TQM and Organizational Culture: A Case Study

Abstract

This article presents a case study of the total quality management (TQM) implementation process in a local church. The case focuses on the organizational culture emerging from the application of TQM principles over a period of seven years. The case examines the transformation effort through the lens of the competing values framework (CVF) of organizational culture. The article presents theoretical propositions based on the CVF and the concepts of TQM. ft then tests and revises the propositions using evidence from the case study, including a CVF survey of church leaders. The case study concludes that TQM implementation can lead to a balanced CVF profile and that both TQM principles and managerial ideology of TQM implementation can influence specific changes in the culture profile.