TQM in the rubber industry: "a case study on organisational change"

Total Quality Management (TQM) has been established in the western world for over 15 years, yet attempts to implement it have reported mixed success. Although the technique adopts a planned prescriptive approach to change, organisations have not found it so easy to implement and to achieve the expected benefits. This thesis attempts to identify the factors, which influence both the implementation and success of TQM, and to establish whether TQM actually improves business performance. The aim of the study is to reach a better understanding of the most important influences on TQM, and thereby provide some insights into the reasons for its apparent low success rate. Six international manufacturing plants belonging to the Gates Rubber Company have been selected for this case study on organisational change. Part one provides a historical review of the Gates Corporation and the quality initiatives, in order to understand the background to the research. Chapter three selectively reviews the current literature on organisational changes and discusses some of the theories and models relevant to our area of study. In chapter four we cover the area of TQM and in chapter five we develop a theoretical framework for the empirical analysis, based on the incentive, receptivity and ability factors identified. Chapter six discusses the methodology adopted to capture the data. This is followed by an overview of each of the plants involved in the study. Part two, chapter seven, presents the results of the survey of the six manufacturing plants, located throughout the USA and Europe, in an attempt to identify the factors influencing TQM and discusses the correlation between TQM adoption and performance success. The research suggests that the incentive to change, the receptiveness of the environment of change and the ability of management to cope with change, are all major factors of influence on the success of a TQM programme. The thesis identifies four plants which appear to fit the hypotheses that successful TQM implementation results in improved performance, albeit selective measures, and that poor implementation results in poor selective performance. Two plants do not fit the hypothesis and are discussed in part three