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Assessing the Organization's readiness for the TQM Transformation
(Schmidt & Finnigan. 1992. The Race Without a Finish Line. Jossey-Bass: 87-116, 145)

Yonatan Reshef
School of Business
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2R6 CANADA

Quality Passages

Top management becomes aware of quality and takes some tentative steps

Top management realizes the need for a firm commitment and investment of manpower and time, which in turn builds both a constituency and a feeling of urgency

Deployment - Tangible & intangible factors

A large number of employees are trained in the quality tools and concepts 

Employees have mastered the tools and are applying them to a high order of projects and activities

The tools, processes, and quality language are integrated into day-to-day work operations

The last phase is characterized by a) continual improvement where higher standards are established, systems are perfected, and the organization is alert to changing customer requirements;

and b) employees have internalized the new way of doing business and are less likely to go back to the old system in the face of a new political/economic circumstances (this point is not from Schmidt & Finnigan)

 

Reviewing Your Own Leadership Style

What are my motives for considering this TQM effort?

What is there about TQM that most excites me? Can we achieve it without launching a TQM effort?

What am I willing to risk, or give up, to build a TQM organization?

How comfortable will I feel "selling" TQM to my colleagues/superiors?

How have I dealt with long-term commitments in the past? 

How comfortable do I feel sharing authority and power with others?

How well do I handle ambiguity and uncertainty?

Am I willing to change my style of management if that is required to make TQM work? 

 

Assessing the Management Team

How easily do they adjust to change?

How willing would they be to explore radically new ways of managing?

How receptive are they to receiving training?

How well are they working together now? What obstacles do they have to overcome to work together better?

How do they deal with their people?

 

Assessing the Employees' Readiness for TQM

Do employees have work discipline?

Do employees have team orientation?

Are employees culturally and demographically homogeneous?

Do employees prefer strict work rules?

Do employees accept training well?

Are employees accustomed to linkages between compensation and firm performance?













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