ADAPTING TQM IMPLEMENTATION TO ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20, 1993 146 ADAPTING TQM IMPLEMENTATION TO ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL Gary Whitney, University of San Diego ABSTRACT Top, middle and first line managers were interviewed to identify their reactions to implementation of Total Quality Management. Their reactions, by managerial level, to various drivers and obstructions were nearly reversed in dominance.. Based on this information, approaches to implementing TQM are recommended as follows: top management, negotiation and agreement; middle management, participation and involvement, first line managers, facilitation and support. CHANGE STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATION LEVEL Effective implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) requires systemic change in organizations. Correct assessments of reactions to change efforts are not intuitively obvious, they require careful diagnosis. Even changes that appear to be positive and rational cause perceived losses and uncertainty. METHODS I interviewed 35 managers from six organizations, eight top managers, 14 middle managers, and 1 3 first line supervisors. The interviews included the following question, “Think of a time when you really wanted to implement TQM quickly and effectively. Tell me what happened’ These were followed by a similar series of questions beginning with, “Think of a time when you really did NOT want to implement TQM...” RESULTS Responses were categorized and tallied. Responses to the “time when you really wanted to implement TQM” question were called drivers. Responses to the reverse question were called obstructions. Obstructions by level Some striking differences by managerial level were observed. The order of dominance of factors is almost reversed between top management and first line supervisors. Champion--someone to provide inspiration and overcome obstacles. Top management support or TQM is widely believed to be a necessary driver for TQM. The first line supervisors in five of six organizations implicitly recognized the need for top management to champion TQM but indicated that the absence of that support was obstructing implementation in their organizations. For middle managers, the lack of a champion was second most important. For top managers not one offered the failure to champion TQM as an obstruction. Top managers were unlikely to see themselves (or peers) as obstructions for failing to support TQM whereas first line manages were more likely to see someone else as an obstruction. Threats to vested interests were the most important obstruction to top managers and least important to first line supervisors. Again, an exact reversal of priorities from top to first line managers. Uncertainty was the dominant obstruction for middle managers but played a lesser role for other levels. Changing social relationships was frequent obstruction (three of six companies) for first line supervisors. Many TQM tools are team-oriented and require development of new relationships within and across workgroups. Only one of six companies offered this obstruction from middle management and none of the six at top management level. Drivers by level Not a single first line supervisor at any of the six companies gave credit to a champion for driving toward TQM. Middle managers ranked support by a champion the least important of all factors mentioned. Top management volunteered support from a champion as a driver in two of six companies. In both cases, these were mandates from a parent company to inaugurate TQM. Tension was the dominant driver for both top and middle management. The source of tension varied by level but the common core was the observation of better ways to do the current tasks. Task accomplishment, the feeling of job well done, was the most powerful driver for first line supervisors, second most for middle managers and top managers. Since all organizations had begun implementing TQM, they all had success experiences to report. Changing social relationships, the restructuring of groups due to use of TQM teamwork, was disclosed as a driver similarly to when it was an obstruction. DISCUSSION Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) warn that managers too often use the same strategy of change for all situations without a careful diagnosis of the situation. The interview results clearly showed different drivers and obstructions will be aroused at different levels of management. Top management The dominant driver was tension. Top managers saw the need for change but were obstructed by perceived threats to their vested interest. Kotter and Schlesinger recommend an approach of “negotiation and agreement” in this circumstance. Middle management The dominant driver for middle managers is tension. Middle managers in all six companies saw numerous needs for implementing TQM. They were also motivated by task accomplishment and improved social relations. Uncertainty about the changes coupled with threats to vested interests and lack of a champion were the obstructions. Kotter and Schlesinger’s prescribed approach to change in this situation is “participation and involvement.” First line supervisors First line supervisors were driven by seeing results of TQM, (task accomplishment) and obstructed by a perceived failure of top management to champion TQM. “Facilitation and support” is the recommended approach for first line supervisors. Managers charged with the responsibility implementing TQM need to be sensitive to the differing sources of resistance (obstructions) inherent in TQM. Fortunately, in addition to the obstructions, TQM has certain drivers that can be amplified to help the change process. The key to success will be the manager’s careful diagnosis of the situation and selection of the most appropriate change approach. Table of Contents Volume 20, 1993 Dominant Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Shelf Wars: A Grocery Channel Simulation Shared Cultural Perspectives: An Experiential Exercise Utilizing International Students to Globalize the Classroom An Instrument for Investigating the Effectiveness of Teaching Methods in the Business Policy and Strategy Formulation Course Providing Better Trained Graduates for Accounting Employers The Ambition Gradient Approach to Evaluation of Computer Simulation Game Team Performance Alphatec: A Negotiation Exercise with Logrolling and Bridging Potential Using the Ideafisher Idea Generation System as a Decision Support System in Marketing Strategy Courses A Dynamic Market Share Allocation Model For Computerized Business Simulations Multi-Cultural Adaptability Using Experiential Learning in a Graduate Course Development of Experiential Applications in HRM: Practicing What Preach and Preaching for Practice Linking Students and Business Leaders Through Portfolios Debriefing International Experiential Learning Exercises: Road Signs for Effectiveness Sales Manager: A Simulation Modeling Interactive Effects in Mathematical Functions for Business Simulations: A Critique of Goosen's Interpolation Reducing the Complexity of Interactive Variable Modeling in Business Simulations Through Interpolation Antecedent Biases of Experiential Learners: Trainee Occupation and Subgroup Diversity Pax in Terra Sancta: Simulating the Middle East Peace Negotiations A Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changes in Ethnocentric/Geocentric Orientation by Business Students after Exposure to a One Summer Course in International Marketing's A Systematic Approach to the Development and Evaluation of Experiential Exercises Entrepreneurs Evaluate Experiential Education A Linear Programming Approach to Open System Total Enterprise Simulations Reflecting Leader Behavior from the Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation Linking Cognitive Styles, Teaching Methods, Educational Objectives and Assessment: A Decision Tree Approach Restructuring Management Education in Post-Communist Countries: How Western Experts Can Help Managerial and Cultural Pre-Conditions for Superior Performance in a Global Setting: An Experimental Study with the Aid of Business Games Multiple Industries in Computerized Business Gaming Simulations Content or Process? - Content and Process! Some Observations and Reflections About Management Education in Central Europe Out-of-Class Experiences to Promote Volunteerism Enacting the Linguistic Consciousness of the Modern Managerial Mind: Post-Modernism and Experiential Learning Intergrating Experiential Exercises into the College Curriculum: The Case of Internationalizing the Business Curriculum Simulation Marketing Oversights Incorporating Advertising Creative Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations The Dynamics of a Partnership Between Business and Education Collaborative Education Done Globally Experiential Systems Analysis CADPLAN: A Simulation for Comparative Advertising A Doctoral Symposium: Preparing Students for Conference Behavior Comparing the Simulation with the Case Approach: Again! Total Quality Management: A Model for Continuous Quality Improvement The Quality Audit: An Experiential Exercise for Business Students Extending the Reach of Simulations: DECIDE Heads for the Inner City Lessons Learned from a Customized Management Development Simulation The Foreign Exchange Spot Trading Simulation Using Lotus 1-2-3 to complete a Triple Play in a Simulated Competition International Business Education: Is Enough Being Done? Matching of Student-Teacher Cognitive Style as a Factor in Student Success in an Introduction to Information Systems Course Breathing (More) Life into the Case Approach Lord of the Flies: A Live Case Approach to Leadership Cooperative Case Studies: Experiential Tools for Teaching Business Problem Solving Tools Strategy Simulations in Context: An Evaluation of Key Dimensions The Distribution Channel Game Evaluation of a Simulation Game as an Education Tool for Utility Professionals The Relationship Between Total Enterprise Simulation Performance and Learning Total Quality Management does not Happen by Magic, but it can be Taught Using a Pedagogical Methodology that Utilizes Magic Effectively Preparing Students for Careers in a Global Environment by Integrating Total Quality Management Thoughout the Business Curriculum An Empirical Investigation of Cognitive and Performance Consistency in a Marketing Simulation Game Environment Using MARSGAP with LAPTOP: (A Marketing Simulation Game Analysis Program) with LAPTOP: A Marketing Simulation Adapting TQM Implementation to Organizational Level An MBA Business Simulation: Executive Interaction Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the Classroom (and the Hotel Meeting Room) Closing the Gap between Corporate and National Culture The Dynamic Manufacturing Company The Use of Experiential Techniques in Corporate Training The State of Simulation Gaming in Easter European Countries- Principally Russia An Experiential Exercise in Cross-Cultural Training Valuing Differences: A Conceptual Framework Demonstration of an Experiential Exercise Effectively Using Experiential Learning to Impart TQM Concepts in a High Technology Environment The Older Worker Questionnaire: An Exercise Concerning Older Worker Stereotypes and Behaviors The Crime Fighting Task Force: An Exercise in Organizational Politics Welcome to the Party! An Expression of Vocational Preference Experiential Exercise for Imparting Cross-Cultural Appreciation Six Swift Simulations on Globalization Overview of BASF Delegate Program