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Summary of the Article
Daniel I. Prajogo and Christopher M. McDermott wrote the article under consideration entitled “The relationship between total quality management practices and organizational culture”. The article was published in the International Journal of Operations & Production Management in 2005. The authors provide readers with the results of the study aimed at identifying the way organizational cultures can influence the implementation of the Total Quality Management (TQM) practices. Authors test two views on the nature of the corporate culture: pluralist and unitarist views. Almost two hundred Australian organizations were evaluated during the research under analysis.
The literature review is the first part of the article where authors define the most significant notions. First, authors differentiate the concept of TQM from the organizational culture. Total Quality Management should be regarded as a set of organizational practices. These practices include leadership, planning and strategy, information and analysis, people management, process management, and customer focus (Prajogo & McDermott, 2005). The notion of culture refers to the beliefs and attitudes typical for the organization. Second, TQM is influenced by the organizational culture as far as it is a one-way process. Finally, authors investigate the nature of pluralistic and unitarist views and suggest related terms of unidimensional and multidimensional TQM. Authors evaluate four types of cultures including group, developmental, hierarchical, and rational types.
The findings of the study present the fact that pluralistic view has advantages in comparison to unidimensional models. The hierarchical culture is prevailing in multidimensional TQM. Although the aspects of multidimensional TQM can be rather controversial, it is possible to unite them in harmonic co-existence. It is of great significance to achieve the unity between people-centered and control elements.
Learning Points Related to Operation Management
Total Quality Management is realized via the combination of several constituents such as leadership, information and analysis, people and process managements, focus on customers, and planning and strategy. The article under consideration investigates all of these features within the frameworks of unidimensional and multidimensional organizational cultures. The following learning points of the article relate to the operational management:
- Total Quality Management aims at improving the performance of the organization at all levels. Thus, team empowerment is one of the most significant actions. TQM is regarded as a participative style of management that is crucial for worker’s motivation to use their knowledge and skills with maximum efficiency (Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2010);
- The successful implementation of TQM presupposes that the manager conducts a variety of roles in the organization. Thus, the manager has to be a facilitator, communicator, and leader at the same time (Mantel et al., 2010);
- TQM requires the appropriate level of process and people management. Every member of the team should be competent, politically sensitive, and aimed at goals accomplishment. The task of the manager is to promote all these features among employees of the particular organization;
- Customer focus presupposes the need to deliver goods or services correctly. Thus, an inspirational motivation is essential for the enhancement of service delivery (Johnston, Clark, & Shulver, 2012);
- Strategic planning should reflect the cultural priorities of the organization;
- Focus on customer also includes the ability to see activities from the point of view of clients. Understanding of customer’s perspective is essential for the successful implementation of TQM.
Critical Analysis of the Article
Daniel I. Prajogo and Christopher M. McDermott employ a comprehensive approach to the presentation of their findings. The article has more advantages rather than disadvantages. The literature review is of great significance for the rest of the paper. The first important aspect of the article is the differentiation between definitions. Thus, authors dwell on the fact that there are various approaches to understanding Total Quality Management procedures and the organizational culture. Since the very beginning, Prajogo and McDermott provide the exact and direct definitions of TQM and the corporate culture that they support. Thus, TQM is a set of practices while the culture of the organization refers to the variety of beliefs, values and attitudes that is dominant within the particular company.
The other significant aspect of the article is that authors clarify the misunderstanding concerning the existence of the theory of TQM. They state their positions in defining the TQM as different procedures and as a type of organizational culture. The next prominent feature of the literature review refers to the explanation of chosen framework for the evaluation of the corporate culture. Thus, authors describe the distinctive characteristics of the competing value frameworks. On the basis of flexibility, control, internal and external factors, organizational cultures can be group, developmental, hierarchical, and rational.
In addition to the competing value frameworks, authors employ the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) model to evaluate the performance excellence of TQM model. Although this model is the most popular, it would be useful to use at least one more model to assess findings with maximum efficiency. As far as the study used data from Australian organizations, authors could implement the Australian Business Excellence Framework for the analysis. The European Foundation for the Quality Management is one more model that could be used to compare the results and define the efficiency of unidimensional and multidimensional organizational cultures and TQM.
Although TQM pluralistic model has many variables and constituents, more attention should have been paid to the unitarist view. Only two paragraphs are devoted to the unitarist model. Such segmentation may indicate the authors’ initial attempt to prove that pluralistic model has several advantages. Such an approach is unacceptable in research and may be regarded as prejudiced.
Finally, authors have not analyzed the possible difficulties that may occur in TQM and the organizational culture regardless of the type of culture. These difficulties refer to the disruption in production at the initial stages, employee resistance to changes (it depends on their organizational culture), and the high cost of TQM (Kelchner, n.d.).
Implementation and Practical Points
The implementation of the pluralist model can be rather a challenging task. It requires the ability to combine control and people-centered elements that have never been regarded as combinable. However, the findings of the study prove that it is possible to include such elements of the Total Quality Management procedures. The practical implementation of the pluralistic model is essential as far as the single culture may be the weakness of the organization.
Several practical points should be taken into account before the implementation. First, the TQM does not bring immediate results. It may take years until the desirable outcomes appear. The manager should be able to motivate workers and explain the significance of their participation in the process. TQM is directly connected with the employee’s desire to work in a particular direction. Also, employees should acquire new knowledge and skills for the successful implementation of TQM. It requires time and may result in the temporary decrease of productivity.
References
Johnston, R., Clark, G., & Shulver, M. (2012). Service Operation Management: Improving Service Delivery. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kelchner, L. (n.d.). Advantages and Disadvantages of Total Quality Management Strategies. Web.
Mantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S., & Sutton, S. (2010). Operations Management in Practice. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
Prajogo, C., & McDermott, D. (2005). The relationship between total quality management practices and organizational culture. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 25(11), 1101-1122.
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