Article: When Quality Works: A Premature Post-Mortem on TQM Journal: Journal of Business and Management (JBM) 2002 Vol.8 No.4 pp.391 - 410 Abstract: This article separates the rhetoric of recent criticisms of Total Quality Management (TQM) as yet another managerial panacea from the key components of TQM programs that are well grounded both theoretically and empirically in the extant literature. While TQM has come under much fire for being just another \'management fad\' by academics, it is ironic that none of these same academics would dare criticize any of its component parts individually. We build upon previous research that identified those key components leadership and top management commitment, training and education, teams and culture from the \'classic\' quality literature and linked them, as a quality-management package, to sustainable competitive advantage. We review how each of these key components has potential elements of tacitness and complexity and, using a systems theory perspective, we detail what happens when these components come together interactively. We go on to show how TQM, as an organization-wide, complex system can produce a culture that embodies open-system attributes that are difficult for competitors to copy. Consequently, our belief is that when the core ideas of TQM are viewed from a systems framework, it becomes easier to understand both the success and failures of TQM as a comprehensive managerial intervention, and not just another \'managerial fad.\' Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: When Quality Works: A Premature Post-Mortem on TQM

Authors: David J. Lemak; Neal P. Mero; Richard Reed

Addresses: Author address listing can be found in the "About the Authors" section at the end of the article.

Abstract: This article separates the rhetoric of recent criticisms of Total Quality Management (TQM) as yet another managerial panacea from the key components of TQM programs that are well grounded both theoretically and empirically in the extant literature. While TQM has come under much fire for being just another \'management fad\' by academics, it is ironic that none of these same academics would dare criticize any of its component parts individually. We build upon previous research that identified those key components leadership and top management commitment, training and education, teams and culture from the \'classic\' quality literature and linked them, as a quality-management package, to sustainable competitive advantage. We review how each of these key components has potential elements of tacitness and complexity and, using a systems theory perspective, we detail what happens when these components come together interactively. We go on to show how TQM, as an organization-wide, complex system can produce a culture that embodies open-system attributes that are difficult for competitors to copy. Consequently, our belief is that when the core ideas of TQM are viewed from a systems framework, it becomes easier to understand both the success and failures of TQM as a comprehensive managerial intervention, and not just another \'managerial fad.\'

Keywords: Total quality management; systems theory; competitive advantage; open-system attributes; managerial intervention.

DOI: 10.1504/JBM.2002.141093

Journal of Business and Management, 2002 Vol.8 No.4, pp.391 - 410

Published online: 05 Sep 2024 *

Title: When Quality Works: A Premature Post-Mortem on TQM

Keep up-to-date