ired and that workers should be "written up" when the commit errors. Taylor, who has a more progressive approach to management, believes that the problem is one of training, and that a TQM program can address the problem of errors and make the entire operation more efficient.
TQM implementation approaches can be classified in three ways: startup (also called greenfield), incremental, and retrofit (Krumwiede, Sheu & Lavelle, 1998, p. 8). Startup approaches are those which are used with new companies, or with those companies (or departments) which are willing to completely abandon their current system and begin from scratch. These systems are characterized by completely new ways of doing all tasks, including not only those tasks directly related to the product or manufacturing operation at hand, but also to the way the company is organized, how employees are compensated for their efforts, and other factors related to the overall company culture. These startup approaches to TQM are rarely found because few companies can afford to completely stop production and take the time necessary to design a program from the grassroots level; however, new companies are beginning to build TQM into their organizations, which represents a type of startup approach.
The retrofit approach is the approach that most in the field are familiar with, and it is the process of fitting TQM procedures to an existing organization (Reger, et al, 1994, p. 570). This approach provides a way for an organization to take advantage of the benefits of TQM without the downtime requisite to put a complete startup approach in place. Because procedures are simply integrated into current work environments, however, this approach can lead to a high level of resistance to change, and the failure rate can be great if commensurate changes to the company culture are not also implemented at the same time.
The incremental approach synthesizes the startup and retrofit appr...