Application of total quality management (TQM) within information technology organizations as perceived by senior managers

This research studied and analyzed the perceptions of Information Technology (IT) managers/executives regarding the application of Total Quality Management (TQM) for increasing the performance of IT organizations in the United States. A particular emphasis of this research was placed on assessing the importance of the leader's role in successful implementation of TQM. Four hundred fifty IT managers/executives from major business and institutional sectors in the United States were selected to participate in completing a perception survey. Two hundred forty completed surveys were collected, nearly all from senior IT executives.;The findings of the study can be summarized as follows: (1) The vast majority of IT senior/executive management positions are occupied by men under the age of 49. (2) Nearly half of the respondents indicated that their IT organization has been involved in implementing TQM for more than a year. (3) The overwhelming reason for not implementing TQM was reported by IT managers/executives to be lack of management commitment. (4) IT managers/executives felt that focus on customer satisfaction and management commitment were the most important TQM principles. (5) IT managers/executives firmly believe that TQM has been a major contributor to their employees' teamwork, morale, and job satisfaction which has resulted in an overall productivity increase in their IT organizations. (6) Significant increase in customer/end-user satisfaction has been achieved because of the implementation of TQM. (7) The findings of this study indicate that continuous TQM training for management and employee is among the critical success factors. (8) Nearly half of the IT managers/executives were not certain that their TQM program had reached a level where the benefits outweighed the cost. (9) With respect to the bottom line question, "Has TQM been a success?", nearly half of IT managers/executives responded yes. (10) There was a high degree of consistency among the findings from the analysis of the Likert scale items and the findings from the two open-ended questions. (11) IT managers/executives strongly view senior management sponsorship, putting the focus on customer satisfaction and continuous training as key factors that can make or break the TQM culture in IT organizations.;The researcher concludes that TQM if properly understood and executed, coupled with strong management commitment, can significantly increase the overall effectiveness of IT organizations.