The new faces of total quality in Europe and the US

Total quality management (TQM), which started in Western countries about 15 years ago, generated great interest in most firms. The paper deals with this approach, which has known ups and downs, and develops the elements contributing to its evolution, the difficulties encountered through its implementation and the shifts of the processes of guiding change. The firms' cultural and organizational specificities have led to differential evolutions that are partially explained by managerial paradigm differences between the US and Europe. In particular, 'business process re-engineering', which is analyzed in relationship with total quality, can be interpreted as an American adaptation of TQM; while certain European features (like the French ones) seem to fit better the usual requirements of TQM.