Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

TQM: Just what the ethicist ordered

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Total quality management (TQM) has become a basic business practice in organizations throughout the world. Implementation of TQM in these organizations has been driven by the desire to increase profits in the highly competitive business world. Total quality management techniques are designed to improve performance.

Concurrently, organizations are striving to eradicate the concept that the termbusiness ethics is an oxymoron. Corporate codes of conduct have been developed to indicate the outside boundaries of acceptable organizational behavior and companies are espousing and enforcing the ideals contained within these codes.

It is our contention that these two business trends are intimately related. TQM encompasses concepts and practices that are in the best organizational interest for all stakeholders. Additionally, TQM promotes activities that encourage high moral behavior. To support this notion, consider the following six important concepts that provide a foundation for TQM:

Empowerment of employees Throughput that is prompt and without defects Helpfulness of managers and employees in task accomplishment Integrity of products, services and people Change in process and behavior Stakeholder emphasis (stockholders, customers, and equity)

Viewed in the above form, TQM is simply good ethics put into practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ciampa, D.: 1991,Total Quality (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA), p. 179.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeGeorge, R. T.: 1986,Business Ethics (Macmillian Publishing Company, New York), p. 44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M.: 1991, ‘Capitalism and Freedom’,Business Ethics by William Shaw (Wadsworth, Inc., Belmont), p. 161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J.: 1994,Management of Quality (ASQC Quality and Business One Irwin, Milwaukee), p. 72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harbour, J.: 1990, ‘Understanding and Improving Small Group Performance’,Performance & Instruction 1(7), as cited in Tenner and Detoro,Total Quality Management (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA), pp. 183–184 (1992).

  • Kant, I.: 1969,Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals (Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., Indianapolis), p. 44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Machiavelli, N.: 1513,The Prince, translation by Luigi Ricci, revised by E. R. P. Vincent (New American Library of World Literature, Inc., New York), p. 55 (1962), quoted in Keith Davis,Organizational Behavior (McGraw-Hill, New York), p. 245 (1977).

  • Nelson D. L. and J. C. Quick: 1994,Organizational Behavior (West Publishing Company, Minneapolis/St. Paul), p. 275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raiborn, C. and D. Payne: 1990, ‘Corporate Code of Conduct: Conscience and Continuum’,Journal of Business Ethics 9, 852–861.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J.: 1990, ‘Justice as Fairness’, in W. M. Hoffman and J. M. Moore (eds.),Business Ethics (McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York), p. 40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, R.: 1971,A Theory of Justice (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA), pp. 83–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Semich, J. W.: 1987, ‘The Costs of Quality’,Purchasing 61 (Nov. 5).

  • Steigner, I. D.: 1972,Group Process and Productivity (Academic Press, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tenner and Detoro: 1992,Total Quality Management (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading), pp. 183–184.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Loyola University, 70118, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Cecily Raiborn & Dinah Payne

Authors
  1. Cecily Raiborn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dinah Payne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Cecily Raiborn is a Professor of Accounting at Loyola University. Her teaching and research interests include managerial accounting, cost accounting, business ethics, and international business. She has published articles in the Journal of Business Ethics,the Labor Law Journal,the Journal of Corporate Accounting and Financeand Management Accounting.She is the author of two accounting books: Cost Accountingand Managerial Accounting.She is heavily involved in professional and student organizations.

Dinah Payne is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of New Orleans. Her teaching and research interests include business ethics, the legal environment of business, international business and international management: She has published articles in the Journal of Business Ethics,the Labor Law Journal,the Journal of Managerial Issuesand Management Accounting.She is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Southern Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Raiborn, C., Payne, D. TQM: Just what the ethicist ordered. J Bus Ethics 15, 963–972 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00705576

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00705576

Keywords

Search

Navigation