needs of the marketplace. Additionally, it does not produce anything that falls short of the highest and most stringent quality and safety standards. Its products are the best and safest available. In fact, a Total Quality company leads the marketplace, becoming the benchmark against which standards of quality and healthfulness are measured.

Total Quality also means responding to suggestions and warnings from within the company. No one is too junior to have an opinion or to offer advice. Company executives may have access to statistics and carefully prepared scientific analyses, but the worker on the assembly line or in the packing department has hands-on knowledge and experience. They see exactly what is going on, what is going into the product, and what is leaving the plant. Total Quality further means listening to the consumer. A successful firm takes into account its customers' suggestions as well as their complaints, and it addresses these concerns in a prompt and proactive manner. For corporate leaders like Gerber, Total Quality is not just a concept — it is a way of life.

Preliminary Analysis: Principles of Total Quality

Scholars have offered several complementary definitions of Total Quality that together capture its full scope. Clinton, Williamson, and Bethke define Total Quality as "a company-wide perspective that strives for customer satisfaction by seeking zero defects in products and services."^[1]

Allan C. Reddy adds to this the idea of Total Quality Marketing, the aim of which is for companies "to satisfy their target markets more effectively." Reddy explains: "We live in a world of 'product inflation' — too many products chasing too few customers. When too many firms compete for the same target markets with identical products, traditional marketing approaches fail. To achieve success, then, a firm must clearly identify and thoroughly analyze its customers and its competitors. Strategies must be devised to satisfy customers while restraining competition before it strikes the firm's current or future target markets."^[2]

Finally, Total Quality Management (TQM) must take into account the concerns of all of a company's employees and, even more essentially, the concerns, needs, and desires of its customers. Madu and Kuei describe this approach as "a customer-driven approach to quality, emphasizing the involvement and commitment of every employee in an organization to provide quality products and services. Customers are increasingly sophisticated, with increasingly more complex demands to be satisfied. The increase in international competition also suggests that only quality-driven companies will survive. Therefore, for a company to achieve quality, customer needs, expectations, and aspirations must be satisfied."^[3]

Defining Total Quality: Key Frameworks

Central to Gerber's approach is a commitment to producing defect-free merchandise combined with prompt and efficient customer service. Gerber has worked actively to ensure that its products are safe and pose no health risks. "Gerber in 1998 worked with peach growers in the U.S. state of Michigan to eliminate organophosphate insecticides. Instead of using the pesticide against the oriental fruit moth, growers used pheromones to disrupt mating by the insects."^[4]

Similarly, at the height of the Gerber baby food tampering scare in 1986, the company applied a series of crisis management techniques that demonstrated careful attention to customer concerns and the general emotional response of the public. These included responding with the company's account of events within 24 to 48 hours of the crisis breaking; providing broadcast media with visuals to show that the company cared about public safety; and using technology to establish an early warning system that fed all complaints directly into the crisis management team for rapid response.^[5]

Gerber strives to meet all of its customers' needs. The company "perceives itself not as a baby food company, but as a provider of cradle-to-grave family services. Thus, as the population of young babies decreased after the baby boom, they were well placed to pursue other profit streams such as insurance."^[6] Gerber was therefore able to adjust to the changing needs of its consumer base and remain viable — even expanding as it entered new market sectors.

Gerber's mission statement clearly represents its commitment to consumers, employees, and investors. Key elements of that mission include: establishing Gerber as the premier brand in food, clothing, and care items for children from birth through age three; giving customers and consumers what they want all the time, every time, and on time; continuously pursuing improvements in all phases of the business; seeking intelligent risks that will build shareholder value; providing long-term shareholders with superior returns; creating opportunities for all associates to achieve their full potential; and maintaining Gerber's heritage as the authority in the field of infant and child nutrition and care.^[7] In keeping with this mission, Gerber remains thoroughly responsive to the needs, concerns, and desires of its customers, its management, and its front-line employees alike.