Overcoming the Cultural Barriers to TQM in the Army

Abstract

The Army is in the process of considering a change to its leadership and management philosophy to the concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM is an organizational philosophy which focuses on customer orientation, statistical thinking, and continuous improvement of process. It is a leadership and management philosophy that demands decentralization, experimentation, risk taking, and empowerment of people. To inculcate the TQM philosophy into the Army will require a significant change in the Army's current culture. The senior leadership of the Army must change the old culture and embed the new TQM culture into the Army. There are many cultural barriers to TQM that exist in the Army, such as the leadership itself, an overabundance of regulations, and the focus on action oriented, short term results. The senior Army leadership can overcome these cultural barriers by changing their own behavior, changing evaluation, recognition, and assignment systems, modifying procedural mechanisms such as Army regulations, and by changing the attitudes and behaviors of the people in the Army.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 15, 1992
Accession Number
ADA251323

Entities

People

  • Ryan M. Zimmerman

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Classification
  • Climate Change
  • Department Of Defense
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Instructors
  • Measurement
  • Personnel Management
  • Schools
  • Students
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Total Quality Management
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Systems Analysis and Design