TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT - ARE INFORMATION-SYSTEMS MANAGERS READY

The results of an empirical survey of information systems (IS) manager s indicated that 41% understood the basic philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM) fairly well. Furthermore, the IS managers typically i ndicated they thought most of the concepts/tools commonly associated w ith TQM would be useful to both the organization and the IS function. IS managers currently involved in implementing TQM reported their IS f unction had achieved the following benefits: improved customer satisfa ction, enhanced quality of products and services delivered to the cust omer, and increased flexibility in meeting customer demands. It was al so reported, however, that these benefits typically were not achieved until three-to-five years after TQM initiation.