s formally classified as supervisor, managers, and executives, all of whom perform control functions" (U.S. Congress, 1995, p. 10). Supervisory personnel often feel their own positions threatened when they share power, authority, or responsibility with their subordinates, particularly given the current climate of downsizing that permeates the federal government. The Clinton Administration has pledged to reduce federal personnel by 252,000 by the year 2000 (U.S. Congress, 1993, p. 17).
Second, labor unions have traditionally shown resistance to TQM programs. Part of this resistance is based on mistrust of management: "Unions are suspicious because they have seen employee involvement programs used in union-avoiding campaigns, to extract craft knowledge before transferring it to nonunion plants, to subvert or coopt local leadership . . . " (Carnevale 180). Labor unions have a strong presence in public sector employment, with labor organization being about twice that of the private sector. Thus a TQM program that does not have the support and cooperation of unions and does not factor in the collective bargaining process is doomed to failure.
A third consideration is that change often requires additional investment. TQM is a company-wide philosophy that requires the cooperation of all the different functions if it is to be successfully implemented. The first step is an extensive series of training programs starting from the very top of an organization to the very bottom. Such an organization-wide training effort requires a substantial investment of resources at a period when the federal government is under tremendous pressure to cut costs.
Despite the difficulties in implementing TQM in federal government service, such efforts should continue. The effectiveness of TQM in improving the quality of service has been demonstrat
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