Abstract
PurposeThe primary objective of the paper is to present the role and meaning of fear in organizations implementing TQM. The author's intention is to identify the causes of fear in the TQM components as well as the main types of fear, their causes, consequences and methods of reduction.Design/methodology/approachThe main research method applied is a systematic review of the literature on the subject. The applied systematic review procedure takes into consideration the indicated research objective, the selection of the basic literature and publications, the presentation of the publication database and content analysis. The author also makes use of his own observations ensuing from his acting in the capacity of a TQM consultant and a juror of the Polish Quality Award.FindingsThe paper presents the causes of fear in the TQM components, the main types of fear and its consequences. The limited possibilities of eliminating fear are also indicated. Fear appears when, for various reasons, TQM is improperly implemented and maintained, but also when resources are allocated incorrectly (e.g. a wrong selection of quality team members), and it is included in social processes (e.g. in the quality team forming process). It appears when only structural empowerment rather than mental empowerment is applied, when there exist contradictory expectations with regard to empowerment, in case of excessive and/or “have to” commitment in particular employees, and when too much emphasis is placed on commitment.Research limitations/implicationsThe reflections included in the paper may become useful for quality management practitioners, as such knowledge allows them to avoid mistakes which are the cause of fear, that is an emotion making quality improvement difficult. The paper does not present the manifestations and sources of fear in all TQM components, and they are certainly included in a broadly understood quality culture. Nevertheless, the gathered and arranged knowledge can be the source of further research.Originality/valueBeing the result of the studies of the literature on the subject, this paper is one of few publications discussing in a detailed manner one of the principles of effective quality management formulated by E. Deming, namely “driving fear out”.
Highlights
Fear is one of the fundamental emotions, a process combining four elements: physiological arousal, subjective feelings, cognitive interpretation and behavioral expression (Zimbardo et al, 2017, p. 44)
Organizations following TQM may have to deal with the fear of changes, assessment, failure to achieve planned results, loss of power, punishment, exclusion from a group or organization, as well as the fear experienced by employees due to improper management styles
The consequences of fear are related to the types of fear
Summary
Fear is one of the fundamental emotions, a process combining four elements: physiological arousal, subjective feelings, cognitive interpretation and behavioral expression (Zimbardo et al, 2017, p. 44). Fear is one of the fundamental emotions, a process combining four elements: physiological arousal, subjective feelings, cognitive interpretation and behavioral expression The notion of fear is related to terms such as apprehension, uncertainty, risk, anxiety, horror. The terms fear and anxiety are often used interchangeably but “anxiety is seldom clearly represented, as such, in awareness, whereas fear is often unequivocal” The notion of fear is different from the notion of neurotic anxiety. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http:// creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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