Total quality management : the case for the public sector a comparative study of the implementation of total quality management in three health care organizations

摘要

Total Quality Management: the case for the public sector; a comparative studyof the implementation of Total Quality Management in three health care organizations.Total quality management [TQM] is an approach to improving thecompetitiveness, effectiveness and flexibility of the whole organization through theimprovement of the organizational processes and those who perform them. There hasbeen a rising interest among public sector professionals in examining the applicabilityand usefulness of TQM methods to public organizations.This research provides descriptive information about the experience of threehealth care organizations that vary in terms of ownership, whether being publicly orprivately owned, with implementing TQM. Participants at these organizations wereinterviewed, and/or severed and observed. The study provides a native descriptionof each organization's experience with TQM (their Quality Story) and it compares the implementation of TQ M in the three organizations. Moreover, the study explores what role, if any, does ownership have on the implementation of TQM. Finally, the study presents some lessons that could be derived from the experience of theseorganizations.Conclusions are drawn that TQM could be successfully implemented in bothsectors, provided that the process of implementation follows the specific guidelinesand principles established in the field. Moreover, difference in ownership betweenpublic and private organizations, though important, is not the major factor influencingthe implementation and possible outcomes of a TQM innovation effort. It is rather theinvolvement and commitment of top management that seem to have the upper hand ininfluencing the implementation and any possible outcomes of TQM, in public as wellas private organizations. However, the research suggests that public sectororganizations are more challenged in implementing TQM, due to the multiplicity of