An industry betrayed: the case of total quality management in manufacturing

Abstract Notes that researchers have cited various reasons for the high failure rate of total quality management (TQM) in manufacturing organisations and asks – is TQM a wonderful philosophy or a disaster that was allowed to happen? Based on empirical case study material, this article considers the experience of a real manufacturing company which introduced TQM, with the assistance of an external firm of management consultants. The state of the company at the outset of the TQM initiative and the rationale which led it to go down the TQM road are examined. Considers the way in which the company sought to implement the tenets of TQM, the effect that the approach generated and its longer‐term consequences. Further it will seek to elucidate why, in this instance, the TQM initiative, and with it the company, failed to survive in a competitive business environment. Finally, develops guidelines applicable to TQM implementation in companies which turn to that approach as a panacea for all their ills.