Total quality management implementation success factors

Abstract

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management strategy that can affect change and capture the specific skills and knowledge of organisational employees (Eccles and Nohria, 1992). Wruck and Jensen (1994) propose that the effective implementation of TQM depends on a number of factors relating to the use of TQM tools and techniques, and changes to the organisational rules of the game. TQM tools and techniques allow for the use and creation of specific knowledge, and the changes to the organisational rules of the game motivate employees to use and create their specific knowledge. This study empirically tests this proposition by surveying 400 Australian manufacturing organisations. The results suggest a relationship between these success factors and TQM effectiveness.