Replying to LO29257 --
Barry, Alan, & LO Colleagues:
Barry: small quibbles with your TQM definitions shown in [brackets] below.
More important is what's being defined. The late Dr. W. Edwards Deming
has been quoted as saying: "TQM? Hmph, there's no such thing as TQM!"
Hope this is true--does anyone have the citation? Even if it's not;
attribution to those no longer with us has it's value.
And, from my experience: "Total" is a somewhere between a dream and a
joke; rarely part of the commitment in most corporate cultures.
"Quality" is good--a whole range of definitions are in the
literature--pick one you like. "Management" is, too often, "those people
upstairs" who own the processes and systems (Dr. Deming reminds us) and
are rarely open to real improvement by those doing the work, those who
know how to make improvements if only they had permission, encouragement,
recognition and rewards. How does this square with your experience
regarding "TQM's" acceptance?
In light of these realities, how about replacing "TQM" with "Continual
Quality Improvement, CQI?" The below definition [as amended] then works,
serves the values of continuous attention and effort ("continuous" is
without interruption, as with the "rain on the roof"), quality (using
whatever definition you choose), continual ("continual" is constant /
continuous effort, with victories often enough to keep the effort alive)
and "improvement"-- the point of it all.
What else is needed?
Best to all - Dick Webster
Richard S. Webster, Ph.D. - President
Personal Resources Management Institute (PRMI--a 501-c-3 learning R&D
enterprise, founded 1978)
709 Wesley Court - The Village Green - Worthington OH 43085-3558
eMail <webster.1@osu.edu>, tel 614-433-7144, fax 614-433-71-88
>>> on 10/3/02 Barry Mallis wrote:
> Here's the definition of TQM which I have used for the past ten years:
>
> ... [Continual Quality Improvement-CQI] is an evolving system of practices,
> tools,
> training [and learning] methods [and processes] being developed primarily by
> industry, for creating [improved]
> ... products and services for increased customer satisfaction in the rapidly
> changing world of [the "new economy"].
> -snip-
> Best regards, Barry Mallis <theorgtrainer@earthlink.net>
--dikweb <webster.1@osu.edu>
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