Section Two
As with any managerial innovation, TQM is not without
problems. One criticism is that TQM efforts can lead to goal
displacement, in which TQM becomes an end instead of a
means. In such cases, attention is diverted from productive
activities to gaining approvals from committees, filling out
forms, and other bureaucratic procedures. The well-publicized
difficulties encountered by Florida Power & Light and the
Wallace Company after they won the Baldrige Award for quality
provide wonderfully ironic examples of this problem.
Additionally—although not the fault of TQM—during economic
difficulties, some companies have reduced the level of
employee empowerment. Executives in these companies have
blamed employee empowerment for slower decision making.
However, this appears to be a short-sighted criticism since the
critical decision implementation process is facilitated by
employee empowerment. Nonetheless, even in Japan there has
been second-guessing of employee empowerment and
consensus decision approaches because of their slowness. As a
result, some leading Japanese companies have turned to more
top-down– oriented chief executive officers.^72 Another problem
is incompatibility of some basic TQM concepts and downsizing
strategies. Bernado De Sousa from Ciba-Geigy Ltd., has stated:
Because the aim of TQM is to add value to all
stakeholders in every activity, it must of necessity
make a company more efficient... Increased