Total Quality Management and Human Resource Management: Comparisons and Contrasts

Abstract

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an important aspect of current management thought. However, the human resource management implications of TQM have still to be subjected to detailed analysis and investigation. This article outlines the basic elements of TQM and compares these with previous movements for managerial reform. The comparison highlights the similarities and differences with earlier schools of thought and the history demonstrates the need to distinguish between espoused and implemented tbeories

The implications of TQM for employment relations have not been adequately thought through, but TQM can be distinguished from earlier schools of management thought by its orientation to systems instead of persons. To illustrate this difference, the TQM approach is compared with the philosophy of Management by Objectives Because MBO has a focus on individual, rather than system performance, it can have harmful and demotivating consequences. It is noted that the original philosophy of MBO did not intend to encourage short-term orientations limited to financial returns. However, MBO has failed by becoming a recipe, in which the most visible features become the end rather than the means. TQM can avoid the dangers of demotivating people, but care will be needed to ensure that TQM does not also became a recipe, in which certain visible techniques replace the substance of customer focus, teamwork and data-based decision-making.