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Reinventing Organizations to Meet the Challenges of a Highly Competitive Global Environment

Abstract

Today’s markets are highly competitive and global in nature. Only those organizations with the highest quality products, most efficient operations, and the desire to improve will survive, grow, and be profitable. In many cases this means reinventing the organization and this can be a terrifying experience. One proven methodology to accomplish this task is Total Quality Management (TQM). However, initiating a TQM system is analogous to progressing through an evolutionary process requiring a variety of steps, stages, transitions, and transformations. It is an endeavor that begins by accessing and evaluating the costs and benefits to the organization and ends with a successful implementation.

The focus and direction of a TQM implementation has many facets. This is due, in part, to the varying management strategies employing its philosophy and the unique requirements of the particular organization. As a result, implementing a TQM program requires overcoming old paradigms on how people work and even think about their jobs and work environment. It is a process of change that needs regular reinforcement if it is to become part of the organization’s culture. It requires a constant state of analyzing and modifying work processes as well as a continuous training and education program.

However, there is no one magical method of TQM implementation. A cookie cutter approach that guarantees success for all implementations in all organizations doesn’t exist. The actual TQM strategies utilized will vary depending on the particular application along with the distinctive circumstances and structure of the organization. As a result, there is no best method or scheme to implement TQM. Rather, TQM is a set of useful tools, concepts, and ideas that leaders, managers, and workers can utilize to affect change and improve overall quality, efficiency, and effectiveness. This makes each TQM implementation relatively unique.

A successful TQM implementation requires that the quality philosophy be understood and accepted throughout the entire organization. A management mandated top-down approach will most likely always result in failure. People at all levels of the organization need to be comfortable with the emphasis on quality and accept as well as understand the anticipated benefits from its employment. The challenge then is to get everybody on the quality bandwagon working together to reach the organization’s TQM expectations, objectives, and goals.

Reinventing Organizations

The process of reinventing organizations has become more than just a buzzword. The quest for new and improved methods, strategic planning, and results oriented performance measurements are on the rise. The implementation of Total Quality Management is one of these reforms. In fact, it is seen as the primary mechanism for organizational change even though it is recognized as being far from simple. Rather it is seen as a commitment to strategic change that will

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Loendorf, W. (2007, June), Reinventing Organizations To Meet The Challenges Of A Highly Competitive Global Environment Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--1929