So, the translation of TQM concepts to government is a bit more complicated. Ron Hikei, partner in the KPMG Centre of Government suggests that we may not be well served by considering the users of government service as customers. Since users of government services don't usually have the choice of going elsewhere, treating them as customers may not convince them that we value them as customers. Private sector companies often gather information from customers to improve service. He suggests that inaction also occurs because resolving the complaints of customers is often not in the power of civil servants, but can only be undertaken by senior officials or politicians.
Customers have very few obligations, citizens do.
The author suggests that simply referring to citizens as customers, without undertaking more encompassing structural changes to government, will be ineffective. We think of the customer as someone who buys something. We disagree with Hikel on many of his points. That said, there are many similarities between the two contexts. What Hikel does not seem to address is the idea that government staff AND private sector staff both work under constraints.