The ECCO system: Foundations for Total Quality Management

摘要

TQM (Total Quality Management) is a technology for achieving the transformation of organizations from their existing forms into a form which is capable of dealing with modern requirements. This modern form shall be referred to as an ECCO system: A system for Effective Control of Complex Organizations. In the U.S., industry is moving primarily from a bureaucratic Weber/Taylor form of organization to an ECCO form. The Weber/Taylor organizational structure and culture have trappings which are systematically hostile to ECCO system operations. Thus, when the tools and techniques associated with Total Quality are adopted without changing the fundamental infrastructure, Total Quality results will not be achieved.;The changes required to obtain a Total Quality organization, and to make effective associated techniques, practices and advanced manufacturing technology, are all based on certain cybernetic principles for the control of complex systems. The phenomenon of "control" in such systems is a combination of regulation and co-ordination. The role of a "controller" function is therefore twofold: Not only must it set the parameters of the target function to be regulated, it must also architect the interactions among system elements so that the system will tend to behave as desired, moving in a co-ordinated way toward the identified goal. The majority of management attention, and the bulk of TQM activities, often focus on the regulatory aspect of control, ignoring the critical role of coordination.;Nine ECCO system principles are identified as critical to successful Total Quality efforts. The first four are necessary to the regulatory activities of the organization.;The next five principles are seen as critical to management and co-ordination efforts of the organization.;After providing the cybernetic foundations for the principles, a number of associated operational and management practices will be identified, as evidence for use of the principles. Finally, it will be shown that these practices are present in three independently recognized quality organizations, recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.