Which of the following tools is commonly used in TQM?

Benchmarking is a key tool in Total Quality Management (TQM) because it involves comparing an organization’s processes and performance metrics to industry bests or best practices from other companies. This practice helps organizations identify areas for improvement, set performance goals, and enhance their overall quality by learning from the successes of others. By engaging in benchmarking, organizations can assess their position within the market, stimulate innovation, and adopt proven methods that lead to improved operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

The other options, while they may have their own uses in management and performance evaluation, do not directly align with the core principles and practices of TQM. For instance, financial ratios analysis primarily focuses on financial performance rather than quality enhancement. Traditional performance reviews tend to concentrate on individual employee performance rather than overarching quality improvements or process optimization. Time tracking software, although useful for managing productivity, does not directly pertain to quality management processes in the same way benchmarking does.