Abstract
Total quality management (TQM) has been increasingly accepted as a management philosophy. Criteria such as those contained in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) often guide TQM implementation. However, reports indicate that fully assessing TQM efforts is difficult and hiring experts to help with this task is expensive. Using survey instruments is an attractive alternative to full-scale assessment. Despite the availability of many papers covering organizational performance assessment, few instruments specifically address TQM evaluation. Furthermore, none of the TQM assessment instruments has been subjected to rigorous validation; thus, only modest confidence can be placed in results obtained from their use. This article proposes a quick and cost-effective instrument that is a simple questionnaire designed to assist organizations in conducting self-evaluations of their TQM programs. The proposed instrument is based on the seven categories of the MBNQA criteria and was developed in cooperation with the Excellence in Missouri Foundation, which administers the Missouri Quality Award (MQA). This article highlights how questionnaire results can be used to guide further TQM implementation efforts. © Taylor & Francis.
Recommended Citation
H. Y. Wu et al., "Self-Assessment of Total Quality Management Programs," EMJ - Engineering Management Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 25 - 32, Taylor and Francis Group; Taylor and Francis, Jan 1997.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1080/10429247.1997.11414927
Department(s)
Engineering Management and Systems Engineering
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1042-9247
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2024 Taylor and Francis Group; Taylor and Francis, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 1997
