The Ideal Culture Profile for Total Quality Management: A Competing Values Perspective

ABSTRACTMany researchers view organizational culture as a potentially powerful explanatory variable in total quality management (TQM) implementation. Despite the high level of interest in the subject, there is no effective means of assessing an organization in terms of its cultural characteristics. In this article, a promising technique, the competing value framework of culture, is introduced. This framework is used to conduct an exploratory study of cultural characteristics that support the TQM philosophy. Research questions are posed through a review of the related literature, and the research method is described. It is shown that the perceived cultural characteristics in the context of TQM can be profiled as a combination of a set of unique values. Recommendation for further research is also proposed.