JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, VOL.

18, 363±376 (1997)

The measurement of TQM principles

and work-related outcomes
PAULA C. MORROW
Department of Management, Industrial Relations Center, 300 Carver Hall, Iowa State University,
Ames, Iowa 50011, U.S.A.

Summary Building on the work of Dean and Bowen (1994), this paper proposes measures of the
extent to which three TQM principles (i.e. customer focus, continuous improvement,
and teamwork) have become an integral part of an organization's culture. The measures
are also used to examine the relationship between the implementation of TQM principles
and work-related outcomes, to include job satisfaction, communication, and perceptions
of the work environment. Results derived from a survey of 2249 employees of a large
midwestern organization indicated that reasonably reliable and distinct measures were
developed and that the adoption of TQM principles was associated with more favorable
work-related outcomes. Further research to verify the psychometric properties of these
measures and to determine whether TQM principles impact on `harder' measures of
organizational performance is recommended. # 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)

No. of Figures: 1 No. of Tables: 4 No. of References: 37

Introduction

Advocates of total quality management (TQM) are quick to point out that there are a number
of frameworks available which outline the key components of a quality initiative (e.g. Deming's
14 points, Crosby's 14 steps, Juran's breakthrough strategy). While certainly insightful, these
criteria do not always provide sucient speci®city for corporate initiation of TQM or internal
evaluation of progress (Caudron, 1993; Cole, 1993; Wilkinson, Marchington and Dale, 1993).
The criteria speci®ed by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award have helped to address
this concern. However, confusion remains regarding what are the fundamental principles of
TQM, as opposed to what are its ancillary practices and techniques. Dean and Bowen (1994)
have examined the voluminous TQM literature carefully and asserted that there are three core
principles inherent throughout the various alternative TQM frameworks: customer focus,
continuous improvement, and teamwork. Other TQM experts (e.g. Stahl, 1995; Fisher, 1992)
appear to concur on the centrality of these three principles, although some experts identify
additional (and di€ering) principles.
At the outset, it is important to distinguish between the adoption of principles consistent with
the TQM philosophy and the realization of improved quality/organizational performance. In

The author would like to thank James C. McElroy, one of Consulting Editors, and the reviewers for their helpful
suggestions in developing this manuscript.

CCC 0894±3796/97/040363±14$17.50 Received 21 April 1995

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted 12 March 1996
364 P. C. MORROW

essence, it is the distinction between means (i.e. beliefs and practices consistent with TQM) and
ends (e.g. fewer defects, less scrap, more customer satisfaction). Flynn, Schroeder and
Sakakibara (1994) stress the importance of this distinction by referring to TQM work practices
as inputs or causes, and to quality performance as outputs or e€ects. The TQM literature, which
is heavily practitioner-oriented, has a tendency to confound this means/ends distinction. A ®rm
with strong upper level management commitment to TQM, for example, may be described as a
case illustration of TQM's success. Yet without adequate measures of quality performance, it is
premature to equate such TQM means (i.e. top management commitment) with ends. Develop-
ment of measures to assess the extent to which organizations have successfully implemented
TQM principles has, unfortunately, lagged.
The purpose of this investigation is twofold. First, measures of the extent to which TQM
principles (i.e. customer focus, continuous improvement, teamwork) have become an integral
component of an organization's work units are proposed. The second purpose of the study is to
explore the relationship between the implementation of TQM principles and work-related out-
comes such as satisfaction, communication, and perceptions of the work environment.

Literature Review

While scholarly publications related to TQM have increased dramatically over the last several
years, the majority of these contributions have been made by people with a technological,
operations, or production background and perspective (Wilkinson et al., 1993). Only recently
has research attention been focused on the management or `people' side of TQM (e.g. Blackburn
and Rosen, 1993; Bowen and Lawler, 1992; Wilkinson, Marchington, Goodman and Acker,
1992) and the need to demonstrate the e€ectiveness of TQM scienti®cally (e.g. Flynn et al., 1994;
Saraph, Benson and Shroeder, 1989). Pioneering e€orts to operationalize TQM principles,
practices, and techniques have been undertaken by Saraph et al. (1989) and Flynn et al. (1994).
Saraph et al. (1989) identi®ed eight critical factors of quality management, to include: (1) the role
of management leadership and quality policy; (2) the role of the quality department; (3) training;
(4) product/service design; (5) supplier quality management; (6) process management; (7) quality
data and reporting (feedback); and (8) employee relations. In Dean and Bowen's (1994)
framework, however, these measures re¯ect TQM practices and techniques, rather than the basic
principles underlying TQM. All eight measures, completed only by managerial level employees,
were shown to be reliable and preliminary evidence of validity was shown within a sample of 20
private sector organizations.
The Flynn et al. (1994) study built on the Saraph et al. study, exhibited several important
di€erences. It employed the plant rather than the organization as the unit of analysis and utilized
perceptions of both line and managerial level employees. These researchers elected to restrict
themselves to manufacturing organizations but broadened their generalizability by including
Japanese and American plants. In developing their list of quality management factors, they relied
more on literature describing actual TQM practices, as opposed to the theoretical writings of
TQM experts which guided the Saraph et al. study. The Flynn et al. factors were: (1) top
management support; (2) quality information (feedback); (3) process management; (4) product
design; (5) workforce management; (6) supplier involvement; and (7) customer involvement. As
Flynn et al. point out, the similarity between this list and that developed by Saraph et al. supports
the content validity of both studies. Reasonably reliable and valid measures for the factors listed

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)
 MEASUREMENT OF TQM PRINCIPLES 365

were achieved, although the psychometric properties of the customer involvement measure were
rather marginal.
The measures developed by Saraph et al. and Flynn et al. provide a mechanism whereby
TQM practices and techniques could be evaluated. Measures for Dean and Bowen's (1994) three
TQM principles have not yet been developed. The need for more abstract or principle-level TQM
measures is further underscored by recent ®ndings that contextual variables, like industry
classi®cation and organizational size, can a€ect the perceived relevance and adoption of speci®c
TQM work practices and techniques (Benson, Saraph and Schroeder, 1991). In addition,
assessments of TQM are typically garnered from managerial level employees and not from
random samples of employees working at all organizational levels. Understanding what is meant
by `customer focus', `continuous improvement', and `teamwork' from the employee point of view
may provide a more valid and useful way of measuring progress in TQM implementation.
Accordingly, measures for these three focal dimensions were developed for this study.

TQM measures
Customer focus
Customer focus is generally regarded as the most important TQM principle (Dean and Bowen,
1994). Appreciation of internal, as well as external customers, is viewed as fundamental for long-
term organizational success. Maintaining close relationships with customers and regularly
seeking feedback from them are common TQM practices. Four items tapping these ideas were
developed. The speci®c items developed for this subscale, as well as the measures for continuous
improvement and teamwork are reported in Appendix A.

Continuous improvement
This principle refers to an organization's ongoing quest for better work methods and organ-
izational processes. A commitment to continuous improvement is ideally recognizable at the
work unit and individual level. Examples of continuous improvement practices include process
analysis and reengineering while representative techniques include statistical process control and
®shbone diagrams (Dean and Bowen, 1994). These ideas were operationalized via four items.

Teamwork
Establishing and valuing the input of teams is the third integral component of TQM. The essence
of teamwork is the high value which is attached to collaboration. Collaboration can entail many
partnerships and even include non-organizational members (e.g. suppliers). Solutions arrived at
collectively are generally thought to be better, more creative, and foster commitment to the
ultimate outcome. In order to realize the advantages of collaboration, however, teams must
genuinely facilitate the participation and involvement of members, overcome hierarchical power
di€erences, and culminate in the actual solving of work problems. Four items focusing on
intraorganizational teamwork were formulated.

TQM implementation and work outcomes

To date, literature examining the relationship between the institutionalization of TQM and
work-related outcomes has been mainly anecdotal. Some researchers have asserted that the

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)
366 P. C. MORROW

success attributed to TQM has been overestimated (Harari, 1993) while others contend that
TQM has failed to demonstrate impact on ®nancial indicators of success (Fisher, 1992). There is
also the so-called `®le drawer' problem, i.e. unsuccessful TQM projects are rarely described in the
literature. Most case studies available, however, indicate that organizational performance
improves as a result of TQM (e.g. Becker, Golomski and Lory, 1994). Rigorous, scienti®c studies
of the ecacy of TQM are generally absent. In addition, since TQM is a relatively new concept
which necessarily requires a long-term perspective, sucient time may not yet have elapsed for
many organizations to have conducted careful assessments and/or realized bene®ts.
In the absence of such research on the relationship between TQM and organizational
performance, the question of how TQM a€ects intermediary outcomes, such as work-related
attitudes and perceptions, may be of interest. Does the introduction of TQM have positive
`spillover' e€ects on employee attitudes and perceptions? Or, does it generate the `resistance to
change' phenomenon common to many planned organizational change e€orts and thereby
adversely impactÐat least initiallyÐemployee attitudes and perceptions? Stated di€erently,
given the potentially long-time horizon necessary to study the e€ects of TQM, researchers and
practitioners alike may well be advised to turn their attention to more immediate e€ects of TQM;
e€ects that are more closely related to the adoption of TQM rather than results. Of particular
interest are the impacts of TQM e€orts on employee attitudes. Establishing such a link would tie
TQM processes to such indirect costs as those connected with absenteeism and turnover.
The work-related outcomes selected for inclusion in this study were job satisfaction, com-
munication, and perceptions of the work environment. While empirical research is not yet
available to substantiate an explicit connection between each TQM dimension and these three
outcomes, TQM embodies a number of well-established management precepts which suggest
that TQM should have a desirable impact on these outcomes. Customer focus, for example, is
evident in job design principles which emphasize (among other things) establishing client
relationships and feedback and are, in turn, associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and
more favorable perceptions of the work environment (Grin, 1982). Similarly, continuous
improvement can be linked to goal setting and its well-documented consequences for job satis-
faction (Locke and Latham, 1984). Teamwork facilitates the meeting of aliative needs within
the workplace and has been directly connected to job satisfaction (Wall, Kemp, Jackson and
Clegg, 1986) and organizational commitment (Cordery, Mueller and Smith, 1991).
In addition to these linkages, one might expect employees in workplaces which are governed
by TQM principles to demonstrate enhanced perceptions of job satisfaction, communication,
and the work environment because of accompanying changes in organizational philosophy and
structure. Organizations which adopt TQM are frequently ¯atter, more decentralized, more
information oriented, and create more responsive work groups (Stahl, 1995). These changes,
in turn, allow for more individual empowerment and voice (i.e. more satisfaction with work
and supervision), more accurate/faster communication (i.e. better information quality and
quantity), and the potential for warmer, more supportive work situations (i.e. more satisfaction
with co-workers, a better work environment; Blackburn and Rosen, 1993; McFarland, Senn and
Childress, 1993). Finally, while important in their own right, these outcomes have also been
identi®ed, as noted below, as determinants of other managerially relevant behaviors and
outcomes.
Job satisfaction was selected because it has consistently been shown to be inversely related to
absenteeism (Scott and Taylor, 1985) and turnover, although in the latter instance its e€ect is
moderated by economic conditions (Carsten and Spector, 1987). Secondly, satis®ed workers
engage in more job-related prosocial behaviors (Organ and Konovsky, 1989) and have
higher levels of life satisfaction (Liou, Sylvia and Brunk, 1990). Finally, job satisfaction has been

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)
 MEASUREMENT OF TQM PRINCIPLES 367

shown to increase with the implementation of a TQM program (Harber, Marriott and Indrus,
1991).
Communication, as re¯ected in perceived information quality and quantity, was chosen on the
grounds that decisions are only as good as the information upon which they are based (Baskin
and Arono€, 1980). Information quality is frequently evaluated in terms of accuracy and
objectivity while information quantity is frequently evaluated with respect to the extent it is
withheld or overwhelming (i.e. information overload).
Perceptions of the work environment were included since such perceptions indicate the degree
to which the work situation is believed to be personally bene®cial or detrimental to the individual
(James and James, 1989). In addition, perceptions of the work environment have been linked to
such outcomes as intention to quit (Jackofsky and Slocum, 1988) and willingness to participate
in training and development programs (e.g. Maurer and Tarulli, 1994).
In addition to the work-related outcomes, two control variables were used in this study,
organization tenure and exposure to TQM. Organizational tenure was controlled for since
numerous studies have indicated that long-tenured workers are more satis®ed, committed, etc.
(Morrow and McElroy, 1987). There were several reasons to control for exposure to TQM. First,
the study organization was large and geographically dispersed. TQM e€orts were being imple-
mented gradually and not all employees had received the same amount of training. Moreover,
employees who had not been formally trained could still know about TQM through other non-
work related sources (e.g. self-study, enrollment in continuing education, prior employment).
Some employees may have been favorably predisposed to TQM (i.e. self-selection) and/or been
among the more receptive or well-educated employees. On the other hand, some employees'
exposure to TQM may not have been voluntary or well received (e.g. some may have regarded
their training as a fad or isolated program). Since no precise information was available on these
points, removing the e€ects of exposure to TQM seemed a reasonable strategy.

Method
Sample
Data for this project were obtained as part of a more general investigation of employee morale at
a midwestern transportation agency. The agency requested that an anonymous survey be
administered to all employees in order to assess baseline information on TQM work practices as
the organization began to transition itself from a conventional bureaucracy to a more pro-
gressive work environment. More speci®cally, in 1993, administrators of this large public sector
organization, with employees working in many geographically separate locations, made a long-
term commitment to TQM. In so doing they authorized development of a plan for phasing in
TQM over a 3-year period. Applying the notion of internal benchmarking, these administrators
contracted with the author to complete a baseline assessment of the extent to which TQM ideas
and practices were already in place, although perhaps not recognized as TQM per se. At the time
of data collection, pilot workshops had been o€ered, there were plans to promote the TQM
initiative via internal communication channels (e.g. meetings, intra-agency videos, newsletters,
etc.) and the ®rst set of regular workshops for both managers and line-level employees were
scheduled.
In order to instill con®dence in the anonymity of the survey and thereby achieve a high
response rate, information related to work unit membership and occupation was not collected.

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)
368 P. C. MORROW

However, the occupations represented in the agency workforce were themselves very diverse,
including highly clerical and/or customer-oriented positions (e.g. driver's license examiners),
highway engineers, motor vehicle enforcement, and highway maintenance personnel (e.g. equip-
ment operators). The sample itself consisted of 2249 employees drawn from the agency
population of 3666 (61.3 per cent response rate). It was disproportionately (67.1 per cent) male,
nearly equal to the population percentage of 72.0 per cent. Slightly more than one-third (36.0 per
cent) of the sample employees were less than 40 years of age while 62.7 per cent were 40 years of
age or older.

Measures

Descriptive statistics for the study variables are presented in Table 1. As noted, measures of the
extent to which TQM principles have been integrated into the organization were explicitly
designed for this study. Smith, Kendall and Hulin's (1969) Job Descriptive Index was used to
measure satisfaction with the work itself, satisfaction with supervision, and satisfaction with
co-workers. Items in each subscale utilize a 3-point response framework (i.e. no, ?, yes, which
were converted to 0, 1, 3 response options). Coecients alphas for the three measures of job
satisfaction ranged from 0.79 to 0.92.
Communication was evaluated by asking respondents to rate information quality and inform-
ation quantity within the organization. Information quality was measured using four items.
Respondents were asked to rate the quality of information they received from their (a) immediate
supervisors, (b) peers, (c) subordinatesÐif applicable, and (d) personnel. Response options
ranged from 1 (incorrect, not useful) to 5 (accurate, useful). Information quantity was measured
in a similar fashion, again using four items. Respondents were asked to judge the quantity of
information they received from the aforementioned sources. Response options ranged from 1
(too little or too much information) to 5 (just the right amount of information). Cronbach alphas
for the two communication measures were 0.70 (information quality) and 0.68 (information
quantity).
Five measures from Litwin and Stringer's (1968) Organization Climate Questionnaire were
employed to assess perceptions of the work environment: structure (the extent to which the
organization subdivided tasks and established procedures for the e€ective completion of work),
warmth (feelings of a good work atmosphere), support (perceived helpfulness of managers and
other employees), standards (perceived importance of goals and performance standards), and
identity (feelings of being a valued member and belonging to the organization). Respondents were
asked to evaluate multiple statements describing each aspect of climate on a 1 (de®nitely disagree)
to 4 (de®nitely agree) scale. Cronbach alphas ranged from 0.65 (standards) to 0.77 (identity).
The ®rst control variable, organizational tenure, was based on self-report. The average tenure
was 15.11 years. The second control variable, TQM exposure, was measured using three items
described in Appendix A. Respondents described their level of exposure to TQM by indicating
on a 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) scale the extent to which the statement matched
their exposure. The TQM exposure measure yielded a Cronbach alpha of 0.83.

Procedure

Descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used to evaluate the three TQM measures. Next,
separate regression analyses were computed for each of the dependent outcome measures. In

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)
# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlations among study variables

Variable M S.D. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1. Tenure 15.11 10.20 Ð
2. TQM exposure 2.51 0.91 70.03 0.83
3. Customer focus 3.05 0.75 0.06 0.25 0.69
4. Continuous improvement 3.36 0.68 0.06 0.36 0.45 0.74
5. Teamwork 2.59 0.87 0.06 0.35 0.49 0.57 0.81
6. Work satisfaction 1.50 0.58 0.13 0.23 0.34 0.44 0.40 0.79
7. Supervisor satisfaction 1.82 0.65 70.01 0.28 0.27 0.48 0.48 0.44 0.84
8. Co-worker satisfaction 1.99 0.80 0.08 0.19 0.40 0.44 0.40 0.48 0.39 0.92
9. Information quality 3.22 0.82 0.02 0.27 0.36 0.41 0.46 0.36 0.46 0.40 0.70
10. Information quantity 2.87 0.87 0.04 0.28 0.37 0.43 0.49 0.35 0.45 0.40 0.75 0.68

MEASUREMENT OF TQM PRINCIPLES

11. Structure 2.29 0.50 0.11 0.30 0.37 0.48 0.52 0.40 0.44 0.38 0.39 0.42 0.72
12. Warmth 2.51 0.55 0.02 0.24 0.35 0.44 0.47 0.42 0.45 0.48 0.41 0.42 0.50 0.74
13. Support 2.60 0.55 0.05 0.30 0.36 0.52 0.57 0.45 0.56 0.43 0.44 0.49 0.60 0.66 0.72
14. Standards 2.66 0.60 0.06 0.16 0.28 0.46 0.26 0.21 0.13 0.25 0.23 0.19 0.24 0.12 0.15 0.65
J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)

15. Identity 2.37 0.62 0.05 0.28 0.41 0.56 0.53 0.51 0.43 0.51 0.43 0.45 0.56 0.60 0.64 0.30 0.77
Cronbach alphas are reported along the diagonal. Correlations 0.06 are statistically signi®cant at P 0.01 (2-tailed).

369
370 P. C. MORROW

each of these equations, the control variables (tenure and TQM exposure) were forced into the
computation in the ®rst step. Customer focus, continuous improvement, and teamwork were
then entered in the second step. Standardized regression weights, corresponding t values, total
R2 s, and R2 change values are reported. Table 3 shows the results for job satisfaction and
communication while Table 4 shows the results for work environment perceptions.

Results
TQM measures
In the absence of longitudinal data, evaluation of the three TQM measures is con®ned to their
descriptive properties, factor structures, reliabilities, and intercorrelations. Responses for each
measure were distributed from 1 to 5, thus capturing the full range of the 1±5 response option
framework. As shown in Table 1, the means for the three measures were clustered near the 3.00
theoretical midpoint with means ranging from 2.59 (teamwork) to 3.36 (continuous improve-
ment). Standard deviations were neither exceptionally small nor large (i.e. 0.68 to 0.87),
suggesting that none of the measures was characterized by restriction in range.
The 12 items developed to operationalize the three TQM principles were examined using
principal-axes factor analysis with oblique rotation. Oblique rotation was used because it makes
more sense conceptually; that is, one might expect the TQM principle items to be correlated
(Harman, 1976). Three factors were extracted having eigenvalues greater than 1, which together
accounted for 58.2 per cent of the variance (see Table 2). Individual factors were identi®ed by
those items5+0.35. Using this decision rule, all 12 items loaded on their theoretically
appropriate factor, with no multiple loadings.

Table 2. Factor analysis of TQM principles items by factor

Item*{ Factor 1: Factor 2: Factor 3:
teamwork customer continuous
focus improvement
1. Teams used to solve problems 0:72 0.11 70.00
2. Team concept embraced 0:70 70.00 0.11
3. Team meetings solving problems 0:85 0.01 70.03
4. Team member input valued 0:75 0.08 0.04
5. Meet regularly with customers 0.09 0:72 70.10
6. Co-workers understand customers 70.04 0:55 0.26
7. Customers provide feedback 0.06 0:73 70.07
8. Close contact with customers 70.02 0:79 0.06
9. Unit understands continued improvement 0.26 0.02 0:64
10. Unit accepts continued improvement goal 0.30 70.00 0:65
11. Personal commitment to continued improvement 70.19 0.09 0:69
12. Boss believes in continued improvement 0.18 70.05 0:67
Eigenvalues 4.69 1.24 1.06
Percentage of variance 39.0 10.4 8.8
* Factor loadings of +0.35 or larger served to de®ne factors and are underlined.
{ Order of item presentation is based on conceptual aliation. Items were widely distributed throughout the survey.
Exact item wordings in Appendix A.

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)
 MEASUREMENT OF TQM PRINCIPLES 371

Cronbach alpha estimates for internal consistency reliability were 0.69 (customer focus), 0.74
(continuous improvement), and 0.81 (teamwork). The latter two measures thus exceeded the
conventional 0.70 standard for reliability while customer focus demonstrated slightly less than
acceptable reliability. The intercorrelations among the three measures indicated that the three
TQM indicators were moderately, positively related to each other, as one might expect with the
organization-wide change associated with TQM. Correlations ranged from 0.45 to 0.57,
suggesting that measures for the three principles are distinct but as Dean and Bowen (1994,
p. 396) suggest, `mutually reinforcing' and likely sharing common antecedents. Taken together,
these results suggest that three distinct and reliable measures of TQM were formulated. There is,
obviously, need for improvement in the reliability of the customer focus measure. This might
easily be remedied by the development of additional items to tap customer orientation (i.e. 4-item
scales are small by most psychometric standards).

TQM principles and work-related outcomes

The relationship between TQM principles and the work-related outcomes of job satisfaction,
communication, and perceptions of the work environment, controlling for tenure and TQM
exposure, are shown in Tables 3 and 4. In general, the control variables exerted relatively weak
e€ects on the dependent variable outcomes, ranging from a total R2 of 0.03 (standards) to 0.11
(structure). Inspection of the standardized beta weights showed the direction of the relationships
to be positive for both tenure (as expected) and for TQM exposure. TQM exposure, whether
through organizational training or prior experiences, appears to be associated with more
favorable work-related attitudes.
In step 2 of each analysis, the three TQM measures were added and demonstrated a statisti-
cally signi®cant R2 change in every instance. R2 changes ranged from 0.18 (satisfaction with
work, standards) to 0.30 (identity), thus supporting the notion that perceptions that TQM
principles have been adopted covaries with work-related attitudes. Moreover, the beta weights
indicate that each TQM measure is, separately, signi®cantly and positively related to the work
attitudes with only three exceptions. Stated di€erently, each TQM principle appears to be
uniquely and positively related to each dependent variable of interest. Two of the exceptions
entail a nonsigni®cant relationship between customer focus and satisfaction with supervision and
customer focus and support. The third exception was evident in a nonsigni®cant relationship
between teamwork and standards. Collectively, the results suggest that the organizational
adoption of TQM principles has desirable consequences vis-aÁ-vis work-related attitudes.

Discussion

This research e€ort represents an initial attempt to develop measures of the three TQM principles
advanced by Dean and Bowen (1994). Given the infancy of TQM within the organization studied,
a predictive validity study was not possible. In addition, objective indicators of principle
implementation (e.g. archival evidence of continuous improvement) were unavailable. However,
it is hoped that the formulation of these measures will stimulate other researchers to evaluate the
generalizability of the TQM measures proposed herein, improving their reliability and more fully
documenting their validity. Ideally, such assessments will be longitudinal, will expand the work-
related outcomes considered (e.g. job involvement, organizational commitment, turnover), and

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)
# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

372
Table 3. Results of regression analyses for job satisfaction and communication
Work satisfaction Supervisor satisfaction Co-worker satisfaction Information quality Information quantity

P. C. MORROW
Total Total Total Total Total
Variables b t R2
R2 b t R2
R2 b t R2
R2 b t R2
R2 b t R2
R2

Step 1
Tenure 0.14 6.22* 0.01 0.42 0.09 4.08* 0.03 1.38 0.05 2.13{
TQM 0.15 10.62* 0.29 13.17* 0.19 8.44* 0.27 12.28* 0.28 12.80*
Exposure
0.07* 0.08* 0.04* 0.07* 0.08*
Step 2
Customer focus 0.14 5.76* 70.01 70.48 0.21 9.02* 0.14 5.94* 0.13 5.62*
Continuous 0.27 10.54* 0.30 12.15* 0.26 10.25* 0.18 7.06* 0.18 7.40*
improvement
Teamwork 0.16 6.28* 0.28 11.28* 0.15 5.71* 0.27 10.25* 0.29 11.35*
0.26* 0.18* 0.30* 0.22* 0.26* 0.22* 0.27* 0.19* 0.29* 0.21*
{ p 4 0:05.
* p 4 0:0001.

Table 4. Results of regression analyses for work environment perceptions

Structure Warmth Support Standards Identity
Total Total Total Total Total
Variables b t R2
R 2
b t R2
R2
b t R2
R 2
b t R2
R 2
b t R2
R2
J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)

Step 1
Tenure 0.13 6.14* 0.03 1.27 0.06 2.68{ 0.07 2.92{ 0.06 2.80{
TQM 0.31 14.16* 0.24 10.85* 0.30 13.88* 0.16 6.94* 0.29 13.18*
Exposure
0.11* 0.06* 0.09* 0.03* 0.09*
Step 2
Customer focus 0.07 2.95* 0.13 5.51* 0.04 1.82 0.11 4.32* 0.12 5.65*
Continuous 0.22 9.26* 0.22 8.57* 0.27 11.51* 0.41 15.55* 0.35 14.94*
improvement
Teamwork 0.32 13.02* 0.27 10.36* 0.38 16.00* 70.02 70.74 0.25 10.61*
0.34* 0.23* 0.27* 0.21* 0.39* 0.29* 0.21* 0.18* 0.39* 0.30*
{ p 4 0:01.
* p 4 0:0001.
 MEASUREMENT OF TQM PRINCIPLES 373

will reduce the shared method error limitation evident herein by evaluating the impact of TQM
on so-called `harder' measures of organizational success (e.g. ®nancial indicators, number of new
innovations). It would be useful if exposure to TQM could be more fully controlled in future
studies in order to separate the e€ects of organization-sponsored TQM training from alternative
ways of developing an orientation toward TQM. Finally, independent assessments of principle
implementation which are not dependent on employee perceptions would also be bene®cial
(e.g. how many customers can the employees identify?).
The present study recommends the involvement of all organizational employees in monitoring
the adoption of TQM principles. As Olian and Rynes (1992) report, it is usually recommended
that all relevant parties be involved in TQM assessments but in practice, co-workers and sub-
ordinates are rarely included. In some ways this situation is surprising, given the importance
attached to measurement in TQM (i.e. `nothing improves until it is measured') and the extent to
which TQM is evolving into a standard business practice.
The suggested use of survey methodology to evaluate TQM implementation and progress is not
a new idea, as the Flynn et al. (1994) and Saraph et al. (1989) studies attest. What distinguishes
this study from these earlier e€orts is the assertion that a clearer articulation of measures of TQM
principles, as opposed to TQM practices and techniques is necessary. The next logical step would
be to verify that the implementation of the TQM practices and techniques outlined by Dean and
Bowen (1994) do, indeed, result in stronger perceptions of adoption of the corresponding TQM
principle (e.g. does collecting information about customer needs (a practice) and using customer
information in setting product speci®cations (a technique) increase the perception that the
organization has internalized the customer focus principle?). Figure 1 illustrates this relationship.
Figure 1 also implies that the relationships among TQM practices, techniques, and principles
warrant further empirical validation. It is possible that these factors are not nested in the manner
prescribed by Dean and Bowen (1994) and that practices and techniques may themselves have

Figure 1. TQM and work related outcomes

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)
374 P. C. MORROW

independent e€ects on work-related outcomes, without bene®t of principle adoption. Stated

di€erently, the adoption of TQM principles may not necessarily mediate the relationship
between practices/techniques and outcomes (i.e. TQM principles may only exist as latent con-
structs underlying TQM practices/techniques). If implementation of TQM practices and/or
techniques were to yield the same outcomes, the importance of organization-wide adoption of
the TQM philosophy may be overstated. In any event, the utility of the principles±practices-
techniques framework would bene®t from examination under conditions where the other two
factors posited in the framework are controlled.
It is also possible that additional factors may moderate the relationship between TQM-related
variables and work outcomes. Figure 1 suggests two possibilities. First, top management com-
mitment to TQM (e.g. Waldman, 1994) and visionary leadership (Anderson, Rungtusanatham,
and Schroeder, 1994) may enhance or diminish the e€ects of TQM. Second, the extent to which
organizational structure and culture change to support TQM (e.g. decentralized decision-making,
team-based rewards) may be critical. Contingency models of TQM may also be necessary. For
example, Sitkin, Sutcli€e and Schroeder (1994) suggest that the level of uncertainty facing an
organization (task, product/process, or organizational) calls for modi®cation of TQM activities.
Lawler (1994) goes even further and suggests that TQM is particularly well suited to high-volume
production situations whereas the employee involvement approach is more appropriate for
continuous process production situations. Each of these ideas warrants empirical examination.
In summary, TQM evokes strong emotions, both pro and con, in the practitioner and
academic worlds alike. What is needed is a more dispassionate consideration of TQM's strengths
and weaknesses. Perhaps, through the use of standardized measures, we can let the data, rather
than ego-involvement determine the utility of TQM.

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# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)
376 P. C. MORROW

Appendix A: Measures Designed for

this Study

Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each
statement using a 1Ðstrongly disagree to 5Ðstrongly agree response framework.

Customer focus
(1) The people my work unit serves (i.e. our customers) meet with us regularly.
(2) My co-workers have a good understanding of who their customers are.
(3) The people my work unit serves (i.e. our customers) give us feedback on the quality of
our work.
(4) People in my work unit maintain close contact with the people we serve.

Continuous improvement
(1) My work unit understand the concept of `continuous improvement'.
(2) My work unit has accepted the goal of continuous improvement.
(3) I am committed to continuous improvement in my work.
(4) My boss really believes we can improve our work continuously.

Teamwork
(1) My work unit uses teams to solve problems.
(2) The (organization name) has embraced the team concept.
(3) Many work problems are now being solved through team meetings.
(4) During team meetings, we make an e€ort to get all team members' opinions and ideas
before making a decision.

TQM exposure
(1) I have a good understanding of Total Quality Management (TQM).
(2) I have received adequate training in TQM.
(3) TQM ideas have been clearly explained to me.

# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 18: 363±376 (1997)