Field studies in implementation of quality management programs

Five projects conducted over approximately four years investigated different aspects of total quality management (TQM) programs and their overall effectiveness at different US manufacturing sites. Each of these studies considered one or more aspects of implementing a TQM program in a manufacturing environment. Three of the studies used surveys to evaluate perceptions of employees´ involved in management-directed changes in a TQM environment. The other two used case studies of specific projects designed to improve manufacturing effectiveness by using TQM principles. One of the most fundamental tenets of TQM is to encourage total participation by all employees and to open the lines of communication. Several of the studies showed examples of how this worked in practice