The Five Pillars of TQM: How to Make Total Quality Management Work for You (Truman Talley) [Paperback]

Bill Creech (Author)

Book Description

Series: Truman Talley | Publication Date: December 1, 1995

This examination of Total Quality Management's principles and their implementation explains how anyone can introduce the five pillars of TQM into every aspect of an organization. It explores 19 major companies that have achieved TQM success.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Creech, a retired U.S. Air Force general, argues persuasively that in order to remain competitive and combat Japanese incursions into U.S. markets, corporate America must adopt the five principles of total quality management (TQM): product, process, organization, leadership and commitment. In this sensible study, consultant Creech explains how non-statisticians can comprehend and apply TQM methods, which require a humanistic orientation, empowerment on all levels and a holistic approach that involves the entire organization. TQM's decentralization calls for an emphasis on teams that serves as an antidote to the stultifying effects of centralized control. Creech maintains that TQM is best understood in the light of the writings of Peter Drucker, W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran, whose work is viewed "by the Japanese to be mainly responsible for the economic recovery of their country after World War II." Numerous detailed corporate and military case studies enrich this comprehensive, often persuasive brief.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A noted and successful practitioner of Total Quality Management (TQM), Creech believes that TQM leadership in a centralized organization is the object lesson for business today. To this end he has been able to demonstrate his successes and those of other organizations. He effectively presents the theories and insights of Peter Drucker, W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran, Philip Crosby, and other notables. The book is informative and replete with examples. It falls short, though, of the promise of its subtitle. TQM is not a "paint by number" road to success, and Creech's polemic on centralization is overdone. Centralization, like democracy or communism, is in itself neither right nor wrong. Creech's assessment that "a holistic TQM system is a proven answer to the realities of the 90s" is, however, on the mark. The book should be on the reading list for quality professionals.
- Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania TA, Philadelphia
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Plume (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452271029
• ISBN-13: 978-0452271029
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #650,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Benefit of Hitting on All Five Cylinders!, May 6, 2000

By 

Leslie D. Fink "Dee Fink" (Norman, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Five Pillars of TQM: How to Make Total Quality Management Work for You (Truman Talley) (Paperback)

What I like about Creech's approach to TQM and more effective organizational management & leadership, is his emphasis on the need to attend to all five pillars of TQM: Product, Process, Organization, Leadership, and Commitment. If you try to improve piecemeal (as so many have), the results will be minor improvement. It is only when you get all five pillars in alignment that you start to get dramatically better results. Also, his specific advice makes so much sense: Organizations need to get a clearer picture of what constitutes quality in their product or service; they need to organize the work process with small teams as much as possible; they need to provide much more training, from the CEO on down; they need to provide clear feedback on how well the organization is doing ("scoreboarding"); etc. One other reviewer is right: Now that I have read this book, I find myself looking around for evidence of TQM practices by the employees every time I interact with an organization. It is amazing what differences you can see in organizational performance, once you are sensitized and start looking for them.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How to lead for high performance, October 2, 1999

By 

Kirsten Ruth Bayes (Reading, Berkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Five Pillars of TQM: How to Make Total Quality Management Work for You (Truman Talley) (Paperback)

A convincingly argued book on how to bring leadership to all levels of a company. Not so much a book about TQM, but more about what separates great organisations from those which are simply "OK". There are so many books at the moment seeking to answer this question - this one actually does (but may well be missed by those looking for it because of its title).

Written by someone who has actually "been there, done that". Unfortunately because Bill Creech was not an academic (only a former four star general!) he does spend more time than necessary establishing his credentials. It is also four years old and this shows in the examples it uses.

Nevertheless, it is one of those books whose ideas will stay with you. Once you have read it, your view of business will never be quite the same again.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! A must read if you manage an organization., May 1, 1998

By 

B. E. Harris (Glen Burnie, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Five Pillars of TQM: How to Make Total Quality Management Work for You (Truman Talley) (Paperback)

The Five Pillars of TQM is an excellent book on how to stucture and manage an organization for success. Mr. Creech captures in one book everything I have been looking for, but not found, in countless other books, magazines, journals, and training courses. There are some spots where it becomes a bit wordy, but the nuggets of knowledge in between are worth every page.