Research Paper on:
Harvard Case Study: Sigtek And TQM

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valid but this allegation is most certainly valid for the corporate executives. Herein lies the dilemma. The assignment asks us to suggest what John Smithers could have done differently.  The answer is nothing. As the report outlines Smithers actions and attitudes, Smithers himself could not have done anything else to change the outcome. In a word, Smithers was placed  in an untenable situation, one from which he could not escape and one that he could not change. Or, rather, the only change he could have made was refusing to  become a TQM trainer in the first place. His job would have been on the line sooner and the workers would have experienced the same outcome. The  most critical problem associated with the implementation of Total Quality Management principles at Sigtek was the lack of commitment on the part of upper management. The publicly stated goals for  instituting the Total Quality Management program was to "improve product quality" and to "encourage better management practices" (Rosegrant, 1990). The third goal was to "gather all of the scattered and  diverse companies which Telwork had acquired under a single corporate umbrella" (Rosegrant, 1990). This last statement is not defined so it may or may not be one that would be  assisted by implementing TQM. If the corporate umbrella means a single management style, then, TQM might be appropriate. The first clue we have about the lack of upper level management  commitment is the lack of any kind of response from the senior and middle managers during and following their own training sessions. There were absolutely no questions during the training  program. As Smithers suggests, this was a group of no sales, i.e., they were not embracing the principles of TQM. The second clue was the lack of coverage for