TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, VOL. 7, NO.

1, 1996, 79-91
CARFAX

Aristotle and total quality management

CHARLES SCHOENGRUND
Rua do Borja, 85, 1-D, 1350 Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract We credit C. I. Lewis, W. A. Shewhart, W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran and

Kaoru Ishikawa with the development of the total quality management (TQM) epistemology.
However, so fundamental to organized human existence are basic concepts underlying TQM
principles and practice that they have been discussed using pre-industrial language in ancient classical
texts such as Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics and de Anima, and Thomas Aquinas' De
Magistro. Of particular significance are Aristotle's discussions of the dynamic and functional nature
of 'good', a phenomenon's implicit criterion for measurement of its qualities, the essential difference
between material and human qualities, and how potential, not actual, qualities belonging to diverse
observed phenomena should order strategy, mission and vision. Thomas Aquinas comments on
intrinsic potential and motivation to learn, distinguishes 'discovery' from 'instruction' as two kinds
of teaching, and emphasizes the mentor's responsibility to understand when each is appropriate to the
learning process. The importance of classical thought to ethically and fiscally sound management at
two proprietary universities is discussed, illustrating how erosion of credibility and fiscal crisis could
have been prevented in one of them if executives had put into practice management policies flowing
from the principles of Aristotle, Aquinas and TQM.

Introduction
Much current writing about the 'quality revolution' discusses statistical method, technical
procedures and applications of new measurement systems. These, of course, have been
instrumental in changing the quality of American goods and services. However, it is unlikely
that advances in quality and the subsequent increases in productivity would have come about
without an understanding of the quality revolution's underlying philosophy.
We credit, to a large extent, C. I. Lewis (1926, 1946, 1956) for developing the
epistemology of scientific method basic to quality philosophy (Cunningham, 1994); and we
associate the principles and practice of the actual quality movement to such names as, for
example, W. A. Shewhart (1931), W. Edwards Deming (1986), Joseph Juran (1964, 1989)
and Kaoru Ishikawa (1985). However, so fundamental to human existence are the basic
philosophical concepts that underlie total quality management (TQM) that they have been
discussed, albeit in pre-industrial language, since ancient times. Of particular relevance to
contemporary discussions of the human side of TQM are such contemplators of 'goodness'
as Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. Though Nichomachean Ethics and De Anima (Burnett,
1967; McKeon, 1970; Hamlyn, 1986) were written more than 2300 years ago, and Aquinas'
De Magistro (1948) was written in the thirteenth century, both authors lay the foundation for
many important principles that endure in TQM philosophy.
0954-4127/96/010079-13 86.00

1996 Journals Oxford Ltd

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In this article, we first present a summary of Aristotle's discussion of the dynamic nature
of 'good.' The following relevant points are discussed:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

criteria for discriminating what is good (is it functional, or ideal?);

measurement criteria, by nature, are implicit;
the implicit nature of the definition of good;
'actual' and 'potential' need to be differentiated when judging good quality;
the potential for goodness in humans differs from other 'goods'^human qualities
are different fi"om material qualities;
(6) both good intellect and good character are included in human potential;
(7) good character and good intellect mutually affect each other to construct systems in
which the greatest number of individuals can flourish.
Based on the points made in this theoretical and philosophical discussion, we then turn to an
examination of the management policies at two proprietary universities which specialize in
graduate certificate programmes for service professionals, and discuss how erosion of credibility and fiscal crisis could have been prevented in one of them if executives had put into
practice management policies flowing from Aristotelean and TQM principles. Before concluding, we expand briefiy on the theme of intrinsic motivation as it appears in Aristotle,
Aquinas and current human development theory.

The functional nature of quality

Aristotle's thinking and writing has dominated Western philosophy for 2000 years. His most
significant work is Ethica Nichomachea. In his discussion of the 'good' in manual, professional, intellectual or social practice, Aristotle cautions that the reader must understand
'the end toward which all energies are subordinated' (Burnett, 1967, pp. 13-14, 23-24). He
reasons that no one universal ideal or criterion can measure all quality. Aristotle constructs
his argument by making distinctions between classes or phenomena based on empirical
observation and dynamic function. His metaphoric example from hand manufacturing
reminds us that 'finishes', and thus actual practices for attaining 'good' finishes on any two
materials, say one of marble, the other of wood, are different. Yet each material when finished
according to its own intrinsic nature yields good quality (pp. 15-16).
To illustrate that criteria for measuring ends are dynamic and functional, and can be
distant from the object or activity at hand, Aristotle gives this example: a harness-maker
produces good harnesses, but the 'goodness' of a harness is judged by its ability to control a
horse, and, further, the control of a horse may be for service in war (pp. 14^15). The finished
harness, as just a leather object, is not the final end. Design and quality of harnesses,
regardless of appearances, are judged finally according to their efficacy in controlling horses
as part of a battle strategy. Therefore, how we discriminate something's 'goodness' depends
on what kind of ends or 'finishes' can or must be involved, not only according to material
properties, but also according to how it finally is intended to function.
He points out that some ends naturally function statically, are terminating or finite in
nature, while others are intrinsically dj^amic, non-terminating or maturational. Some activities result in material objects, some provide services and others exist for their own sake as
activities. But all must be relevantly associated with their diverse ends ('goods') and functions
so that each's 'goodness' can be achieved.
Aristotle observes how critical judgement and discrimination actually do function in real
cases, and reasons that no formula for judgement can ever be universal. He sees that the
'mean,' i.e. measured or rational judgement, is based on what careful observation, temporal

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81

experience and reflection reveal something is. As there is no one 'finish' for all materials,
neither is there one formal method of judgement of qualities which when applied to all
phenomena yields just, accurate or credible evaluation.

Measurement criteria are implied in what is to be measured

Aristotle illustrates the implicit nature of criteria with an analogy: while two servings of meat
may be good for a person of one size, and ten good for another much larger person, the
arithmetic meansixwould serve neither. 'Mean' in its sense of 'average' imposes an
abstract and irrelevant metric for discriminating what is good in real cases (pp. 54-58).
Aristotle uses 'mean' to signify a point on a bipolar scale between an 'excess' and a 'defect'
of relevant qualities. Good judgement searches for this mean. When applied to human
activities, as opposed to numerical abstractions, measuring ('ratio' in its Latin sense), i.e.
judging or discriminating, a situation, should not be done according to abstract formulae.
Instead, good judgement is based on what is empirically appropriate to particular activities
and processes at hand. It is arrived at by sensing and judging what is neither too little nor too
much of the particular relevant qualities under consideration.
'Judging weir, then, means sensing and discriminating differences and applying the right
measure of action and appropriate criteria (the 'mean') to a particular case according to what
could exist potentially in that kind of situation. Criteria for judgement are derived from full
functional and dynamic, not ideal, potential (author's choice of 'potential' over 'potency' is
consistent with D. W. Hamlyn's translation of De Anima). As human activities, services and
manufacturing processes differ materially, temporally and functionally, so does judgement
dififer according to the nature of 'what' finally is to be achieved in its relevantly associated
end.

Intrinsic qualities point at what 'good' can be

'Good', therefore, is not a class in itself, but is defined by the unique properties of the object
or activity it describes. A 'good' knife is sharp and handy to use, a 'good' lemon is sour and
juicy, and a 'good' chef knows how to use each and many more ingredients and tools
judiciously when performing his/her craft. The only way 'good' has meaning is by reference
to the intrinsic qualities of the objects or processes that 'good' modify. There is no one 'good'
that can sensibly serve all classes and cases.

Good quality is measured against complete potential

How do we know what is relevantly associated with diverse 'finishes', 'ends' or 'goods'? To
know an 'end', and to organize activities to attain it, we must distinguish between what is
'actual' and what is 'potential' (Hamlyn, 1986, pp. 8-9, 22-25, 48-49).
Potential, according to Aristotle's argument, is what something is according to how its
intrinsic organizing principles, though not necessarily realized, let it function. Real and fake
acorns may initially appear the same, but careful observation and experiment over time reveal
that fake acorns, even if made of oak wood, do not generate seedlings, grow into trees or yield
lumber. They do not have the intrinsic organizational properties, or potential, to do so. Nor
can imposed forces or better imitation change that.
Further, one actual moment of a particular oak's maturational history does not give a
complete understanding of what oaks are. As "one swallow, or one day, does not make a
summer; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed or happy", neither

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does one acorn show us trees, forests or wood products. To know about oaks (or any
phenomena), then, requires knowledge of their complete maturational potential (McKeon,
1970, p. 943).
Thus, in the production of good ideas, good services or good material objects, the ends
toward which effort is subordinated depend upon the organizing principles implicit in that
phenomenon as a whole class in its most complete sense. Measurement and judgement are
made against that complete potential.
Thus, Aristotle's writing shows that it is necessary to understand material, temporal and
functional properties of phenomena before making judgements on quality. He has distinguished between one static example or glimpse (actual) of a species and the complete
dynamic potential of the whole species, with its various manifestations and transformations.
We can measure the single example's goodness, but always against the entire species' greatest
potential. Because an arborist knows all about oaks, he/she knows that 'this particular young
tree' could become a magnificent specimen.
The 'good' for humans differs from other 'goods'
As observation across life span and species show us what oaks potentially can become, so
observation of how humans function reveals their potential. To reveal what is 'good' for
humans Aristotle again teaches by analogy: whereas in manufacturing making something
'good' involves 'finishing' processes consistent with the intrinsic nature and potential of the
materials, with people 'good' means taking part in activities and 'flourishing' according to the
unique intrinsic nature and potential of humans (Burnett, 1967, pp. 25, 57). The greatest
potential for human beings means continuous actualization over life span of Intellect and
character.
Intellect

Human beings, as a species, have potential to discriminate, and use rational judgement and
speculative wisdom to the benefit of both individuals and society, even though some or many
species members may not actually develop or use them, or use them in a beneficial way. The
potential to use this uniquely human dynamic activity is not shared exactly by any othei
speciesanimate or inanimate. (While there may be forms of 'intelligences', such as artificial
or dolphin, these are as unique to their species as is human intelligence unique to its.)
Further, as an activity or process, it is non-terminating. It need not subordinate to any but
its own end, and does not finish with the production of the ideas, objects, services or activities
that arise from its function. One can judge, reason and reflect again and again. One can think
about what one has just produced, whether cars, services, ideas or experiments. Or as
philosophers do, one can 'think about thinking' endlessly. Since this iterative mental process
is uniquely human, and can be done for its own sake, it meets part of Aristotle's criterion as
the highest potential activity of human achievement (Burnett, 1967, pp. 84-88). Thus, any
discussion of 'good' for humans must include at least this unique dimension. However, it
alone does not suffice to satisfy Aristotle's full definition of human potential.
Character

Can the actualization of inventive intellectual activity alone characterize a 'good' person? As
Aristotle is concerned with real humans in real societies doing real things, he is concerned
with how to reconcile the separable 'goods' found in separate productions and activities in

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83

such a way that they complement rather than oppose or negate each other, and eventually
contribute to the larger social good. Using modem terminology, we might say that Aristotle's
is a systems view of 'good' (Senge et al, 1990; Deming, 1993). The various actualizing
activities of particular individuals should not fragment society or detract from organizing itself
for the benefit of the many. On the other hand, social cohesion, organized productivity and
other benefits of social living that we call the public or common good should not impede
individual creativity, accomplishment and contentment, nor otherwise tyrannize particular
citizens.
The answer to the question. Does good intellect alone characterize a good person?,
therefore is 'no'. Aristotle is considering more than just the actualization of individuals'
intellectual functioning for the benefit of those individuals. Since, at least potentially, humans
can become good citizens as well as good thinkers, ethical action is a necessary part of
Aristotle's full definition of a 'good' person: speculative wisdom, the highest potential
achievement of humankind, entails tempering intellect with virtue for the sake of the social
whole. Good character and good thinking serve mutually to produce both good persons and
good social organizations (Burnett, 1967, pp. 44-47).
Social organization
The question now is: How can real persons and real societies reconcile the many 'goods' and
fiourish without imposing an irrelevant abstract, perhaps even tyrannical, 'good' such as
Plato's singular universal structure (McKeon, 1979, pp. 939-941)? On the other hand, how
do we avoid disintegrating the common good further into multiple 'little goods' that stall
broader productivity and just social functioning? Since Aristotle uses the word 'happy' to
mean 'fiourishing'not in its popular sense of individual pleasure, power or greedand
humans by nature flourish best in social organization, reconciliation of the various 'goods'
occurs when we strive to actualize full human potential, i.e. individual flourishing, within a
just and provident society. This includes both character and intellect. Because good character
and ethical action are always implied in potential human interaction, social good, too, is
implicit in human potential. Deming (1965) made a similar point when discussing ethical
obligations of statisticians.
Aristotle's 'good society', then, constructs naturally from people of good character and
good thinking who can flourish both ethically and intellectually in social organization,
because they construct organizations so that the greatest number of people can continually
actualize further towards full human potential. Good persons and good organizations need
each other for this kind of mutual actualization process.

Individual and corporate culture

Industrial leaders and corporate executives must answer this question: What is the end
towards which corporate efforts are organized? Is it the bottom line, particular customers,
perks, bonuses and salaries, or some social or political goal? To succeed over the long run,
the corporation must reconcile the many rights and responsibilities of employees and
managers with corporate success and the public good. Aristotle's distinctions are useful in
thinking through a corporate vision, mission and subsequent strategies for success.
The first step for executives is to identify and state clearly their corporate vision and
mission. In Aristotle's language the corporate mission is the 'final goal for the sake of which
strategic efforts are subordinated'. But as it is people who perform technological work and
service in a corporation, a key part of both the vision and mission statements must address

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how natural human qualities are pan of these statements. As we have seen, intellectual,
ethical and social qualities are all part of human potential, and therefore logically part of the
overall corporate mission. Further, humans are most productive when their intrinsic nature
to perform well is respected. These assumptions (and others) about human nature, whether
or not explicitly spelled out in vision and mission statements, will affect how policies are
operationalized into daily activity.

Corporate mission and day-to-day policy in two institutions

We will now consider how two adult professional education institutions, A and B, with the
same potential clients, but with different management policies and operational definitions of
success, addressed quality.
Both A and B want profitable operations, growth and financially stable futures. However, since each has a different vision of social good, each has put into practice a different
plan to achieve what are only nominally identical goals. Though both intend to provide a kind
of 'public service', their respective corporate missions and management strategies actualize
this concept very differently. We will first discuss briefly how A's corporate mission organizes
its practical efforts, defines clients and staff, and affects student recruitment and quality
assurance.
Executive officers at A operationalized 'success' as larger bottom-line profits. Their
strategy combines slick advertising, cheaper and fewer supplies, and inexpensive contract
labour (adjunct instructors) to keep wages low and avoid paying employee benefits. From
their point of view, a bottom-line increase indicates 'success' and justifies larger compensation packages and bonuses for senior executives. Senior officers are given year-end bonuses
if their divisions meet budget projections, even if at the expense of divisional morale and
quality performance. Tlieir philosophy holds that the institution is theirs to exploit as they
wish, and that good staff are those who stay out of policy and just do their assigned work. The
chief executive officer and senior officers believe that society exists as a mechanism through
which to exploit 'the market' for bigger profits. Their success in doing this, they hold, is a
mark of their fitness to govern the institution.
Enterprise B's senior managers operationalized success as continual improvement of
quality and productivity. They believe their plan promotes client satisfaction and attracts new
clients; provides just compensation for executives, managers, full- and pan-time faculty; and,
through their overall professional development programme, contributes to employee, corporate and social good. For them, profit takes care of itself as a kind of by-product of the quality
actualization process. All employees work together to develop and produce quality plans,
products and services, and all benefit from their success. Each small success for B is another
step towards overall potential excellence. Though they, too, have budgets, make profits and
earn bonuses, they view society as the end client, whom they must serve well, like Aristotle's
hamess-maker, who sees himself as but an early pan of a longer dynamic, strategic process,
B's executives know that new clients are just the beginning of an extended social improvement process.

Employees or team members?

Enterprise A staffs 90% of its teaching positions with pan-time instructors, whose continual
employment depends entirely on the availability of new training contracts and the pleasure of
the current rotating department chairperson. Though no benefits are paid to pan-time staff,
those who teach for several years are given small incremental salary increases on a fixed pay

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85

scale. There are no quality assurance or professional development programmes for pan- or
full-time staff, but faculty are required to let clients voluntarily fill out end-of-course
evaluation forms. As these evaluations are not pan of a formal performance evaluation
process for the 90% who are pan-time faculty, they are used at the discretion of current
departmental chairpersons.
B staffs its programmes with as many full-time professional facilitators as projections and
market research suggest are prudent, based upon historical figures and changing'demography. Due to fluctuations in enrolment, though, 25% of B's staff remain pan-time. Pan-time
facilitators are encouraged to apply for new full-time positions to teach B's steadily expanding
client base. Most imponantly they are hired because their experience with and knowledge of
working with B's clients are viewed by the institution as a valuable asset. B views convening
pan-time positions to full-time positions as good value, because B has already invested
considerable time and resources into these employees in corporate quality assurance and
professional development programmes. One of B's quality goals is to lower the proponion of
pan-timers each year until adjunct facilitators are rare exceptions in staffing.
B's permanent faculty, and divisional chairpersons appreciate the fact that their faculty
works directly with clients, and know that good professional judgement is the most imponant
factor in maintaining and servicing their expanding client base. Many new recmits had
learned of B's programmes from satisfied graduates who had since gone into professional
careers, and are now in positions to refer clients, reimburse tuition or arrange to have B teach
new professional development courses for their entering staff.
Management by anxiety
A's staffing policy serves senior executives in several ways other than direct cost containment
of employee salaries and benefits. Since senior management equates programme success with
numbers of paying clients, and there is no formal quality programme save clients' anecdotal
repons and the current chairperson's opinion, faculty quickly learned not to challenge clients,
chairpersons or executives on policy matters. Current high unemployment figures mean that
A's policy generates a climate of fear. The other side of the policy, of course, is the chilling
effect that extensive use of limited term contracts, lack of formal performance standards and
evaluation of students by 'body count' has on staff creativity, entrepreneurial activity,
motivation, programme continuity and service quality. While this approach temporarily
serves as a kind of cost containment strategy, and keeps cenain political factions in power,
in the longer run it erodes institutional credibility and stability.
B's staffing policy is designed to develop and improve a professional organization
dedicated to the principles of continuing quality and productivity. Senior executives know
that their own comportment and policies must exemplify the principles and practices taught
to clients. It is their intention that quality 'cascades' from the top down. Quality is not
something that senior executives should delegate to departmental and divisional chairpersons
to impose on the teaching staff.
B has put considerable effon and thought into developing a corporate mission consisting
of more than just high technical standards. Its mission also includes internal programmes for
continual actualization of employees' intellectual, social and ethical capabilities. Facilitators
are involved directly with departmental and divisional chairpersons, and senior executives in
all facets of programme design and improvement, experiments with new programmes,
presentation techniques and marketing. All of B's managers listen to and value the facilitation
staffs panicipation, because they know that institutional quality and long-term success are
tested in the classroom by instructors and clients. Executives know that all their facilitators

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are good because it is they who personally coach them in yearly professional development
courses, and at times co-instruct courses with them. It is a high priority of B's senior
executives to work directly with staff and continually invest corporate resources into their
personal development as effective presenters of the corporate mission.
Marketing and quality assessment
A's senior executives turned much of its policy implementation over to the marketing
division, who began a media recruitment campaign for new clients. As part of the new
admission policy, standards were lowered, degrees were marketed at a discount to those
veiling to pay fees in advance and new less stringent guidelines for course and programme
completion were instituted. The senior executives made it clear that if there are challenges to
grades, the faculty is to acquiesce to a student's demands.
B has a marketing division, too, but it is integrated with the faculty. The key to B's
marketing efforts is its quality assurance programme. Simply put, genuine quality and service
to clients result in word-of-mouth referrals, and expanding client base and satisfied clients
continually helping to sell programmes.
A's managers directed its staff to accede to clients' demands even against the staffs
better professional judgement. Some clients who enrolled in advance-payment programmes
viewed their future diplomas and certificates as commodities already owned, and complained
that instructors or courses were too demanding or time consuming. Teachers' fear of job loss
translated into lax attendance requirements, less rigorous programme content and grade
inflation. Whether or not it was part of the marketing division's policy, it did serve their desire
to project a public image that "adult students who enrol in A's professional development
programmes succeed because A is dedicated to providing quality service". Little by little,
however, clients began to see the difference between 'real and wooden acorns'.
B, on the other hand, presents challenging courses that appeal to serious, devoted
professionals. Since B's management fully respects and supports its professional staff, as well
as its clients, courses are of consistently high quality. This is possible because the working
environment and benefits at B attract experienced and dedicated faculty who view working
at B as a personally rewarding career. Further, B's pedagogical approach is based on intrinsic
motivation and competency, and constantly reaches towards staff's and external clients'
potential for excellence. Faculty 'facilitate' client personal and professional development.
Though the courses are always challenging, competition between students is discouraged, to
the benefit of collaborative team work.
Faculty and curriculum quality sell B's programmes on their own merits, and B has
developed as a small, solid organization with a reputation for consistently high programmes.
Graduates of its programmes fare well in the job market, and recruiting firms work closely
with B's placement office because they know that B consistently delivers the goods.
A's marketing division has created a public image of 'quality service' and 'success', but
it turns out to be more slogan than substance. Apparent demand for courses was generated
by media hype and discount marketing, not referrals from satisfied clients. Because the
bottom line looked better for a while, A's managers expanded operations to accommodate
anticipated growth. To acquire revenue for expansion, they borrowed money, and the
marketing division raised programme prices. Training divisions were told to contain labour
costs further by freezing full-time positions, and use more entry level, limited term, contract
instructors at the bottom of the salary scale.
Here A's 'success' story began to reverse. Though aggressive advertising and new
recruitment standards had, at first, raised enrolments, many new students are now less

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87

prepared and need more careful instruction. But because decisions had already been made to
contain costs by increasing class sizes, reducing instructional staff and support services, and
freezing salaries, experienced instructors were less available. Quality slipped further and
affected the enrolment-based revenue. Management responded to the revenue loss by raising
tuition again, but the ceiling had already been reached in the previous year. To cut more
costs, both the variety and the availability of course offerings were reduced. This made it
difficult for students to finish their programmes on time, and some lost promotions linked to
a timely graduation. A few threaten legal action. Students now begin looking for similar
programmes at competing institutions.
Ironically, poorly prepared or unmotivated students had rewarded undemanding instructors with good evaluations, and this fact contributed to both the illusion of quality and its
actual erosion. Within a few years employers who had referred their own professionals to
these programmes noticed the quality change and began sending their employees elsewhere.
They also became more cautious about hiring A's recent graduates. Though grade inflation
means that poorly prepared certificate holders can take an 'A' transcript to prospective
employers, the illusion does not last long, even though the marketing division mistakenly
thought that it might help maintain a 'quality image'.
It was not unusual for part-time faculty to have contracts cancelled on the first day of
instruction for want of students. Their income became unstable, they quit and programme
managers found it more difficult to hire, ad hoc, good quality replacements willing to work
under such conditions. Faculty morale slumped. Factionalism increases as remaining teachers compete for fewer term contracts, and the honest rapport which benefits information
sharing in a quality-oriented organizational culture became stiff and bureaucratic. Debate
over management policy and practice goes underground, and turns rancorous as institutional
vitality and credibility spiral downward.
Though B's programmes are at least as expensive as A's, clients view them as cost
effective because they advance their professional careers. Employment is steady at B,
and morale continues to improve because B respects its employees and clients. Problems
and conflicts are faced directly, with the intent of finding equitable solutions. Employees work together without fear of censorship or job loss, even when experiments fail.
Employees argue their positions openly without feeling intimidated by chairpersons or
executives, for they know they have their support; it is the latter who set the institutional
tone. Colleagues do not criticize when facilitators encounter especially challenging new
clients, but discuss how new strategies can develop that will break through perceived barriers.
Senior executives understand and respect the creative process, nurture it and view
conflict as inevitable, even a necessary part of organizational change and continual
improvement.

Vision: the end for the sake of which corporate energies are organized
A's executives failed to identify the social purpose for which institutional resources should
have been organized. With a book-keeper's myopia they used 'their' institution for personal
gain at the expense of faculty and clients. 'Motivated' by fear, anxious managers replicated executive managers' narrow vision and behaviour. The people who could have
made the enterprise successfulthe faculty, support staff and community that hires A's
clientsare disenfranchised from an improvement process. The institution misses new
market opportunities, and loses its historic clients. Opportunity to improve society comes and
goes.

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Answers to two critical questions, and the implementation of policies stemming from
their answers, could have put A on the right track:
(1) Who are the real clients?
(2) What are proper criteria for assessing whether or not those clients are well served?
The real clients

Responsible assessment of the market would have indicated that A's mission is to teach
professionals what they need to know in order to serve their respective social organizations
and, through them, the common good. But A's executive officers defined success as larger
salaries for the top few, and ignored the many employees who contribute to the health of the
whole. The bottom-line focus led executives to view programme recruits, not society, as final
clients whose numerical increase would put bonuses in their pockets.
Proper assessment criteria

Certainly, A's graduates are entitled to 'good' service. However, as Helms and Key (1994)
have pointed out, students are not 'customers' in the usual sense that this word is used in
TQM literature. Their role as 'student' carries with it expectations of active participation and
motivated behaviour. The word 'client' is perhaps a better word, though even as active
participants in their learning process, students are not A's only or end clients. The applicable
criterion for 'good quality' depends upon which of the several clients, or 'customers' we are
viewing:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

facilitator or instructor;
support staff;
student;
graduate's employer;
society at large.

Senior management's job is to be aware of, and coordinate, all of them.

Performance criteria for the whole are more complex than any used at a single segment
of the extended whole. Though student evaluations of faculty could be indicative of instructional quality, such evaluations should not set performance standards. In the case of A, lax
admission standards let poorly prepared or unmotivated students into professional programmes. Based on this fact alone, students' standards of quality reported in evaluations
cannot be taken at face value as sufficient criteria against which A should measure its faculty
and programme quality.
The quality of graduates, regardless of grades and certificates, is, in the end, judged
according to how well an employing organization functions in an individual and social
improvement process. Such a process includes actualization of ethical, technical and intellectual qualitiesall of which are necessary for the well-being of employees, clients and society.
The 'good' of TQM
Underlying all TQM activity is a belief in potential excellence. As the quality of people's
day-to-day activities is judged against human potential, so, too, is the current state of quality
in organizational services judged against its relevant potential. While 'good quality' always
refers to an actual measurement and performance standard, its exact meaning shifts as it
iterates between various internal and external clients and the social good (in our example.

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89

between faculty, support staff, student, employer and society). And what is 'good' reconstructs, or in A's case worsens, in future improvement cycles as it spirals towards potential
excellence.
As with the example of the harness-maker, 'good quality' draws its meaning from
successive functions as it telescopes outwardly from tangible product to the product's
usefulness in bettering society. As one phase or part within the extended system shifts, new
criteria prevail which command adjustment and constructive change from the rest of the
system.

Intrinsic motivation
Self-motivation, like iterative thinking or good character, is an intrinsic characteristic of
human potential (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). As with the finishing process for wood or marble,
human potential for self-motivation, like other intrinsic characteristics, is realized in environments which nurture that kind of activity. Whether or not this qualityor other less desirable
onesdevelops depend in large part on the activities in which people take part. Organization
B nurtured such activity, and people involved with B actively improved B's culture. A did not
recognize or respect such characteristics, and its people and programmes languished.

TQM manager as facilitator of good

What role should managers play in helping employees to move towards personal and group
excellence? Thomas Aquinas, in a thirteenth-century essay based on Aristotle's thoughts
about the source of human motivation, said that a teacher plays a mainly facilitative role in
the learning process:
when something pre-exists in active complete potency [such as intrinsic motivation],
then the [teacher] does nothing more than assist [motivation] and provide for it
those things by means of which it is able to come into actuality; just as in healing,
the doctor is the helper of nature, which does the principal work, by his task of
strengthening nature and applying medicines, which nature uses as instruments for
curing (Aquinas, 1948, p. 8).
He explained that just as healing can take place in the body unaided, or with the help of a
physician, knowledge is similarly acquired:
there is a twofold marmer of acquiring knowledge. One is that wherein natural
reasoning by itself arrives at knowledge of unknown things. This type is called
discovery ('inventio'). The other is that wherein someone outwardly assists natural
reasoning, and this type is called instruction ('disciplina') (Aquinas, 1948, pp.
9-13).
Good managers, like Aquinas' teacher, understand human nature and facilitate both types of
learning. They construct learning organizations based upon natural intrinsic human capacities, and devise policies and strategies to facilitate individual creativity and organizational
growth. In such environments, people become self-motivated, creative and productive in the
service of personal, group and societal improvement.

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C. SCHOENGRUND

No 'one best' system

We have now come full circle back to our original problem. Can there be one universal, good
TQM system which when taught and learned by everyone vsdll make all service and
manufacturing organizations productive, responsive and fulfilling for participants?
No. There is no single 'best system' because methods and procedures must be adapted
to situations and problems at hand. TQM is a philosophical stance and a continuous
processnot a set of algorithms or a fixed standard. Techniques and procedures are useful
only in so far as they function to actualize the good quality of their respective domains.
Further, human development is not the same as product development, and quality programmes designed to improve manufacturing processes cannot be imposed on people with
the expectation that human improvement will take place. It is more likely that such
imposition will inhibit people's good inclinations and thwart motivation.
Human and engineering problems differ
Managers need to understand human nature, be informed about contemporary social issues
and have knowledge of effective strategies for managing human problems. Employees'
emotional, physical, cultural, psychological and financial concerns, not necessarily generated
by corporate environments, nevertheless find their way into work environments. Further,
national policy now mandates that humane and just policies be used to change unwanted
employee behaviour. A discerning manager will know whether problems are technical or
human, and how much of which strategy applies to particular problems.
Conclusion
Classical texts such as those of Aristotle and Aquinas precede TQM literature, and can help
us reflect on how we classify problems, conceptualize appropriate strategies for solving them
and establish performance criteria. The 'method' of human science, especially ethics and
values, is not derivable in any obvious way from 'the scientific method' of engineering, even
though that view is sometimes mistaken as the 'one best good.' As C. I. Lewis (1957, p. 69)
has pointed out, "Science, as we most commonly think of it and as the term is most
commonly used today, does not indeed extend to the most important mode of knowledge
the knowledge of human values". Though technical and human phenomena interact, their
respective problems, solving strategies and criteria against which performance is judged
differ. The answer to the question 'When do you use quantitative methods?' is 'when you
have things to count'. Any method is chosen for its relevant applicability to particular
problems. Research designs and methods, management policy, quality improvement strategies and institutional practice must always be preceded by rational and ethical judgement as
to what kind and scale of problem is at hand.
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