Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations

Now that business, government, and other fields are embracing Total Quality Management (TQM) as their management philosphy, TQM may also hold the solution for problems that exist in human services organizations today. After a brief history of TQM, the author discusses the philosophy of management, quality as an organizational goal, the challenges of determining an organization's customers, and collecting and using customer quality data. He also describes how to achieve quality improvement through teamwork and shows how to use brainstorming, cause and effect diagrams, check sheets, and pareto analysis. Among the other topics examined are contractor involvement, training top management personnel, training middle managers and staff, and selecting an implementation strategy. All the examples used in this volume are drawn from the fields of public administration, gerontology, public health, and management of nonprofit organizations. Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations is a good "backgrounder" for human service administrators and organizations prior to undergoing a more detailed agency discussion of, or training in, TQM. It is also of great value to students and faculty in social work administration programs who are interested in the basics of TQM.