This research examines The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge from a quality-management perspective. By and large, the text seems not inconsistent with the objectives of quality management. This is so especially to the degree it interrogates management strategies that rely on numerical/statistical models designed to enhance quality control and maximum task efficiency in industrial and clerical settings, and particularly in major-company settings where there are large numbers of personnel. The concept of seeing enterprise management holistically and with a long-term view rather than in piecemeal or problem-solving terms is the most striking point of intersection between Senge's theory and quality management in general.
However, there are differences. Undoubtedly, the fact that Senge seems to see in quality management, which soon enough metamorphosed into total quality management (TQM) and a lot of related jargon, the kind of pressure and anxiety for achieving results that could be quantified on the balance sheet, argues the limits of quality management as a defining concept. Senge seems to be working toward a method of accomplishing quality production and management that is, as far as possible, free of too much anxiety and stress.
Two factors of Senge's work stand out in this regard. First there is the notion of the so-called learning organization itself and the connection that Senge makes to the dynamic character of an organization that is characterized by learning and development, i.e., constant engagement with process as well as with "project." The second notion, related to the organismic view of organizations, is that of what Senge calls the fifth discipline, or systems thinking. It is the name Senge gives to the self-conscious project of seeing the whole picture of an organization as it is at a given moment, together with what is implied by possible lines of long-term development according as specific decisions are taken in t...