ENABLING A TQM STRUCTURE THROUGH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Organization structure has been rather ignored by TQM Gurus. It is not even clear whether a TQM organization is centralized or not. Many companies superimpose their TQM programs on their existing structures overlooking the fact that the success of any organization rests heavily on the compatibility between its strategy and its structure. The absence of a clear perspective on a TQM structure inhibits the effective use of information technology (IT) as a quality enabling factor. This paper presents the main characteristics of a TQM structure and delineates the enabling role of IT for each.