Industrial experience with total quality management

Total quality management (TQM) is a management philosophy which seeks continuous improvement in the quality of performance of all processes, products and services of an organization. While the concept is nothing new, having its origins in the work of W. E. Deming in the 1950s, it has recently become popular in Australia with a number of organizations in the public and private sectors taking an active interest in establishing programmes. This paper reports on the findings of a survey of several Western Australian organizations which have introduced TQM. Structured interviews were used to obtain information on a number of key aspects of the programmes in the selected companies. The following issues were addressed: implementing and sustaining TQM efforts, the structuring of TQM programmes, difficulties encountered and the claimed benefits. Attention is given to the structure and operation of quality improvement teams and how they fit into the overall quality management programmes. The role of external agents, including governments, in helping to promote the introduction of quality management within the organizations is also discussed. Finally, the question of what lessons can be learnt from the experience of these organizations is examined.