Organization Development

Organization Development (OD) as "an effort, planned, organization-wide, and managed

from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health throughplanned interventions
in the organizations processes, using behavioral-science knowledge."In essence, OD is a
planned system of change. Planned. OD takes a long-range approach to improving
organizational performance and efficiency. It avoids the (usual) "quick-fix". Organization-
wide. OD focuses on the total system. Managed from the top. To be effective, OD must have
the support of top- management. They have to model it, not just espouse it. The OD process
also needs the buy-in and ownership of workers throughout the organization. Increase
organization effectiveness and health. OD is tied to the bottom-line. Its goal is to improve the
organization, to make it more efficient and more competitive by aligning the organizations
systems with its people. Planned interventions. After proper preparation, OD uses activities
called interventions to make systemwide, permanent changes in the organization. Using
behavioral-science knowledge. OD is a discipline that combines research and experience to
understanding people, business systems, and their interactions.

What is an OD Intervention?
The term Intervention refers to a set of sequenced, planned actions or events intended to help
an organization to increase its effectiveness. Interventions purposely disrupt the status quo;
they are deliberate attempts to change an organization or sub-unit toward a different and
more effective state.Criteria for Effective InterventionsIn OD three major criteria define the
effectiveness of an intervention:.

1. The Extent to Which it (the Intervention) fits the needs of the organization
2. The degree to which it is based on causal knowledge of intended outcomes
3. The extent to which the OD intervention transfers change-management competence
to organization members.

Factors that Impact the Success of OD Interventions

I. Factors relating to Change Situation:

These relate to the environment of the organization and include the physical and human
environment.

1. Readiness for Change: Intervention success depends heavily on the organizationbeing

ready for planned change.

2. Capability to Change: Managing planned change requires particular knowledgeand skills

including the ability to motivate change, to lead change, to developpolitical support, to
manage transition, and to sustain momentum.

3. Cultural Context: The national culture within which an organization is embedded can
exert a powerful influence on members’ reactions to change, and so intervention design must
account for the cultural values and assumptions held by organization members.
 4. Capabilities of the Change: Agent (OD Consultant): The success of OD interventions
depend to a great extent on the expertise, experience and talents ofthe consultant.

II. Factors Related to the Target of Change

These relate to the specific targets at which OD interventions are targeted. The targets of
change can be different issues of the organization and at different levels.

A. Organizational Issues:
 Strategic Issues: Strategic issues refer to major decisions of organizations such as
what products or services to offer, which markets to serve, mergers ,acquisitions,
expansions, etc
 Technology and Structure Issues: These refer to issues relating to
howorganizations divide their work amongst departments
 Human resource intervention: concerned with attracting competent people to
the organization, setting goals for them, appraising and rewarding their
performance, and ensuring that they develop their careers and manage stress.
 Human Process Issues: These issues have to do with social processes occurring
among organization members, such as communication, decision-making,
leadership, and group dynamics

B. Organizational Levels
OD interventions are aimed at different levels of the organization: individual,
group,organization and trans-organization (for example different offices of the
organizationaround the globe; or between organization and its suppliers, customers,
etc.)

INTERVENTION CATEGORIES
Human Process Interventions:
The following interventions deal with interpersonal relationships and groupdynamics.

1. T Groups: The basic T Group brings ten to fifteen strangers together with a
professionaltrainer to examine the social dynamics that emerge from their
interactions.
2. Process Consultation: This intervention focuses on interpersonal relations andsocial
dynamics occurring in work groups.
3. Third Party Interventions: This change method is a form of process
consultationaimed at dysfunctional interpersonal relations in organizations.
4. Team Building: This intervention helps work groups become more effective
inaccomplishing tasks.
4. B. The following Interventions:
Deal with human processes that are more systemwide than individualistic or small-group
oriented.

Organization Confrontation Meeting: This change method mobilizesorganization

members to identify problems, set action targets, and begin workingon problems.
Intergroup Relations: These interventions are designed to improve
interactionsamong different groups or departments in organizations.
Large-group Interventions: These interventions involve getting abroad varietyof
stakeholders into a large meeting to clarify important values, to develop newways of
working, to articulate a new vision for the organization, or to solvepressing
organizational problems.
Grid Organization Development: This normative intervention specifies a particular
way to manage an organization.

Techno-Structural Interventions
These interventions deal with an organization’s technology (for examples its taskmethods and
job design) and structure (for example, division of labor and hierarchy).These interventions
are rooted in the disciplines of engineering, sociology, andpsychology and in the applied
fields of socio-technical systems and organization design.Consultants place emphasis both on
productivity and human fulfillment.

(1) Structural Design: This change process concerns the organization’s division oflabor
– how to specialize task performances. Diagnostic guidelines exist to determine which
structure is appropriate for particular organizational environments, technologies,
andconditions.
(2) Downsizing: This intervention reduces costs and bureaucracy by decreasing thesize
of the organization through personnel layoffs, organization redesign, andoutsourcing.
(3) Re-engineering: This recent intervention radically redesigns the organization’score
work processes to create tighter linkage and coordination among the differenttasks
(4) Parallel Structures
(5) High-involvement Organizations (HIO’s)
(6) Total Quality Management
(7) Work design: This refers to OD interventions aimed at creating jobs, and workgroups
that generate high levels of employee fulfillment and productivity.

Human Resource Management Interventions

1. Goal Setting: This change program involves setting clear and challenging goals.It attempts
to improve organization effectiveness by establishing a better fitbetween personal and
organizational objectives.

2. Performance Appraisal: This intervention is a systematic process of jointlyassessing

work-related achievements, strengths and weaknesses,
 3. Reward Systems: This intervention involves the design of organizational rewardsto
improve employee satisfaction and performance.

4. Career Planning and development: It generally focuses onmanagers and professional

staff and is seen as a way of improving the quality oftheir work life.

5. Managing workforce diversity: Important trends, suchas the increasing number of

women, ethnic minorities, and physically andmentally challenged people in the workforce,
require a more flexible set of policies and practices.

6. Employee Wellness: These interventions include employee assistance programs(EAPs)

and stress management.Strategic Interventions These interventions link the internal
functioning of the organization to the largerenvironment and transform the organization to
keep pace with changing conditions.

1. Integrated Strategic Change: It argues that business strategies and organizational

systemsmust be changed together in response to external and internal disruptions. A
strategicchange plan helps members manage the transition between a current strategy
andorganization design and the desired future strategic orientation.

2. Trans organization development: This intervention helps organizations to enterin to

alliances, partnerships and joint ventures to perform tasks or solve problems that are too
complex for single organizations to resolve

3. Merger and Acquisition Integration: This intervention describes how ODpractitioners

can assist two or more organizations to form a new entity.

4. Culture Change: This intervention helps organizations to develop cultures(behaviors,

values, beliefs and norms) appropriate to their strategies andenvironments.

5. Self-designing organizations: This change program helps organizations gain the capacity
to alter themselves fundamentally. It is a highly participative process,involving multiple
stakeholders in setting strategic directions and designing and implementing appropriate
structures and processes.

6. Organization learning and knowledge management.

To effectively adapt and thrive in today’s business world, organizations need to

implementeffective OD interventions aimed at improving performance at organizational,
group andindividual levels.

OD interventions involve respect for people, a climate of trust and support,shared power,
open confrontation of issues, and the active participation of stakeholders.

OD interventions are broader in scope, usually affecting the whole organization (socio-
technicalsystems).
 OD interventions are sponsored by the CEO and supported and “owned” by staff at the
different levels of the organization.

OD professionals must have a solid understanding of the different OD interventions to choose

the most appropriate, or “mix and match” them -based on the expected results and a solid

6. analysis of the organization and its environment

.Measuring their impact on organizational effectiveness and employees’ well being OD

interventions encompass other change initiatives, that is why it is difficult to identify their
impact and effectiveness in isolation, nevertheless, the 2008 ASTD State of the Industry
Report revealed that organizations achieved important benefits for their investment in
learning activities “Almost all BEST organizations reported improvements in employee and
customer satisfaction, quality of products and services, cycle time, productivity,
retention,revenue, and overall profitability. BEST organizations had clearly defined processes
to link learning strategies and initiatives to increases in both individual and organizational
performance".OD interventions require visionary and participative leadership OD
interventions are initiated at the top and require employee participation and
commitment,therefore, visionary leaders that work as change agents, developing a vision, and
providing continuous and sustained support is par amount. Kanter, Stein & Jick (1992)
consider that OD interventions require a strong leader role. “An organization should not
undertake some thing as challenging as large-scale change without a leader to guide, drive
and inspire it. These change advocates, play a critical role in creating a company vision,
motivating company employees to embrace that vision, and crafting an organizational
structure that consistentlyrewards those who strive toward the realization of the vision”

WHY DO OD?

Human resources -- our people -- may be a large fraction of our costs of doing business.
They certainly can make the difference between organizational success and failure. We better
know how to manage them.

Changing nature of the workplace. Our workers today want feedback on their
performance, a sense of accomplishment, feelings of value and worth, and commitment to
social responsibility. They need to be more efficient, to improve their time management.
And, of course, if we are to continue doing more work with less people, we need to make our
processes more efficient.

Global markets. Our environments are changing, and our organizations must also change to
survive and prosper. We need to be more responsible to and develop closer partnerships with
our customers. We must change to survive, and we argue that we should attack the problems,
not the symptoms, in a systematic, planned, humane manner.

Accelerated rate of change. Taking an open-systems approach, we can easily identify the
competitions on an international scale for people, capital, physical resources, and
information.
WHO DOES OD?

7. To be successful, OD must have the buy-in, ownership, and involvement of all

stakeholders,not just of the employees throughout the organization. OD is usually facilitated
by changeagents -- people or teams that have the responsibility for initiating and managing
the changeeffort. These change agents may be either employees of the organization
(internalconsultants) or people from outside the organization (external consultants.)

Effective change requires leadership with knowledge, and experience in change

management.We strongly recommend that external or internal consultants be used, preferably
acombination of both. ("These people are professionals; dont try this at home.")

Bennis (2) notes that "external consultants can manage to affect ... the power structure in
away that most internal change agents cannot." Since experts from outside are less subject
tothe politics and motivations found within the organization, they can be more effective in
facilitating significant and meaningful changes.

WHEN IS AN ORGANIZATION READY FOR OD?

There is a formula, attributed to David Gleicher (3, 4), which we can use to decide if
anorganization is ready for change:

Dissatisfaction x Vision x First Steps > Resistance to Change

This means that three components must all be present to overcome the resistance to change
inan organization: Dissatisfaction with the present situation, a vision of what is possible in
the future, and achievable first steps towards reaching this vision. If any of the three is zero
ornear zero, the product will also be zero or near zero and the resistance to change will
dominate.

We use this model as an easy, quick diagnostic aid to decide if change is possible. OD can
bring approaches to the organization that will enable these three components to surface, sowe
can begin the process of change.

Implication
Total Quality Management

2. TARGET LEVEL OF ANALYSIS:TQM programs are directed at the entire organization

including the suppliers and itscustomers. Although quality at the individual level is important,
the successful TQMprogram calls for quality from every person, at every level of the
organization, in everycapacity within the organization. In short, TQM programs require a
change in theorganizational philosophy and culture.

3. PURPOSE OF THE INTERVENTION:

8. The purpose of Total Quality Management is to increase customer satisfaction by

improving the quality of the goods or services offered by the organization. This improvement
iscentered on the product or services, and the processes involved in making or delivering
theproduct or service to the customer. Ultimately the goal of TQM is to make quality the way
ofdoing things within the organization.

4. EFFECTIVENESS CRITERIA:

In all Total Quality Management programs the ultimate effectiveness criterion is customer
satisfaction. According to the research, to reach this ultimate goal of effectiveness
requiresthat the organization measure several other criteria on a continual basis (Weaver,
1991;Hackman & Wageman, 1995; Dahlgaard, 1999; Clark, 2000). The appropriate criteria
tomeasure depends on the type of organization, and whether they deliver a product or a
service.In a production-based organization, the effectiveness criteria are divided into product
measures and employee measures. The possible measures for the product include: increases
in production, increases in sales, increases in market share, increases in stock
prices,reductions in the product cycle time, reductions in the number of reworks, reductions
in the inventories, and reductions in customer returns. The employee measures include:
satisfaction with the company, commitment, performance, turnover, absenteeism, and
grievance activity(Clark, 2000). In service organizations the measures of effectiveness may
include reductions in customer complaints, increases in return customers, increase in
customer referrals, higher customer volume, higher employee satisfaction and commitment.

5. EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVENESS:

Research into the effectiveness of TQM programs focuses mainly on the increase in
marketshares, and the increase in stock prices. Many organizations measure the success of
theirprograms in the reduction in cycle time and product failures. The success of
qualityprograms are most often related to percent increases in the market share, and overall
capitalof the organization. (Creech, 1994). Successful organizations like Harley-Davidson,
FordMotor Company, Johnson & Johnson, Motorola, Xerox, and others, tell of a long,
arduousjourney and complete re-organization of their companies from centralized, out-put
focused, tode-centralized customer focused before they were capable of reaching their goals
of Quality at all levels of the organizations.

6. HOW/WHEN WILL OUTCOMES BE ASSESSED:

9. In order for TQM to be successful, outcomes should be measured frequently and on

anongoing basis throughout the entire organization (Cartin, 1993). The main idea behind this
intervention is to increase and maintain customers through the ongoing improvement of the
products or services offered by the organization. To follow this ideology requires that all
phases of the manufacturing be monitored and evaluated on a continual basis. According to
Cartin (1993), most TQM programs ultimately fail because management mistakenly assumes
that the first successes are the end results of the program. When this happens, the
organization cries victory, and the TQM program eventually fails in the absence of continual
monitoring. Cartin argues that TQM is an ongoing intervention with no end,
thereforeassessment of outcomes must also be ongoing and continuous if the TQM program
is goingto succeed.
7. CHARACTERISTICS OF TYPICAL PARTICIPANTS:The participants involved in
TQM programs are many and varied in their education and experience. According to Deming
(1986) TQM involves the leaders, the employees,suppliers, and the customers of the
organization. Once the organization has decided to implement the principles of TQM into the
organization culture every person in the organization is affected. The key to participation
within the organization is a willingness to embrace quality and as noted by Creech (1994), a
willingness to live quality. Key to successful TQM programs, is the attitude of upper
management. It is through upper management that the ideas of total quality take root and
grow within the organization.Without the total commitment of upper management TQM
programs lack the role models central to changing the employees.

8. TIME FRAME OF THE INTERVENTION:The time frame of implementing a TQM

program is dependent on several factors. Theorganizational structure, the resources available
to change from out-put based to quality-based operations, the actual structure of the facilities,
the processes, the product, the suppliers, the employees and finally customer acceptance of
the end product. The actualorganizational change may occur in a relatively short period,
however, the ongoing revisions in the process and the ultimate goal of winning back
customers, or acquiring new customers, may take years to complete. It is important to keep in
mind that a successful TQM programis an ongoing program, which involves all phases of the
organization at all times until the organization is no longer viable. If a TQM program is to
succeed quality has to become the culture for the organization (Deming, 1986; Weaver, 1991;
Cartin, 1993; Creech, 1994;Reylito, 1999; Clark, 2000).

9. TIME FRAME OF THE ANTICIPATED CHANGE:

methods of reaching the objectives.

This willingness to lead instead of manage is key to the success of the program.

8. Eliminate slogans, exhortations and production targets: In order to do this the

leadership The time frame for TQM programs are in theory endless. According to proponents
of theintervention, the intervention by nature requires that the organization change in such a
way that rather than being a quick fix with immediate results, it becomes the way to solve all
problems with beneficial long-term outcomes. According to Robert Heller (1995), the
keyword is “long”. You can win quick and great benefits from TQM, but establishing a
lasting culture takes several years. Most successful TQM programs see documented results
within the first few years after implementing the programs. However, for some organizations
the market climate may be such that immediate results are virtually non existent and success
can only be measured in the continual survival of the company. This is not to imply that
TQM is an all or nothing intervention, throughout implementation of the program it is
necessary to set small obtainable goals, which have to be achieved before the entire
organization is completely quality oriented. The most common short term goals achieved are
reductions inoperating cost, reduction in inventories, decreases in product cycle time and
decreases in thenumber of reworks (Hakes, 1991)

.10. RESOURCES TO CONDUCT THE INTERVENTION:

Implementation of TQM programs may require tremendous resources, including
capital,people, and mostly time. In some organizations implementation of a TQM program
required the total restructuring of the organization toward a more de-centralized structure.
Resources may also be required if the physical structure of the organization (i.e. facilities)
need to be changed in order to facilitate the necessary process changes. Training programs
are also key to the success of quality programs. There is little argument that to successfully
implement TQM programs, requires a huge investment of time, indeed time is the one
resource that allorganizations will require if they are going to be successful at implementing a
TQM program(Creech, 1994).

11. EXPERTISE OF CONSULTANTS:

Many organizations attempt to implement TQM programs without assistance from outside
consultants, with mixed results. Many organizations bring in technical consultants to identify
problems with the processes, and the product. In addition to technical assistants managers
often seek out consultants to assist in the empowerment and training of employees.
Althoughthere is no research to indicate specific consulting needs, it is important for the
leadership to seek advice from qualified individuals. Ideally, consultants should have
experience in guiding the organization away from out-put production techniques to team
based qualityprograms.

12. DO PARTICIPANTS NEED TO PREPARE:

11. In order for TQM programs to work they must be accepted and taken into the very core of
the organization. This involves communicating the need for change to every person in the
organization. The success of the program depends on its acceptance by the employees and
management as the right method to remain competitive. It is important that employees are
prepared to assume the role of managers within the organization, because TQM requires that
all employees be able to recognize and correct problems in the process. In
addition,employees must be prepared to accept the possibility of job loss, and the need for
additional training. Empowerment of the employee means that each employee be prepared to
assume responsibility for their own work and the work of others in order to guarantee
success. The entire focus of the organization shifts from focusing on the individual to
focusing on the system as a whole. The emphases of TQM is on group performance, it
focuses on changing the system and the total work process not the individual workers
productivity.

13. HOW IS THE INTERVENTION CONDUCTED:

o According to Deming (1994) to succeed in implementing a quality program a companymust

adopt a 14-point system at all levels of the organization. These points are:

1. Drive out Fear: The organization must communicate the plan of action to every
employee, supplier, including short term and long-term goals. If the program is to be totally
accepted management must communicate to the employees their vision for the future.
 2. Eliminate quotas and numerical goals: According to Deming, quotas and numerical
goals force employees into an out-put frame of mind, leaving little chance of quality thinking.

3. Break down all barriers between departments: In most centralized organizations there
are definite lines of communications that must be followed and a division of labor according
to departments. In order to implement a TQM program requires that the organization move
toward a de-centralized system in which communication between departments is frequent and
ongoing. In many organizations, this meant the creation of work teams and quality circles in
which each employee’s inputs were actively sought and followed up on.

4. Eliminate inspection. Learn to build products right the first time: This is perhaps the
hardest point in the implementation of TQM. According to Creech, (1994), inspection of
products is necessary until that point in time when the processes and the product is at the
highest possible quality. Only

12. when the product is quality can inspection be eliminated. The idea that one can learn to
make a product right the first time is great in theory, but often it takes many prototypes and
revisions before the product is superior in quality. In addition to the need to design and try the
products for production, improvements may be needed and the easiest way to measure if the
improve- ments are effective is to inspect the product before releasing it to market.

5. Institute a vigorous program of education: This means that the company must educate
all people involved in the implementation of the program as to the purposes, the ultimate goal
of the program, and the anticipated benefits for everyone involved with the organization. This
education may involve training managers and employees to work together to achieve quality.
Often management must be educated in the workings of team based production systems, and
employees must be educated on how to work effectively in teams. Without education as to
the purpose, and benefits of the program, employees and managers alike are likely to
sabotage the entire program before it is fully implemented (Hakes, 1991; Kanji, 1990;
Maccoby, 1992; Wilkinson & Witcher, 1993).

6. Remove barriers that rob workers of their right to pride of workmanship: According
to Deming, organizations often fail to recognize employee contributions to the bottom line. If
TQM is to be successful employees must have a sense of accomplishment and pride in the
product they are producing. In order to foster this sense of pride the organization must
empower the employees. Empowerment means that each individual employee has the
knowledge and training to inspect his or her own contributions and make necessary
improvements (Blake & Mouton, 1981). Management’s job is to recognize each employee’s
unique contributions to the process and to recognize employees for their contributions to the
overall quality of the product. (Hall, 1987). In Deming’s program, performance appraisal
systems are in appropriate measures of employee contributions. Performance appraisals
should be used to measure product performance not individual employees. In order for TQM
to succeed management must in still a sense of pride in their employees. This sense of pride
can be realized by creating a vision of the future to which employees can strive. Harley
Davidson created such a vision for their employees, “Well made in America” meant that
employees were rewarded for reducing the overall number of reworks and scrap components,
while working toward making a Harley Davidson the best made motorcycle in the world.
This quality focused incentive program led to a greater commitment and pride in producing
quality above quantity (Reid, 1990).

13. 7. Institute leadership: The aim of leadership should be to help people do a better job:
This is perhaps the most vital part of any TQM program. Leadership serves as the role model
for the rest of the organization. If the leadership is not fully committed to quality, the
program will fail (Juran, 1989). According to Cartin (1993), the critical role of managers is to
understand the TQM philosophies, tools, and techniques, and regularly participate in their
application at every level of the organization. The old analogy of a company leader being the
captain of the ship is no longer appropriate. The leader of an organization cannot just set the
course and bark orders when corrections are needed. He or She must set the objectives but
solicit the employees on the best must be willing to let the quality process take hold
regardless of the time constraints. Deming and others argue that in successful TQM programs
the production will surpass any possible production targets the leadership might set. The idea
that quality is worth the wait is central to the success of the program, production targets shift
employees’ attention away from quality and toward out-puts thus reducing the overall quality
of the product.

9. Adopt a new philosophy: According to Deming, the organization must adopt a new
philosophy, which has quality at its core. This new philosophy should provide the vision and
direction of the company and its employees. Failure to make quality a philosophy of business
means that the whole system will crumble upon itself. “The philosophy of the organization is
the center pillar on which the TQM program is built upon, without which the entire system
falls to ruin” (Creech, 1984).

10. End the practice of awarding business based on the price tag. Move toward a single
supplier for any one item. Base this long-term relationship on loyalty and trust: One of the
keys to successful implementation of TQM programs is identifying your suppliers, and
communicating your philosophy and visions to them. According to Deming organizations
must end the practice of selecting suppliers based on price. The organization must seek out
suppliers that share their vision of quality and build a relationship with these suppliers built
on loyalty and trust. This is a crucial

14. step in insuring that the implementation of a quality program succeeds. The structure of
organizations is such that often completion of a single product may involve the utilizing the
products of several different organizations. This dependence on others for the necessary parts
or services means that organizations must actively seek out suppliers who are willing to meet
the quality standards required, and abandon those suppliers whose products are sub-standard
(Burt, 1989). Often the failure of TQM programs can be traced back to poor quality parts of
services from suppliers (Gurnani, 1999).11. Improve constantly and forever the system of
production and service: This is perhaps the heart of any successful TQM program. Improving
the quality of the product or service is key to remaining successful. The implementation of
quality programs means that the processes and products are constantly measured against the
products of competitors. If an organization is to remain competitive they must implement
improvements in the entire production system. Quality must encompass all phases of
production, including improving technology, processes, machinery, and communication
throughout the entire system (Hill & Collins, 1999).

12. Put everyone to work to accomplish this transformation: As mentioned earlier, the
implementation of a TQM program involves every person in the organization. Leaders must
work to ensure that every person is contributing to the success of the program, from the
janitor to the CEO (Savolainen, 2000). The implementation of a successful TQM program
hinges on the willingness of all involved parties to actively pursue quality.

13. Institute job training: Training new employees in quality production is central to a
successful TQM program. When instituting a training program, management must determine,
when to train and what to teach their employees. There are two general approaches that
identify when to train. One is to determine the kind of TQM training appropriate for the
various classifications of employees and then to train all employees. Every employee is then
equipped to be effective in the analysis of his or her own job and is prepared when he or she
becomes a team member. This approach is somewhat mechanistic and, for large
organizations, less effective. It has been the experience of organizations that used this
approach, that if skills are not applied a short time after training they are lost. A more
effective approach is what the Northrop Corporation calls just-in-time training. After each
team is formed, it is trained in the skills needed to begin, and then during its operation, it is
trained further as specific new skills are needed. The learning is then

15. immediately reinforced through application (Cartin, 1993). In order to be successful a

team or individual must know how to solve problems, know the processes, know the work
rules, how to plan, conduct good meetings, manage logistics and details, gather useful data,
measure process performance, analyze data, implement change, and measure its
effectiveness. The ability to do these things effectively is called having the soft skills of
decision-making and problem solving. This is compared to the many hard skills of various
job specialties, which are traditionally all that are taught. Implementing TQM involves a
planned change form one management system to another that is quite different. It is a
management process improvement. Everyone in the organization from the top down must
understand its scope direction objectives and methodologies. It requires extensive ongoing
training, this training must be planned so that all the required skills are identified and
scheduled. The plan must also be able to identify the resources required. . If employees are
not trained to think in terms of quality, they cannot recognize the need for changes within the
process. Training employees to be aware of the process and what the end result should be is
crucial. Too often organizations fail to realize that employees can be taught how to make the
product, but they may not b able to move form making the product to improving the product.
Training is necessary and should be ongoing if the organization is to maintain a quality
driven production. 14. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and
service to become competitive and to stay in business and to provide jobs: Although the
implementation of TQM programs often means the loss of jobs, the key success is to
communicate the purposes of the lay-offs and to emphasize that layoffs may be a necessary
part of the program. The ultimate goal of TQM is to increase the quality of the product in the
hopes of remaining in business and to become competitive in the market.**Note: In practice
most organizations tailor their TQM programs to meet their ownorganizational needs and
goals. Deming’s original fourteen points serve as a basis fordesigning these programs. As
noted by Creech (1994), “Although, the name Total QualityManagement now covers a very
broad tent encompassing all sorts of management practicesand has become the buzz phrase to
describe a new type of quality-oriented management,there are no bad TQM programs, only
incomplete programs that lack in the total involvementof all employees and all processes
within the organizations.” According to Creech, all TQMprograms must meet four criteria if
they are to be successful: first they must be based on aquality mindset and quality in all
activities at all times (every process and every product),second, they must be strongly
humanistic to bring quality to the way employees are treated,included, and inspired; third,
TQM must be based on a de-centralized approach that provides