Abstract
This paper takes advantage of a unique international data set to examine the determinants of the adoption and sustainability of total quality management techniques, focusing in particular on the role played by human resource professionals and practices. The data come from a 1991 survey conducted by Ernst and Young and the American Quality Foundation covering the use of TQM tools in the computer, auto, health care and banking industries in Japan, the United States, Canada and Germany. The research distinguishes between two ways of implementing total quality management - one approach conceptualizes TQM as a relatively limited set of technical engineering changes while the second implements these technical changes as part of a larger transformation of the organization of work. We find support for the second approach in that the number of employees using quality tools and the number of quality tools in use is greater and lasts longer in firms that also have team-based human resource systems for frontline employees, with team structures, suggestion systems, meetings and group rewards. This central finding holds across all countries and industries studied. We also find that achievement of these changes requires the commitment of organizational stakeholders to incorporate the interests of employees in strategic decision making. Though union presence alone does not predict the adoption or sustainability of these innovations, partnership between management and union does have a positive effect. The level of strategic influence of the human resource department also influences innovation, though in ways that differ across countries and industries. The findings suggest the value of comparative studies and of research focused at exploring sub-national variation. The findings also suggest the value of a longitudinal study of the sustainability of innovation.