A question that regularly arises is how to sustain quality management or to put it another way, what are the reasons for quality management failing? There have been two significant studies on this issue and their findings cited the following obstacles.
Lack of leadership for quality
Lack of planning for quality
Inadequate resources for quality
Inadequate human resources development and management
Lack of customer focus
Ultimately it was found that the failure of quality management, 'can be attributed to a gap between top management rhetoric about their intentions for TQM and the reality of implementation.'
In other words like any other project, initiative or issue of importance in business it is the dedication and focus on its support that ensures its continuation. Think of this, we don’t stop, close or end accounting, marketing or human resources, why quality then? Because we don’t have the legal requirements to have it and so we can quite simply end it. It is ended because it is not valued despite its significant impact proven by multiple studies which are overlooked because the ‘Git R Done’ approach takes less hassle.
View this list of studies for evidence of the financial and performance impact of Quality Management.
http://www.asq-qm.org/resourcesmodule/view/id/865/src/@random4f0f1961385c7/
REFERENCES
Understanding the Obstacles of Quality by Sebastianelli & Tamimi, Quality Management Journal, 2003
Why TQM Programs do not Persist by Michael Beer, Decision Science, 2003
About the Author
Denis Leonard
Denis Leonard has a degree in construction engineering, and an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in quality management. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Quality and has been an Examiner for the Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners, a Judge on the International Team Excellence Competition, and a Lead Judge on the National Housing Quality Award. He has experience as a quality manager in the home building industry as well as construction engineer, site manager, and in training, auditing, and consulting with expertise in strategic and operational quality improvement initiatives. His work has achieved national quality, environmental, and safety management awards for clients.