Since the 1980s, total quality management (TQM) has become one of the most
commonly used management acronyms. As a change management tool, TQM has bee
n well-accepted by managers as it is seen as providing a "unified set of pr
inciples which can guide them through numerous choices or might even make c
hoosing unnecessary" (Huczynski, 1993, Management Gurus: What Makes Them an
d How to Become One (London, Routledge), p. 289). Although the management o
f quality has often been identified as a key to business success in the hig
hly competitive climate of the 1990s, this is not to say that TQM is withou
t its critics.