A study of the quality culture for service industries.

Many organisations in UK and Europe underwent significant change during the 1980s. The UK Government focus was on value for money and nationalised industries and public utilities began to be privatised. Total Quality Management represented a new opportunity to improve organisational effectiveness by focusing on the customer and continuous improvement. Methodologies developed in Japan by Americans such as Deming and Juran were adapted and implemented in US organisations and later in UK organisations.From a study of service industries a pattem has emerged of the adoption of Total Quality Management as a means of improving organisational effectiveness. With this came the adoption of the European Quality Award model as a basis for self-assessment and for measuring how far an organisation has progressed on the journey to Total Quality. Similar problems and challenges faced by service industries were identified within Royal Mail (part of the British Post Office) and this thesis looks in depth at the implementation of Total Quality Management and the use of the European Quality Award model as a model for self-assessment in that organisation.The thesis examines the origins of Total Quality Management, the issue of the quality culture in organisations and the impact of self-assessment in the context of culture change. It looks at the transformation process in terms of comparing current state and desired future state during a period 1988 to 1996. It draws learning opportunities in terms of successes and pitfalls in the implementation of Total Quality Management. In looking at the issues of controlling processes and gaining commitment of people, the thesis considers the importance of leadership in achieving a balanced approach.