پیاده سازی مدیریت کیفیت جامع: بررسی تجربی و مدل عمومی پیشنهادی

Total quality management (TQM) is considered by many as an important quality and business performance improvement tool. The popularity of the concept has led to an explosion of TQM-related literature. A careful review of the literature suggests that most publications recount the experiences or perceptions of the authors or deal with single case organisations. Furthermore, there is a dearth of empirical research and literature dealing with TQM's implementation process. This paper reports the findings of a research project that empirically examined the process of TQM implementation in a sample of organisations widely regarded as leading exponents of TQM. The paper presents a non-prescriptive model of the TQM implementation process derived from the findings and proposes an “outcome driven” approach as an alternative to the more commonplace TQM implementation strategies.

Total quality management (TQM) is one of the most popular and durable modern management concepts. This position is rooted in its development which has passed through a number of phases since the 1920s: quality control (QC); quality assurance (QA) and total quality control (TQC). Each subsequent phase has extended the scope of the concept. Amongst the most significant factors that have contributed to the persistence and strength of the TQM model are: (i) recognition and demonstration of the importance of “quality” as a source of superior competitiveness [1], [2], [3] and [4]; (ii) the success of Japanese firms in taking and retaining market share from their Western counterparts [5] and [6]; (iii) influence of the teaching and writings of scholars such as Deming, Juran, Crosby and Feigenbaum, collectively referred to as the ‘quality gurus’ [7], and (iv) introduction of internationally recognised quality awards such as the Deming Prize, and the Malcolm Baldrige, European and Australian Quality Awards [8]. As with most management interventions TQM has not been without its critics. A number of publications have suggested that TQM has failed to deliver expected results [9], [10] and [11]. Such views are countered by the argument that to dismiss TQM on the basis of “loose” negatively oriented evidence is irrational. Ever since the late 1980s when the positive correlation between introduction of TQM and enhanced competitiveness began to be understood, evidence has suggested that the majority of organisations that have introduced TQM believe that it has helped them to increase their market share and improve their competitiveness [6], [12] and [13]. Furthermore, studies that have been devoted to examining the relationship between TQM and performance using factual rather than perceptual data for example [14], [15] and [16], by and large have concluded that there is a cause and effect relationship between TQM practices and healthy or improved corporate performance.

The research described here employed a sample of internationally and peer recognised successful TQM organisations as its research domain. The overall frequency of each different type of activity or initiative within the 31 implementation plans studied, suggested that in practice there can be a very wide range of implementation tactics. This supports the proposition that there is no single definitive formula for the introduction of TQM. Nevertheless, deeper examination has suggested that there are common goals and purposes underlying the activities that make up the implementation process. The authors posed the following two research questions: Question one: “Is there commonality in the implementation processes of successful TQM organisations?” Question two: “If there is commonality in these implementation processes, does the commonality lie at a level deeper than the activity level?” Evidence presented in this paper indicates that the answer to both questions is yes. There is commonality in the implementation processes, and furthermore, the level at which this commonality resides is at the “outcome” level. This level is concerned with the purpose and driving force for the associated tactics. Findings suggest that organisations that go on to successfully practice the TQM approach use the TQM implementation process as the vehicle for building ‘internal capability’, before the external influences are then dealt with through customer focus and process focus oriented actions as part of the then established longer term TQM way of working. As Holder and Walker [55] asserted, aligning with the customer and delivering the products and services that customers expect, at a high quality level, are activities which take a lot of effort. It has been suggested in the broader TQM literature that TQM has a dual make-up; a ‘hard-side’ and a ‘soft-side’, where the ‘hard-side’ focuses on systems, tools and techniques and on establishing standards of performance, and the ‘soft-side’ concerns attitudes and values reflecting the emphasis given to mobilising all employees around the goal of continuous improvement and enlisting their active commitment by means of participation and responsibility [56], [57], [58] and [59]. This investigation has shown that the “planned” implementation process of organisations that go on to successfully practice TQM is weighted heavily in favour of activities that affect the ‘soft-side’. However, the ‘hard-side’ plays two important parts: firstly, at the front-end of the implementation process (start-up) by establishing organisational direction and providing organisational guidance and secondly, following the increase in participation (transition) it helps the organisation to hold the gains and to help to ensure that integration between the new practices and the existing business processes can take place.