© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Reinventing Organizations to Meet the Challenges of a Highly Competitive Global Environment

Today’s markets are highly competitive and global in nature. Only those organizations with the highest quality products, most efficient operations, and the desire to improve will survive, grow, and be profitable. In many cases this means reinventing the organization and this can be a terrifying experience. One proven methodology to accomplish this task is Total Quality Management (TQM). However, initiating a TQM system is analogous to progressing through an evolutionary process requiring a variety of steps, stages, transitions, and transformations. It is an endeavor that begins by accessing and evaluating the costs and benefits to the organization and ends with a successful implementation. The focus and direction of a TQM implementation has many facets. This is due, in part, to the varying management strategies employing its philosophy and the unique requirements of the particular organization. As a result, implementing a TQM program requires overcoming old paradigms on how people work and even think about their jobs and work environment. It is a process of change that needs regular reinforcement if it is to become part of the organization’s culture. It requires a constant state of analyzing and modifying work processes as well as