Beyond TQM implementation: the new paradigm of TQM sustainability

The concept of sustainable development has been touted as a new planning agenda (Beatley & Manning, 1998). As such, it becomes a fundamental concept that should be an important aspect of all further policy developments (Loffler, 1998). Sustainable development is based on a perceived need to address environmental deterioration and to maintain the vital functions of natural systems for the well being of present and future generations. Sustainability is defined as ‘the ability of an organization to adopt to change in the business environment to capture contemporary best practice methods and to achieve and maintain superior competitive performance’ (Zairi & Liburd 2001). This concept implies that sustainability is a mean for an organization to maintain its competitiveness. Quinn (2000) has a similar idea on sustainability. He describes it as the development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Gladwin et al. (1995), on the other hand, define it as ‘development, which meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future organizations to meet their own needs’. Total Quality Management (TQM) represents an integrative approach for the pursuit of customer satisfaction (Chin et al., 2001). However, facing intense pressure of global competition, organizations need to consider incorporating the idea of sustainability in TQM in order to sustain their competitive advantage and performance improvement. In addition, the interest of organizational survival, growth and prosperity has therefore got to be concerned with not just the present but also the future. The concept of sustainability does however remain unclear and it is therefore worth exploring further how it can be applied. It is the purpose of this paper to highlight some of the key issues of sustainable TQM, to trace transformational evolutions that bring different orientations over time. The paper will then describe how various critical factors can create a sustainable competitive advantage, when working in harmony. Finally, a wide range of best practices will be illustrated to support a proposed model for TQM sustainability.