CEO Characteristics and TQM Adoption among Small Manufacturing Firms (1995)

ABSTRACT A mail survey was conducted among the 256 manufacturing firms in twelve southeast Kansas counties. The purpose of the survey was to determine what CEO characteristics were related to the adoption of TQM. It was found that CEOs who had adopted TQM had a high nAch, an internal LOC and engaged in extensive environmental scanning. INTRODUCTION Total Quality Management (TQM) has captured the imagination of numerous organizations since Deming's well-known 1980 NBC White Paper, If Japan Can, Why Can't We? Many large organizations have adopted TQM, Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) or Reengineering (RE) in the last fourteen years as a strategy and as a competitive weapon (Bain & Co., Inc, 1994; U.S. Government Accounting Office, 1991). Although there have been many successes reported in the literature, it is also clear that there have been a number of failures (Grant, Shani, & Krishnan, 1994). One issue that has not been explored in great detail is the question, What types of manufacturing- firm CEOs make an attempt to adopt TQM? This study was designed to explore that question. TQM is a relatively new approach to management and it seems logical to propose that not all CEOs and firms will be equally inclined to adopt TQM and that there might well be substantive differences between adopters and non-adopters. It should be noted that TQM, CQI and RE are not identical strategies in the view of some authors (Hammer & Champy, 1993). Although there is considerable overlap between TQM and CQI, RE is significantly different. The former tend to emphasize gradual, incremental improvement while the latter is top down, almost revolutionary change. The focus of this study is on TQM because it is the oldest of the three strategies, and, perhaps, the one with the greatest amount of public awareness at this time (Creech, 1994). TQM has been proposed as a new management paradigm (Bounds, Yorks, Adams & Ranney, 1994). Brocka and Brocka (1992) suggest that a quality management strategy (TQM) involves the following eight principles: P1: Productivity gains are achieved through quality improvement. P2: Quality is correctly defined requirements satisfying customer needs. P3: Quality is measured by continuous process/product improvement and user satisfaction. P4: Quality is determined by product design and is achieved by control techniques. P5: Defects are prevented through process control techniques. P6: Quality is part of every function in all phases of the product life cycle. P7: Management is responsible for quality. P8: Supplier relationships are long-term and quality-oriented. Taken in the aggregate, the eight principles of TQM listed above suggest that the CEOs of small manufacturing firms wanting to adopt TQM may have some similarities with regard to nAch, LOC, industry experience education and environmental scanning behaviors. Principle 7 (P7), in particular, suggests that the CEO has the responsibility for installing a quality culture throughout the organization. McClelland, Atkinson, Clark and Lowell (1953) define nAch as behavior toward competition with a standard of excellence. An internal Locus of Control (Rotter, 1966) correlates with a proactive approach to managing (Miller, Kets de Vries & Toulouse, 1982). Process control (P5), quality as part of every function (P6) and long term supplier relationships (P8) all require an extremely proactive approach to management. Hence, it is reasonable to speculate that CEOs who are internals* may adopt TQM. Finally, knowledge of the competitive environment and in-depth industry knowledge, education and experience are necessary precursors to correctly identifying and satisfying customer requirements (P2). Therefore, one might reasonably expect CEOs with significant formal education.industry experience and environmental scanningintensity to more readily adopt TQM as an operating strategy. …