TQM and organisational culture: How do they link?

There have been many documented cases where total quality management (TQM) initiatives have failed to succeed and these have been often blamed on the implementation process. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to show the potential links between TQM and culture, and to highlight some of the reasons for TQM failure with a view to suggesting whether ‘cultural traits’, identified in some of the major cultural models, could influence the success of TQM implementation. The paper is purely literature based with the investigation being split into three distinct sections. The first briefly covers a number of important aspects of TQM and identifies some of the problems that have been encountered in its implementation. The second describes four models of organisational culture and attempts to identify the particular ‘cultural traits’, within each model, which might prove conducive to TQM success. Finally, the third suggests an amalgamated model that could be used to test whether an organisation will be receptive to a TQM initiative. Findings suggest that successful implementation of TQM could depend on the prevailing culture of the organisation. While the findings require further empirical research, there is evidence to support that paying attention to cultural aspects could assist the decision concerning a TQM initiative. It should be noted, however, that the research is limited in that the validity of the amalgamated model has not been empirically tested.