Re-thinking TQM: toward a framework for facilitating learning and change in construction organizations

Abstract

Organizations in the construction industry have eschewed implementing TQM practices because short-term benefits are relatively minimal. As a result, re-engineering has emerged as an alternative to change. Albeit re-engineering seeks radical performance improvements, the path to its implementation is incremental. Therefore, organizational change should be viewed as a continuous process rather than a static or “one-off” event. Before construction organizations consider implementing re-engineering initiatives, they should re-address their existing approaches to quality, so that an adaptive learning TQM culture can be cultivated. In striving for this ambition and based on a review and synthesis of the literature, a framework for facilitating organizational learning and change in construction organizations is presented.