Capitalism and concernJohn Peters
1996 The TQM Magazine
doi: 10.1108/09544789610152847
Asks whether socially responsible behaviour and capitalism can be sensibly reconciled. Notes the economic advantages of capitalism but also concerns regarding factors such as social order and pollution, suggesting that quality management has a role to play in bringing the goals of capitalism and social responsibility together. Points out that today’s customers expect companies to address these concerns and that if companies fail to do so governments will do it for them via emissions taxation etc. Concludes that social responsibility can make economic sense.
Privatizing the courts ‐ a quality assurance problemJohn Groocock
1996 The TQM Magazine
doi: 10.1108/09544789610152856
Reports that English courts are in disarray because of gross inefficiency and excessive costs. Proposes that, it would be easier to privatize the courts, which could be broken up into small, fully competitive units, than the already privatized capital‐intensive utilities. Illustrates how this could be done for the civil courts, resulting in major cost savings. The nationalized courts do not include any formal quality assurance system and publish no quality statistics to the public as do the education, health, water industries, etc. An effective, cost‐efficient quality assurance system would be essential for privatized courts. Details one way in which this could be achieved and the quality data it would produce.
Reconnecting our communitiesMarch Laree Jacques
1996 The TQM Magazine
doi: 10.1108/09544789610152865
Examines the notion that total quality can do for communities what it has done for businesses worldwide and describes ongoing community‐wide quality projects in the USA. Shows how respected organizations such as the Association for Quality and Participation (AQP), the World Center for Community Excellence, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and The W. Edwards Deming Institute have launched successful community‐wide quality initiatives.
Creating excellence in construction companies: UK contractors’ experiences of quality initiativesSteven McCabe
1996 The TQM Magazine
doi: 10.1108/09544789610152874
Describes research being carried out into the effects of introducing quality initiatives such as ISO 9000 (formerly BS 5750) and TQM (total quality management) in large contracting firms. Suggests that the context in which they operate is confrontational and adversarial. This makes the introduction of quality doubly difficult where time and money are at a premium. The central theme is that contrary to the belief that “We can’t afford to improve”; construction firms, like those operating in any market, “Cannot afford not to”. Analyses the effectiveness of these initiatives on the main constituent of the firms ‐ people. Provides an insight into the difficulties that practitioners face, particularly quality managers, most especially in construction, in introducing and maintaining such initiatives.
Benchmarking: a paradigm for change to quality educationL. David Weller
1996 The TQM Magazine
doi: 10.1108/09544789610152892
Utilizes benchmarking as an effective and efficient way to manage the change process for quality transformation in schools. Originally conceptualized as competitive intelligence gathering, benchmarking can also be a vehicle for planned, orderly change. Discusses the practices of generic and strategic benchmarking with the importance of personalizing the change processes through matching teacher knowledge, skills and interests to their benchmarking assignments. Presents reasons as to why teachers resist change in general, and presents an adoption model which uses some of the TQM tools and techniques to facilitate whole‐school implementation of the quality principles.
The third generation total quality approachGiorgio Merli
1996 The TQM Magazine
doi: 10.1108/09544789610152900
Proposes that it is possible to identify three phases in the development of total quality approaches. The first generation approach is focused on the continuous improvement activities. In the second generation approach, the management recognize that what can make a company truly competitive is the substantial, continuous improvement of its business process performance. The third generation approach is the “mature” phase of total quality. Total quality in these environments is considered to be a new, more effective way of doing business, and its mechanisms are used to obtain a more entrepreneurial style of management. This approach is based on the recognition that the competitive advantage of a business depends very much on its capacity to improve drastically its operating performance (“breakthroughs”), and that the improvement trend constitutes the discriminating factor between failure and success. This model has been adopted, so far, by a dozen multinational firms. The success which they have enjoyed is the main reason for explaining this method.
Business process redesign and total integrated managementMasoud A. Azhashemi; Samuel K. Ho
1996 The TQM Magazine
doi: 10.1108/09544789610152928
Japanese firms which long ago realized the importance of product quality have, over the last decade, been focusing on the broader issue of management quality as a way of increasing market share and profits. Management quality has traditionally been difficult to judge, and systematic ways of improving it difficult to implement. To overcome this dilemma, Yahagi Consultants Inc., in Tokyo, has come up with an approach called total integrated management (TIM). It consists of a comprehensive checklist, but no systematic implementation processes have been suggested. Aims to investigate the link between TIM and business process redesign and identify whether the latter methodology can be applied to implement TIM effectively.