Why has TQM been seen as a failure?
To give my view: I think that TQM, especially as explained by Deming, is a very powerful and effective approach. But it gets less attention these days and seems to have been replaced by the (in my view) less effective and more expensive Six Sigma Methodology which has packaged up a lot of tools from TQM and before (e.g Shewhart charts) and established a hierarchy of belts who are increasingly remote from the people that actually deliver the product or service. TQM ensured the training of a lot of shop/factory floor workers who were then actively able to contribute to TQM (I was one of them) – but Six Sigma requires an expensively trained elite which may be great with statistics but lack the hands on experience of what’s acutally going wrong. Now Six Sigma is falling into disrepute. TQM is culture change – there are no short cuts. Three to five years is typical to move from a capable to a world class organisation. But it connects to the ideas and knowledge of those that actually do the
