tqm leadership paradigms

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TQM Leadership Paradigms

Practical Implications

Oxbridge LibraryA Division of Oxbridge Researchers Ltd


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1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 3

2 Leadership in TQM Theory ................................................................................... 5

2.1 TQM Leadership in Strategic Planning .......................................................................72.2 TQM Leadership in Decision-Making ..........................................................................8

3 Practical Implications .......................................................................................... 10

3.1 Failing Organisation ..................................................................................................11

3.2 Successful Organisations .........................................................................................13

4 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................15

5 References .......................................................................................................... 17

Oxbridge Library,A Division of Oxbridge Researchers Ltd., 6669933

Document may be used for informational and research purposes only. Copying and distribution isstrictly prohibited and violators will be prosecuted.


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1 IN T R O D U C T I O N

Contemporary management models, ranging from the classic ones such as

strategic and behavioural management to the more revolutionary ones,

such as lean and total quality management, devote considerable space to

the role of leadership in organisational success. The delegation of

responsibilities, the creation and sustenance of proactive, problem-solving

work force/human resources, and the imperatives of shared decision-

making are all incontrovertibly important and, accordingly have been

interpreted by some theorists as testament to the decreasing importance of

leadership (Gilbert, 2004; Svensson, 2005; Rad, 2005). This is an

erroneous assumption, predicated on a misunderstanding of the distinction

between authoritarian leadership and involved,proactive leadership. The

distinction between the two is not only real but is one which makes all the

difference between organisational success and failure; between

organisational atrophy and organisational flexibility. As Baker et al. (1993)

asserts, effective organisational leadership is a leadership which

acknowledges the inherent value of delegation and autonomy but which at

the same time, is present and involved; a leadership which displays, not

only acumen in decision-making and strategic planning but which has the

capacity to proactively to extraordinary circumstances through the

utilisation of both change and crisis is management tools, such as

demanded by the specific of the situation/crisis/change at hand. The




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effective leader is, in other words, one who has successfully negotiated the

fine balance between involvement and delegation.

Defining effective leadership is a challenging endeavour and within the

limits of the present research, an impossible one. Nevertheless, by

clarifying the researchs focus and delimiting the scope of its exploration,

the study shall communicate the characteristics of the effective leader

within the matrix of Total Quality Management [TQM]. The reason for

selecting TQM as the theoretical paradigm from within which the

characteristics of the effective leader shall be defined is not because it

happens to be the most popular and result-oriented management paradigm

today but because, as Gilbert (2004) notes, leadership within TQM

organisations are, by definition, highly effective leaders who have

successfully negotiated between the exigencies of involvement and

delegation, on the one hand, and who function as the founding bloc for an

organisational culture which, beyond being fundamentally founded upon

strategic management and planning, is constructively responsive to both

change and crisis. Indeed, empirical studies have established that leaders

within TQM organisations tends towards the display of higher levels of

decision-making and strategic planning acumen than those in non-TQM

organisations because strategic planning is both research-based and

holistic, on the one hand and because decision-making is shared and

knowledge-based, on the other. Following a review of the characteristics of

the effective leader and an analysis of effective leadership within the




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matrix of strategic planning and decision making the research shall look

towards case studies drawn from the IT sector in order to demonstrate the

extent to which effective leadership is an inherently TQM one, based on an

acknowledgement of the imperatives of information-based strategic

planning and shared decision-making, while ineffective leadership is the

very antithesis of the stated.

2 L E A D E R S H I P I N TQM T H E O R Y

TQM is, as Easton and Jarrell (1998) maintain, a comprehensive organisational

management system which is based upon the integration of several managerial

perspectives, approaches and theories into one, in acknowledgement of the

complexity of organisational structures themselves. However, the quasi-

comprehensive organisational management approach forwarded by TQM does not

imply that its adoption may support abandonment of strategic planning and

organisational decision-making models (Sila, 2007). Certainly, TQM, insofar as it is

predicated upon strategic management, well-defined decision-making models,

statistical rigour, project management and performance measurement, embraces the

tools particular to each of the stated (Sila, 2007). It is, as may be inferred from the

aforementioned, a total quality management approach because it is founded upon a

fundamental awareness of the inherent value of a wide array of management

approaches.

Literature on TQM confirms the above stated and establishes it as a management

philosophy which, rather than forward a novel management theory, discriminately




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embraces several management and organisational development theories and

constructively exploits their strengths and tools for the formulation of a single,

totalising management philosophy: TQM. In fact, according to Pike, Pike and

Barnes (2005) the value of TQM lies in the fact that it seeks to build upon the

existent body of management theories rather than, as is the customary approach,

invalidate and replace them.

Fundamental to TQM, as numerous management, organizational leadership, and

OD scholars have concluded, is effective leadership (Johnson, 2001; Raelin, 2003;

Pike, Pike and Barnes, 2005). Effective leadership, within the context of TQM,

subscribes to a leadership model which employs management tools particular to

information-based, goal-oriented strategic planning, decentralised and cooperative

decision-making models, and an inherent capacity for proactive crisis and change

management. As Raelin (2003) explains, proactive responsiveness to crisis may

sound oxymoronic insofar as crises supposedly erupt unexpectedly but, this is not

necessarily true. Strategic planning which is based upon an awareness of, and an

accounting for, the nature of the external environment, the sector and market within

which the organisation is located and, above all, which has the flexibility requisite for

immediate response to changing external environmental and market conditions,

lends to strategic plans which allow organisational leadership the requisite leeway

for proactive response towards nascent crises before their development into full-

fledged crises. The implication here is that effective leadership, at least from within

the matrix of TQM theory, is not simply a leadership which has an acumen for

strategic planning and decision making but, whose acumen for either derives from




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both research-based knowledge and the utilisation of a wide array of proven

management tools and strategies.

To better explain the extent to which leadership in TQM is fundamentally founded

upon knowledge-based acumen in strategic planning and decision-making, it is

necessary to briefly overview the theoretical parameters of either.

2.1 TQM Leadership in Strategic Planning

The classical approach to strategy argues that it is a rational and deliberate

process in which realised and intended strategies match (Mintzberg and

Waters, Chapter 1 in Segal-Horn, 1998; Whittington, 2001; Wheelen and

Hunger, 2005). In direct comparison, the evolutionary approach defines

strategy as a creative and emergent process and, as such, is interpreted as

a critique of the classical approach (Mintzberg and Waters, Chapter 1 in

Segal-Horn, 1998; Whittington, 2001; Wheelen and Hunger, 2005). TQM

compromises between these seeming opposites, defining strategy as a

blueprint for the means by which an organisation will realise its strategic

goals, emphasising both rationalism and flexibility. Successful strategic

planning, at the heart of which is an organisational leadership which

displays commitment to rational and deliberate strategy during periods of

intra- and extra-environmental stability and the flexibility required for the

re-articulation/re-design of strategic plans during periods of crisis, change

and conflict, is the primary determinant of an organisations capacity to

satisfy its short and long-term objectives (Beaver and Prince, 2004).




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The claim that the nature of an organisations leadership makes the

difference between organisational success ad failure, is validated by

empirical evidence. Reviewing the correlation between strategic plans

which are responsive to intra- and extra-environmental conditions and

leadership, on the one hand, and the relationship between positive

financial/non-financial performance indicators and organisational leadership

across 32 TQM IT organisations, Oakland (2003) forwarded a number of

interesting findings. Briefly stated 94% of respondents determined that

profitability was immediately related to strategic planning while 91%

asserted that organisational leadership both enabled and provided the

framework for successful strategic plans. As noted, leadership enabled

successful strategic plans through resource allocation, capacity to respond

to crisis/change/conflict through the re-direction of the strategic plan in

question, when and if needed, and through the dissemination of an

interactive and communicative organisational culture in which

management listens to its work force 9new ideas proposals) and has strong

ties with the external environment (Oakland, 2003). In other words,

leadership is at the heart of successful strategic plans, a primary factor in

organisational success.

2.2 TQM Leadership in Decision-Making

Within the context of TQM, the correlation between leadership and strategic

plans which constructively contribute to organisational success, are




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paralleled/d by an empirically-validate relationship between leadership,

decision-making and organisational success/ ability to survive crisis, change

and conflict. According to Bhushan and Rai (2004), decisions impact the

organisation as a whole and can function as either obstacles to, or enablers

of, the realisation of strategic goals, hence the attainment of organisational

success. Involving the informed selection of one out of several options for

action, effective decision-making needs to be a shared process but it must,

paradoxically, also be a centralised one. In explaining the aforementioned,

Bhushan and Rai (2004) note that decision-making needs to be a shared

process in the sense that the various departments and mangers within the

organisation present their proposals for solution (the need for decision-

making implies the presence of a problem) and centralised in the sense

that it is ultimately the organisations leadership which selects the most

effective option among the many presented.

Empirical studies indicate that organisational leadership is at the core of

effective strategic decision making, such as which guides an organisation

through change, conflict and crisis, lending to the contention that acumen

in decision-making is a testament to effective leadership. As outlined in a

study supervised by the European Institute for Technology and Innovation

(2005), a survey of 62 IT firms indicated that survival within this highly

turbulent, ever-changing and intensely competitive market is, more often

than not, a highly challenging endeavour which can only be successfully

met if leadership has effective strategic decision-making skills. This




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assertion was established through a review of failing and successful (TQM-

oriented) IT firms. The 28 failing forms which were studied did not utilise

TQM tools and strategies and, more importantly, eschewed the

aforementioned paradigms decision-making models. Consequently,

decisions tended to be borne out of crisis and reflected neither the

cooperative/shared and centralised characteristics of the decisions

particular to the 34 successful TQM IT firms reviewed. This, according to

the European Institute for Technology and innovation (2005) is indicative of

the value of effective leadership, on the one hand, and the correlation

between decision-making acumen and effective leadership, on the other.

Bearing the foregoing in mind, a review of a number of examples drawn

from the IT sector will, in practical terms, establish the relationship between

effective leadership and strategic planning and decision-making acumen,

as which leads to the maximisation of the organisations capacity to

overcome crisis and realise its strategic objectives.

3 P R A C T I C A L IM P L I C A T I O N S

The ultimate test for determination of the validity of theoretical claims lays

in a review of their practical implications. For validation of the foregoing

argument, that acumen in both strategic planning and decision-making is

the mark of the effective leader, the leadership strategies deployed in both

failing and successful organisations shall be analysed.




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3.1 Failing Organisation

Originally a jukebox importer, Sega Corporation moved on to developing

arcade machines, and then on to developing videogames consoles and

software in the early 1980s. After enjoying considerable sales and success

with their early consoles the Master System and its follow-up the

MegaDrive, Sega then began to make a series of costly errors, directly

attributed by critics to ineffective leadership and its persistent inability to

utilize either strategic planning or decision-making(Gantayat, 2000).

Evidencing the stated, Segas leadership decided that the solution to its

crisis lay in the development and manufacturing of a new generation of

videogame systems, the Saturn. It did so without either formulating an

information-based strategic plan or by studying alternatives. The

consequence was that, apart from the fact that very few, if any, software

developers were willing to cooperate and design games for the system, the

Saturn system was ultimately much more expensive than the system

manufactured and marketed by Segas leading competitor, Sony (Harney,

2001). The Saturn was pulled out of the market and Sega has been

reporting substantial losses ever since.

Segas problems are an immediate consequence of ineffective leadership, a

leadership which has neither the acumen for strategic planning nor

decision-making. As Gordon et al (2000) explains, it is not at all uncommon

for companies which have successful past performance records to

experience a downward spiral and in the majority of cases the reason lays




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in leaderships commitment to the status quo, resulting in adherence to

failing strategies. In other words, commitment to past, successful,

strategies without accounting for changing extra-environmental conditions,

including both industry and market factors, signifies leaderships insistence

on defining strategy as a rational and deliberate process and its stubborn

refusal to consider that strategy must be simultaneously regarded as a

evolutionary and developing process so as to allow for the flexibility

required for constructive response to change, crisis and conflict. Indeed,

Segas leadership, believing that past successes could be replicated

through adherence to past strategies, exhibited neither acumen in strategic

planning nor decision-making (`Where Sega went, 2001). Indeed, Segas

leaderships incontrovertibly contributed to corporate loss and failure, not

only because of its persistent failure to engage in information and

knowledge-based strategic planning and decision-making but, because, in

the absence of the stated,, the consequence was an atrophying corporate

entity which operated in virtual isolation from its market, surrounding

environment and industry trends.

As indicated through the Sega case study, the literature on the correlation

between leaderships effectiveness at both strategic planning and decision

making and organisational success is applicable to real-world examples. At

the heart of Segas failure is a leadership whose adherence to the status

quo and whose commitment to failing strategies is symptomatic of the




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virtual absence of information and knowledge-based strategic planning and

decision-making acumen.

3.2 Successful Organisations

Oakland (2003), Bhushan and Rai (2004) and Rad (2005), among others,

contend that the true measure ofsustainable organisational success is not

leaderships effectiveness at decision-making and strategy planning during

periods of intra and extra-environmental stability but, the extent to wish

leadership displays decision-making and strategic planning acumen during

periods of instability, whether crisis, change or conflict. Despite opinions to

the contrary, Empyrean Management Group stands out as an interesting

case study in effective leadership.

Empyrean Management Group, a family-owned and managed recruiting

and staffing company, had, almost immediate to its foundation, reported

substantial successes, as measured through financial returns and

attainment of strategic goals. As may be inferred from Dahls (2006)

anatomical analysis of the companys performance, much of its success

was due to a leadership strategy, strongly suggestive of TQM. The

companys founder-majority owner, president, Michael Kalinsky, is deeply

involved in both long and short-term strategic planning, on the one hand,

and in both day-to-day and strategic decision-making, on the other. The

running of the company was a shared responsibility with his brother-in-law,

co-investor/founder and vice-president and, to complicate matters further,




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Kalinskys father-in-law was a major investor. Divorce and deteriorating

relationships with his brother-in-law lent to the development of a number of

management and leadership problems. In the first place, Kalinskys firmer

brother-in-law and vice president was increasing derelict in his duties with

the consequence being an IRS audit. In the second place, Empyreans vice-

presidents failure to oversee corporate accounts, as was his responsibility,

led to the loss of the companys most important client. Thirdly, disputes

and conflicts between the co-owners/founders/the ex-brothers-in-law

undermined leadership unity and coherence (Dahl, 2006). The company, in

other words, was confronting a crisis, largely as a result of internal

conflicts. The key to conflict resolution, the re-stabilisation of the company

and the re-capture of former successes lay in leaderships reasserting itself

and making the required bold decisions. Accordingly, Kalinsky decided to

fire his brother-in-law and in the wake of that decision/action, formulated a

strategic plan targeted at problem resolution, the re-articulation of

corporate objectives and the design of the strategies required for the

realisation of those objectives (Dahl, 2006).

While Kalinskys decision has been criticised by some who believe that

other, less destabilising, alternatives existed (Dahl, 2006), the consequence

of that decision both validate it and establish Kalinskys position as an

effective leader. Certainly, alternatives to firing his vice-president may

have existed but this decision quite effectively, and uncompromisingly,

addressed the challenge Empyreans vice-president posed to leadership




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and, hence, organisational unity, not to mention intra-organisational

conflict levels as which distracted leadership from adherence to strategies

for the fulfilment of defined organisational objectives. Accordingly, if

measured in terms of that which it was supposed to resolve, on the one

hand, and the impact upon financial performance on the other, the

discussed decision and the strategies subsequently employed are indicative

of an effective leadership which possesses decision-making and strategic

planning acumen. Indeed, given that Empyrean re-captured its past

successes in the wake of the discussed decision, this case validates the

argument that, not only is effective leadership measured in terms of

decision-making and strategic planning acumen, but effective leadership is

at the very core of organisational success.

4 C O N C L U S I O N

Proceeding from the above-argued, it is evident that TQM theory on the

benchmarks of effective leadership is borne out by real-world cases. The

intense competition which confronts practically ever corporate entity,

regardless of the industry/sector within which it is located and the market

which it serves, has maximised the importance of strategic planning,

decision making and effective leadership. Indeed, it has culminated in the

redefinition of effective leadership in TQM terms, whereby decision-making

and strategic planning acumen have become the hallmarks of the effective




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leader. This is where management and OD theory stands and this is what

real-world examples have confirmed.




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5 R E F E R E N C E S

Baker, W.H., et al. (1993) Business Planning in Successful Small Firms

Long Range Planning, 26(6), 82-88.

Bhushan, N. and Rai, K. (2004) Strategic Decision-making: Applying the

Analytic Hierarchy Process. London: Springer.

Beaver, G. and Prince, C. (2004) Management, strategy and policy in the

UK small business sector: a critical review Journal of Small Business

and Enterprise Development,11(1), 34-49.

Dahl, D. (2006) `Michael Kalinsky was sick of fighting with his brother in

law. Was firing him too drastic? Inc. Magazine, 51-54.

Easton, G. S. and Jarrell, S.L. (1998) `The effects of total quality

management on corporate performance: An empirical investigation.

The Journal of Business 71(2), 253-307.

Rad, A.M.M. (2005) `A survey of total quality management in Iran: Barriers

to successful implementation in health care organisations.

Leadership in Health Services, 18(3), xxii-xxxiv.

European Institute for Technology and innovation (2005) Bringing

Technology and Innovation into the Boardroom: Strategy, Innovation

and Competencies for Business Value. London; Palgrave Macmillan.




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Gantayat, A. (2000), Sega Dream Machine Hits Tough Times, IGN Online,

2000. http://dreamcast.ign.com/news/29394.html

Gilbert, J. (2004) How To East An Elephant: A Slice By Slice Guide to TQM.

Bromborough: Liverpool Business Publications.

Harney, A. (2001), How Segas Dream Became a Nightmare, Financial

Times Online, 28th March 2001.

http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/articles.html?

print=true&id=010328000991

Gordon, S. S., Stewart Jr, W. H., Sweo, R. and Luker, W. A. (2000),

Convergence Versus Strategic Reorientation: The Antecedents of

Fast-Paced Organizational Change,Journal of Management, 26(5),

911-945.

Johnson, R.S. (2001) TQM Leadership for Quality Transformation. NY: ASQ

Quality Press.

Oakland, J.S. (2003) TQM: Text with Cases. London; Butterworth-Heinemann.

Pike, J., Pike, R.J., and Barnes, R.J. (2005). TQM in Action: A Practical Approach

to Continuous Improvement. New York: Springer.

Raelin, J.A. (2003) CreatingLeaderful Organisation: How to Bring Out Leadership

in Everyone. London: Berrett-Koehler.

Segal-Horn, S. (1998) The Strategy Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.


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Sila, I. (2007) ` Examining the effects of contextual factors on TQM and

performance through the lens of organizational theories: An empirical

study. Journal of Operations Management, 1, 83-97.

Svensson, G. (2005) `Leadership performance in TQM: A contingency

approach. TQM Magazine, 17(3), 527-536.

`And on the seventh day, God created Xbox live (2004),Xbox Nation,

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Wheelen, T. and Hunger, D. (2005) Strategic Management and Business

Policy. London: Prentice-Hall.

Whittington, R. (2001) What is Strategy and does it matter? London:

Thomson Learning.


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