Total Quality and Human Resource Management

TOTAL QUALITY AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: CAN THEY SUCCESSFULLY COEXIST?

J.N. Bradley Central Washington University

ABSTRACT

Total Quality Management (TQM) has been defined as a system designed to satisfy customer 's requirements, a philosophy that stresses a team approach to achieving quality and continuous improvement and a total change in organizational culture. Unfortunately, most Human Resource Management (HRM) systems/activities generate, or at least allow for, inconsistencies in the quality of outcomes. Consequently, an important question that should be considered is whether using a systems engineering approach would be beneficial in the integration of the two activities?

INTRODUCTION

Total Quality Management (TQM) has been defined as a system designed to satisfy customer 's requirements (Sashkin & Kiser, 1991), a philosophy that stresses a team approach to achieving quality and continuous improvement
(Lawler, 1994b), and a total change in organizational culture (Ross, 1993).
If management accepts these definitions and attempts to implement TQM within an organization, the success of the program relies heavily on the strategic application of human resources in the organization 's quality transformation process while attending to its own transformation of quality.
(Hart & Schlesinger, 1991).

Unfortunately, most Human Resource Management (HRM) systems/activities generate, or at least allow for, inconsistencies in the quality of outcomes.
Consider the following selection of personnel is typically based on individual job requirements and not organizational values (Barrett, 1995; Blackburn &
Rosen, 1993); job analysis is a static (or consistent) process that takes place within a dynamic environment (Cardy & Dobbins, 1992; Hamstead, 1995); performance appraisals usually compare individuals to one

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