Total Quality Management: Will It Work in the System Program Office.

摘要

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a relatively new philosophy of management which has high-level Department of Defense support and is presently being implemented in the Air Force. In the Air Force Systems Command, weapon system development and acquisition are carried out in System Program Offices (SPOs), staffed with various functionally oriented specialists supplied to the System Program Director by functional 'home offices' via a matrix management scheme. Can TQM, relying as it does on cross-functional cooperation and on processes which cross functional lines, be effectively implemented in SPOs. This study will answer this question after tracing the TQM philosophy's origins and implementation down to the SPO level and describing a recommended implementation approach.