TQM from the top

摘要

Being a good leader is notoriously difficult. Managing just one team is enough of a challenge, with different personalities, team dynamics, culture and business targets to be taken into consideration. Leading a complete and complex business and creating a unified strategy and vision for it is even more problematic - but is even more important when a robust TQM programme is sought. As this research on leadership and its suitability as the foundation for successful TQM shows, not all organisations get it right. But the most important first step is to acknowledge where the weaknesses lie before addressing them. The case study organisation featuring in the research operates in engineering and manufacturing producing capital equipment, (tools and machines) that are used to manufacture semi-conductor devices such as PC micro processors for today's electronics industry. The organisation employs approximately 20,000 people globally with the headquarters based in the US. This research focuses on the UK division which is part of the overall corporation employing 200 people who design and manufacture high current ion implanters. The organisation successfully maintains ISO 9001 certification and drives an internal quality improvement programme. However, the organisation suffers from poor quality performance (high defect rates, high cost of quality, increased cycle times) and increasing customer dissatisfaction. The root cause of its problem appears to lie in the absence of a true TQM environment.