Adapting Total Quality Management (TQM) to Government: Another Point of View

In a thought-provoking article, Swiss (1992, p. 358) argued that TQM is strikingly ill suited to the government environment, requiring modification if it is to be useful in this environment. In advancing his argument, Swiss identifies four major problems with Deming's (1986) industrial-sector-developed TQM (what he refers to as orthodox TQM) that is the basis of this incompatibility. In this article, I agree with Swiss's premise that an adaptation of TQM is necessary for the government organization, but argue that the reasons for adaptation are not necessarily those stated by Swiss. The experience of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (TDMHMR) with TQM over the last two years suggests that a different set of problems are more important. After a discussion of the problems identified by Swiss, this alternative set of problems is presented along with a discussion of their implications for government service organizations.