Total Quality Management in the IRS

A series of recent articles addresses issues of Total Quality Management, approaching the issue from different perspectives and utilizing different methodologies for their analyses.

Mani (1995) offers a case study in the implementation of a TQM approach in the Internal Revenue Service. Mani offers empirical data on the impact of TQM in the IRS. The latter is a public agency, and the analysis by Mani has implications for other public agencies. Improvements in productivity and customer service in the IRS were achieved, and the questions is whether these changes were brought about because of the use of TQM. Mani also asks whether TQM is to be considered a change or simply the reinforcement and expansion of existing positive practices described in the traditional art and science of public administration. The issue to be addressed by Mani's research is whether implementation of TQM is the reason positive changes were made and what mechanism might be involved if TQM were responsible for these improvements.

The impetus for the adoption of TQM was a problem in the IRS in 1985 as IRS Service Centers were falling behind. One cause of the problems was a complete computer system conversion at 10 service centers, but once the problems were solved, the processing rate was improved until it was the fastest ever achieved. More problems resulted and caused concern in the public. TQM was implemented beginning in 1986 as a response to the demands of customers. Resistance to change

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iscussion geared to making the final decision. That decision ultimately is to abandon the TQM program because continuing it would require hiring someone with experience to make it work in a smaller company, something no one wants to do. The options open to the Mueller company are analyzed by seven experts. The company is seen first as lacking a facility for smooth and rapid change, and had there been a plan in place, the company might have fared better when the need for change developed. The experts also argue with some of the conclusions drawn by those at Mueller. Becker had suggested that implementation speed would have been increased in a less employee-driven system, but the experts state that the opposite is true. Mueller is abandoning everything it had built up over a five-year period simply because one customer had failed, and this is seen by the experts as a foolish move. They find that the principles of TQM apply well in a company of any size. They also note how Mueller could refocus its current TQM system easily. The experts recommend that Mueller take four steps to bring about the changes necessary to make a difference in the current business environment: 1) recognize that the company has everything needed to

Category: Government - T