ter of the study.
The basic strategy adopted at Plant Number 23 of Shaw Industries was a TQM program. Thus, literature relevant to the TQM concept and its relationship to productivity improvements are reviewed in this chapter. The essence of the manufacturing activity at Shaw Industries is engineering process. Thus, most of the firm's plant managers are more attuned to engineering management than to the human resource management required in an effective TQM program. Literature relevant to engineering management is also reviewed in this chapter. Lastly, the success of a TQM strategy, the team work required as a part of such a strategy, and the enhanced organizational communications upon which effective team work depends are functions of the approach organizational leadership. Literature relevant to the type of organizational leadership demanded for effective team work within a TQM framework, thus, is reviewed in this chapter.
The TQM Concept and Its Relation to Organizational Productivity In the 1980s, American companies began to realize that quality must be emphasized in their operations, if they were to retain their customers bases.1 Retention of a company's customer base is just one advantage associated with improved quality. Operating profits may be expected to improve along with productivity, as quality levels rise.2 "Companies that embrace
1Larry Armstrong, and William C. Symonds, "Beyond 'May I Help You?'" Business Week, 29 October 1991, 100 103.
2Keith H. Hammonds, and Gail DeGeorge, "Where Did They Go Wrong?" Business Week, 29 October 1991, 34.
quality have an edge of up to 10( on every sales dollar over rivals," according to General Systems Co. management.3 The general estimate is that profitability rises after each customer retention rate increase of five percent.4 Improved customer satisfaction is the route to greater customer retention, and, in the 1990s, greater product quality is the best w...