Total Quality Management as Information Infrastructure

1
Total Quality Management as Information
Infrastructure

• Upgrade Presentation
• Petter Øgland, 08.06.07

2
Empirical observation

• TQM is difficult to make work
• TQM looks similar to scientific research on the
  problem of how to improve organisational
  performance
• We try to understand the current situation by
  doing assessment according to some standard (CMM,
  ISO 9000, EFQM, )
• We try to apply/produce knowledge for improving
  process efficiency

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Proposition

• If TQM is similar to scientific research, perhaps
  we could improve our TQM efforts by managing TQM
  in similar ways to how we manage scientific
  research (joint learning through peer review
  processes, rather than top-down control)

4
Conceptual framework (1)

• TQM as scientific research old idea
• Taylor, 1911 scientific management
• Fayol, 1920 management theory
• Shewhart, 1923/38 statistical process control
  (SPC) as philosophy of science
• Lewin, 1946 action research
• Simon, 1969 design science
• Shingo, 1987 lean production (Japanese way
  tacit knowledge Nonaka Takeuchi, 1995)

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Conceptual framework (2)

• TQM as scientific research new idea
• STS (e.g. Latour) focus on group of scientists
  rather than individual scientist
• Action Research (AR) is a method for joining
  industry and academia, Networks of action (Braa
  et al., 1995)
• Hanseth Lyttinen (2004) show how to design AR
  networks (a.k.a. IIs)

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Research question

• How to design TQM as AR?
• Alternative 1 How to design TQM as II?
• Alternative 2 How to design TQM as ANT?
• Alternative 3 How to design TQM as CAS?
• The goal of robust design How to succeed with
  TQM when TQM success criteria are not present in
  the organisation?

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More literature review

• Critical perspective ANT and critical consulting
  (Clark Fincham, 2002) understanding hidden
  agendas exposing power strategies
• Practical perspective CAS and management theory
  Kelly (1994), Dooley et al (1995), Brand (1996)
  Koch (1998), Wheatley (1999), Axelrod Cohen
  (2000), Stacey (2000),

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Data collection (1)
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Data collection (2)

• Use EFQM model (excellence model) for selecting
  which part of the research programme to improve
• Formulate/cultivate process improvement as design
  research and publish papers
• Evaluate results by EFQM, go to 1

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Data collection (3)

• Paper on COBOL-programmers
• Paper on improving AR research methods
• Paper on how to apply ANT for doing TQM with
  minimal management support

• EFQM-9 (key performance results)
• EFQM-5 (processes)
• EFQM-2 (strategy)

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Data collection (4)
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Data analysis

• Managing an AR programme for process improvement
  can be seen as managing a CAS (Axelrod Cohen,
  2000)
• Variation (population of research processes)
• Interaction (discussions, conferences, journals)
• Selection (by EFQM evaluation)

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Scientific contribution to TQM theory / II theory
(guidelines for doing TQM as AR)

• TQM person in industry should contact academia to
  get enrolled in AR programme
• The TQM person should use the AR network to
  research his own management system for creating
  organisational excellence through TQM theory
• The TQM person should use the EFQM model for
  selecting research problems in order to
  contribute to centre of excellence for the AR
  network