The purpose of this paper is to summarized five articles on Total Quality Management (TQM). The presented summarizes cover the basic themes of the article. research methods, specific issues of the problem, and important recommendations and conclusions.
Cherry, A.P.,Sims, H.P., Jr. & Manz, C.C. (1994). Teams and TQM. Business Horizons, 37(5), 16-25.
This article's basic purpose is to describe how a Texas Instrument plan in Malaysia developed and implemented a program to provide employees with internal achievement opportunities while enhancing their skills and qualifications. The program, which developed slowly over a period of several years, emphasizes worker self-management as well as the principles of TQM.
The pivotal component of the program is the use of quality improvement teams in which operating level employees are gathered together from one or more plant areas and work cooperatively to resolve specific problems or deal with specific issues. Over the years, the plant came to call these collectives "effectiveness teams."
Effectiveness teams operate as follows. They focus on a given problem or issue until they feel they understand the situation. Improvement goals are then set and countermeasures are implemented. Assessments are then made to determine the results of countermeasures and policies, guidelines, and other efforts are taken to maintain the improvements. Moreover, all team members review the situation and attempt to determine what additional improvements may be needed in the future.
The article also discusses several positive plant outcomes believed to have resulted from the use of effectiveness teams. However, it needs to be noted here that this article is not a research study; rather, it merely reports and describes the plant program. Therefore, the empirical procedures and methods used to assess plant outcomes and determine their relatedness to effectiveness teams are not specified.
Wit...