ENVISIONING TQM THROUGH SYSTEMS THINKING

Attempts at developing a unifying set of concepts and practices for im proving quality has been largely ineffective. Because of the wide vari ety of organizational differences, broadly endorsed applications of qu ality improvement may be unwise. However, the effect of a clear and bo ld organization vision, enthusiastically supported by executive manage ment, is positive and constructive when combined with a good understan ding of interactive relationships, over time - or systems thinking. Th is combination of vision and systems thinking may be most promising wh en it is tied to total quality management applications.