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Total Quality Management in Central America: A case study in leadership and data-based dialogue

Osland, Asbjorn
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1057865470

Abstract Details

1994, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Organizational Behavior.
This dissertation compares the approaches taken by two general managers of similar production operations in the implementation of total quality management programs in two Central American settings. Policy deployment enabled one general manager to resist strong cultural pressure to assume direct control of the quality council, as one would have expected in a high power distance setting. He implemented the innovation at lower levels of the organization even though the quality council was not ready to assume leadership of the process. The other general manager's approach was less effective because he behaved opportunistically and focused on alignment of the quality council with his perception of total quality management before diffusing the innovation throughout the organization. A contingency that was present in both settings before the innovation adoption process began was collaborative problem-solving (i.e., data-based dialogue) between foremen and production unit managers. The policy deployment strategy of the first general manager enabled his programs to reach and be reinforced by the users of this mode of interaction, while the strategy of the second manager did not allow this to happen. The research process consisted of 26 months of participant observation, attitude surveys contrasting the attitudes of total quality management program participants (n = 80) and non-participants (n = 82), and interviews within production units (n = 17). The total quality management participants had significantly more positive attitudes, as measured by the Sabiers-Pasmore socio-technical systems benchmark survey (1992), than the non-participants in the production operation where policy deployment occurred. This was not the case in the other location where the manager coopted the quality council in his effort to align it with his perception of total quality management. The implications of the preceding are the following: (1) in high power distance settings, managers must be deliberate in their policy deployment to counter the strong cultural pull of autocratic control; and (2) total quality management may depend on existing contingencies such as data-based dialogue. The main contribution of the research is the assessment of contingencies to consider in implementing total quality management in Central America.
Eric Neilsen (Advisor)
240 p.
Total Quality Management Central America case study leadership data-based dialogue

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Osland, A. (1994). Total Quality Management in Central America: A case study in leadership and data-based dialogue [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1057865470

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Osland, Asbjorn. Total Quality Management in Central America: A case study in leadership and data-based dialogue. 1994. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1057865470.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Osland, Asbjorn. "Total Quality Management in Central America: A case study in leadership and data-based dialogue." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1994. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1057865470

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1057865470
1,066
© 1994, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.