Some reasons given for TQM failures

Research of several studies by writers who have reflected on TQM identifies the main reason for TQM’s apparent failure to stem from the perception that TQM is a management fad that implements quality by measurement without securing employee commitment. It would indeed appear that TQM has certain inherent flaws and often does not work, even in organisations that desperately need quality improvements. Its critics maintain that it:

1. focuses people’s attention on internal processes rather than external results;
2. is based on minimum standards while ignoring personal experience;
3. develops its own cumbersome bureaucracy;
4. delegates quality to quality projects and efforts rather than to real people;
5. does not demand vertical organisational reforms;
6. does not impose changes in management compensation (i.e. linking performance to compensation);
7. does not demand an entirely new relationship with outside partners;
8. could fall in the trap of appealing to weaker managers who rely on fads, personal egos and quick fixes