Total quality management: Anti-union trojan horse or management albatross?

This article examines a co-operative union-management approach towards Tota l Quality Management (TQM) by recourse to a case study from the auto compon ents manufacturing sector. Its purpose is twofold; first, it suggests that in contrast to much critical thinking, under certain conditions TQM need no t undermine trade unions. Indeed, it is argued that a more moderate trade u nion stance towards TQM, in some circumstances, may prove to be a more effe ctive form of resistance than a militant one. Second, the article provides insights into the ways in which TQM reinforces existing power relations, hi erarchical structures, organisational bureaucracy and inequality, rather th an transforming them as TQM pundits contend. The argument, however, is not that TQM simply enhances management control in a unilinear fashion. This is because it not only poses dangers for trade unions, but also presents mana gement with dilemmas and contradictions. TQM is understood, therefore, to b e part of the continuing and complex effort by management to balance contro l and consent within employment, the dynamics, and outcomes of which, are u ncertain and need to be empirically examined.