Lack of Commitment of Upper-Level Management

Although management has ideas that total quality management is essential for business success, it has proved to be difficult for them to commit themselves to implement it. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a policy or ideology that would be very beneficial to the companies if it is fully implemented. Full implementation of total quality management includes involvement of all the workforce of the company or organization. The management should be on the lead to be a pacesetter to the rest of the employees of the organization. The management should influence by example the rest of the workforce to implement the ideology of total quality management. Success in an organization is not a one man show, but it demands efforts of all the parties involved. Therefore, the management reluctance to commit fully to the implementation of this ideology has made its success an unachievable dream. This is because when the management fails to commit efforts towards it, the rest of the employees will follow suit. This makes it impossible to realize the goals and objectives of total quality management. This paper aims to explain some of the possible causes of the top level management failure to commit the total quality management implementation.

The first reason that the article discusses is lack of adequate knowledge by the management on the ideology of total quality management. Normally it is hard for individuals to implement something they lack enough knowledge. Therefore, the management fails to commit efforts towards TQM as a result of the lack in knowledge. With limited knowledge on the ideology, the management fears the unknown results of the undertaking. There is always a possibility of failure in every new attempt; therefore, the management fears what would be the repercussions of failure. Secondly, the management is assumed not to commit fully to TQM because of trying to avoid changes that will come along with implementation. Changes are accompanied by risk, therefore, the management fails to commit in fear of risks that will be challenging to handle. Total quality management philosophy supports several drastic changes in the organization’s structure. The management seems to avoid these changes, which may not be in favor of managers as individuals. Change is good but faces a lot of opposition. It is human nature to fear change since in several ways it brings about unwanted feelings, even though, at the long run, it brings the desired results. Therefore, the management has failed to be committed to TQM as a result of fearing drastic changes that will affect them adversely as individuals.

The third reason highlighted in the article is labor mobility. As a result of temporary jobs in the world today, management does not have enough time to implement the TQM philosophy. The management may be aware of the benefits of the philosophy over the disadvantages, but it lacks time to implement. For an organization to implement any new project, time is an essential factor. Therefore, the top level management needs enough time to implement the proposal till the expected results are realized. Being in an organization for just a short time moves to another or leaves the field completely, makes the top level management unable to commit their efforts towards implementing TQM. Therefore, it would be advisable for organizations to employ the top level management personnel which would be in the organization for a long duration. In conclusion, the benefits of total quality management balance the difficulties; therefore, top level management should make efforts to take care of the difficulties and implement the philosophy. Regardless of the difficulties of implementing the philosophy, the companies that have implemented it outdo all the rest. This is a sign that it is possible to implement the philosophy and benefit from it.