In this paper we examine some of the problematic assumptions and concepts underlying Total Quality Management (TQM) through a case study of a major UK retail bank. We question traditional approaches towards power which assume it to be the property of individuals or groups. For us, power should be understood to be a condition of social relations. Thus, it is erroneous to ask who has power. Instead, it is necessary to explore how power is exercised. Notwithstanding this, it is essential to recognize that power is not simply an external agency, but that it penetrates the very essence of our being. We explore the structural and inter-personal tensions which emerge between the bank's mortgage division and its branches over mortgage applications. We examine how TQM, through the medium of `quality partnerships' is used to address these tensions. The article reveals that TQM is both a condition and a consequence of organizational power relations. Not only is TQM constituted by these power relations, but it is itself a vehicle for struggle between competing groups and individuals. This suggests that the problems confronting TQM are far more embedded than is often assumed to be the case. Critically, through opening up the notion of power as `relational' rather than `propertied', it is our aim to illuminate the continuing exercise of, and potential for, resistance during the operation of TQM regimes.
Barley, Steven R. , and Gideon Kunda1992`Design and devotion: surges of rational and normative ideologies of control in managerial discourses'. Administrative Science Quarterly37: 363-399.
2.
Boaden, Ruth , and Barry Dale1993`Managing quality improvement in services: a framework and case study'. Service Industry Journal13/1: 17-39.
3.
Boje, David M. , and Robert D. Winsor1993`The resurrection of Taylorism: TQM's hidden agenda'. Journal of Organizational Change Management6/4: 57-70.
4.
Cressey, Peter , and Martin Scott1992.Employment, technology and industrial relations in the UK clearing banks: Is the honeymoon over?'. New-Technology, Work and Employment7/2: 83-96.
5.
Crosby, Phillip B.1979Quality is free. New York: McGraw Hill.
6.
Dahl, Robert, A.1959Who governs: Democracy and power in an Amierican city. New Haven: Yale University Press.
7.
Dalton, Melville1959Men who manage.New York: Wiley.
8.
Dawson, Patrick , and M. Patrickson1991`Total Quality Management in the Australian banking industry'. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management8/5: 66-76.
9.
Dawson, Patrick and Gill Palmer1994`Total Quality Management: The theory and practice of implementing change'. Pre-published manuscript provided by the authors.
10.
Dean, James W.jr , and David E. Bowen1994`Management theory and Total Quality: Improving research and practice through theory development'. The Academy of Management Review19/3: 392-419.
11.
Delbridge, Rick . Peter Turnbull, and Barry Wilkinson1992`Pushing back the frontiers: management control and work intensification under JIT/TQM regimes'. New Technology. Work and Employment7: 97-106.
12.
Deming, William E.1982`Quality, productivity, and competitive position'. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Centre for Advanced Engineering Study.
13.
Deming, William E.1986Out of the crisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
14.
Denzin, Norman1978The Research Act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods. New York: McGraw Hill.
15.
Dreyfus, Herbert L. , and Paul Rabinow1982Michel Foucault beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. London: Harvester.
16.
Du Gay, Paul , and Graeme Salaman1992`The culture of the customer'. Journal of Management Studies29/5: 615-633.
17.
Dyer.W. Gibb, jr. , and Alan L.Wilkins1991`Better stories, not better constructs to generate better theory: a rejoinder to Eisenhardt'. Academy of Management Review16/3: 613-619.
18.
Foucault, Michel1980Power/knowledge, edited by Colin Gordon. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
19.
Foucault, Michel1982`The subject and power' in Michael Foucault. Herbert L. Dreyfus and Paul Rabinow (eds.), 208-226. Sussex: Harvester.
20.
Grant, Robert M. , Rami Shani, and Robert Krishnan1994`TQM's challenge to theory and practice'. Sloan Management Review (Winter): 25-35.
21.
Grey, Chris , and Natalie Mitev1995`Re-engineering organizations: a critical appraisal'. Personnel Review24/1: 6-18.
22.
Heery, Paul1993`Industrial relations and the customer' . Industrial Relations Journal24/4: 284-295.
23.
Hill, Stephen , and Adrian Wilkinson1995`In search of TQM'. Employee Relations17/3: 8-25.
24.
Howcroft, Barry1992`Customer service in selected branches of a UK clearing bank . The Service Industries Journal2/1: 25-142.
25.
Jermier, John M. , David Knights, and Walter P. Nord1994Resistance and power in organizations. Routledge: London.
26.
Juran, James1988Juran on planning for quality. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
27.
Kerfoot, Deborah , and David Knights1995`Empowering the "Quality worker"?: The seduction and contradiction of the Total Quality Management phenomenon' in Making quality critical. Adrian Wilkinson and Hugh Willmott (eds.), 219-239. London: Routledge.
28.
Knights, David1990`Subjectivity, power and the labour process' in Labour process theoryDavid Knights and Hugh Willmott (eds.), 297-335. London: Macmillan.
29.
Knights, David , and Darren McCabe 1995 `TQM: Reaches the subjectivity that other management initiatives cannot reach'. Paper presented at the 13th International Labour Process Conference, Blackpool, April.
30.
Knights, David , and Darren McCabe1997`"How would you measure something like that?': Quality in a retail bank". Journal of Management Studies34/3: 371-388.
31.
Knights, David , and Darren McCabe1998`"What happens when the phone goes wild?": Staff, stress and spaces for escape in a BPR telephone banking work regime'. Journal of Management Studies35/ 2: 163-194.
32.
Knights, David , and Theo Vurdubakis1994`Foucault, power, resistance and all that' in Power and resistance in organizations. John M. Jermier, David Knights, and Walter P. Nord (eds.), 167-198. London: Routledge.
33.
Knights, David , and Hugh Willmott1985`Power and identity in theory and practice'. Sociological Review33/1: 22-46.
34.
Knights, David , and Hugh Willmott1989`Power and subjectivity at work: From degradation to subjugation in social relations'. Sociology23/4: 535-558.
35.
Lewis, Barbara1989`Quality in the service sector: A review' . International Journal of Bank Marketing7/5: 4-12.
36.
Lewis, Barbara1995`Customer care in services' in Understanding services management. W.J. Glynn and J.G. Barnes (eds.), 56-73. Dublin: Oak Tree Press.
37.
Lukacs, George1971History and class consciousness. London: Martin (first published 1923).
38.
Lukes, Stephen1974Power: A radical view. London: Macmillan.
39.
McArdle Louise , Michael Rowlinson, Stephen Proctor. John Hassard, and Paul Forrester1995`Employee empowerment or the enhancement of exploitation' in Making quality critical. Adrian Wilkinson and Hugh Willmott (eds.), 156-172. London: Routledge.
40.
McCabe, Darren1996`The best laid schemes O' TQM: Strategy, politics and power . New Technology, Work and Employment11/1: 28-38.
41.
McCabe, Darren , David Knights, Deborah Kerfoot, Glenn Morgan, and Hugh Willmott1998`Towards a critical review of quality in financial services'. Human Relations51/3: 389-411.
42.
Parker, Mike , and Jane Slaughter1993`Should the labour movement buy into TQM?'Journal of' Organizational Change Management6/4: 570-581.
43.
Polsby, Nelson1963Community power and political theory. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
44.
Sewell, Graham , and Barry Wilkinson1992`Empowerment or emasculation? Shopfloor surveillance in a Total Quality organization' in Reassessing human resource management. Paul Blyton and Peter Turnbull (eds.), 97-115. London: Sage.
45.
Silverman, David1993Interpreting qualitative data methods for analysing talk, text and interaction. London: Sage.
46.
Smith, Stuart , David Tranfield, Morris Forster, and Susan Whittle1994`Strategies for managing the TQ agenda'. International Journal of Operations and Production Management14/1: 75-88.
47.
Sturdy, Andrew1992`Clerical consent' in Skill and consent. Andrew Sturdy, David Knights and Hugh Willmott (eds.), 115-148. London: Routledge.
48.
Tuckman, Alan1994`The yellow brick road: Total Quality Management and the restructuring of organizational culture' . Organization Studies15/5: 727-751.
49.
Webb, Jeanette1996Vocabularies of motive and the "new management"' . Work, Employment and Society10/2: 251-271.
50.
Wendt, Ronald F.1994`Learning to "walk the talk". A critical tale of the micropolitics of a Total Quality university' . Management Communication Quarterly8/1: 5-45.
51.
Whyte, William Foote1943Street corner society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
52.
Wilkinson, Adrian , P. Allen, and Edward Snape1991`TQM and the Management of Labour'. Employee Relations13/1: 4-31.
53.
Wilkinson, Adrian , Michael Marchington, John Goodman, and Peter Ackers1992`TQM and employee involvement'. Human Resource Management Journal2/4: 1-20.
54.
Wilkinson, Adrian , and Hugh Willmott Hugh, editors 1994Making quality critical. London: Routledge.
55.
Wilkinson, Adrian , and Hugh Willmott1996`The problems and pitfalls of quality'. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management13/3: 55-65.
56.
Willmott, Hugh1993`Strength is ignorance: Slavery is freedom. Managing culture in modern organizations' . Journal of Management Studies30/4: 515-553.
57.
Willmott, Hugh1994`Business process re-engineering and human resource management' . Personnel Review23/3: 34-46.
58.
Willmott, Hugh1995`The odd couple?: Re-engineering business processes, managing human resources' . New Technology, Work and Employment10/2: 89-98.
