Hackman, J. R. and R. Wagemen (1995). "Total Quality Management: Empirical, Conceptual and Practical Issues." Administrative Science Quarterly, 40: 309-342.

They do a conceptual analysis of TQM to see if its an enduring social movement or a fad.

Most of TQM draws on the works of Deming, Juran, and Ishikawa. They assume that the cost of poor quality is greater than the cost of achieving quality. Organizations that produce high quality goods will do better than those with low quality goods. They also assume that employees naturally care about quality and if given the tools and training and management support they will improve it. Organizations need to remove systems that promote fear. Another assumption is that organizations are systems of highly interdependent parts, and problems invariably cross functional lines. Finally, they state that quality is the responsibility of top management.

They specify four principles to improve quality. First is to focus on work processes. Second is analysis of variability. Third is management by fact. Fourth is learning and continuous improvement. They also prescribe five interventions to realize these principles:

1. Explicit identification and measurement of customer requirements.

2. Creation of supplier partnerships

3. Use of cross-functional teams to identify and solve quality problems

4. Use of scientific methods to monitor performance and to identify points of high leverage for performance improvement. (control charts, pareto analysis, cost-of-quality analysis).

5. Use of process-management heuristics to enhance team effectiveness (flowchart, brainstorming, cause-and-effect diagram)

In their assessment they found that organizations do assume that top management is responsible for quality. They also:

1. Use short-term problem solving teams.

2. They train in TQM.

3. Top-down implementation

4. Developing supplier relationships.

5. Obtaining data about customers.

They also do competitive benchmarking and employee involvement (suggestion systems, etc.) -- two ideas not explicitly advocated by TQM founders.

But they also diverge from TQM ideals in the following ways:

1. Less use of scientific method and more group process techniques.

2. Modify performance and reward systems to promote specific quality goals, though that is considered counterproductive by Deming.

Hackman and Wagemen conclude that empirical evaluation of TQM programs begs the following questions:

1. Is it really TQM?

2. What are its effects on work processes?

3. What outcomes are obtained.

It's really difficult to assess the impact of TQM on organizations.