Role of Organisational Culture in TQM Success : Impact of organisational culture on TQM implementation barriers

The core themes of performance excellence models (such as EFQM and MBNQA) are greatly influenced by TQM philosophy. Subsequently, a large number of contemporary quality improvement programs and performance excellence models are mostly the derivatives of core TQM principles, demonstrating the everlasting practicality of TQM philosophy. Broader definition of quality originated by TQM works as brainpower behind hundreds of performance excellence models deployed in high performance organisations world-wide, making TQM more indispensable than ever. However, implementation of TQM has been a challenging subject for organisations. The TQM literature suggests two common problems associated with the implementation of TQM - implementation barriers of TQM and unfavourable organisational culture. For TQM implementation to take root effectively, the critical role of organisational culture is widely recognised. This research project examines the relationship between organisational culture and TQM implementation barriers to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the factors affecting TQM implementation and to determine which type of organisational culture will support TQM implementation.