Soft Total Quality Management and Organization Sustainability: National Culture Implications

Like Darwin's theory of evolution suggests, the world is continuously changing. It is essential for organizations to inquire about new techniques to survive in this changing environment. A new stage of TQM, soft TQM, is supplied in this research as one approach to assist organizations in maintaining a competitive advantage. This study examines the statements of soft TQM and its relationship to an organization's sustainability and explores differences in soft TQM execution in different cultures. The samples were recruited from American, Japanese, and Taiwanese companies. A total of 207 volunteers participated in this survey. Results identified the statements for soft TQM and indicated that soft TQM constructs have statistically significant correlation with an organization's sustainability. In addition, some soft TQM practices have significant differences in American, Japanese and Taiwanese organization culture. Extending these findings to organization development, first, this study provides a whole picture for the soft side of TQM; second, it presents an empirically cross-cultural comparison of soft TQM implementation, which indicated strengths and weaknesses for different organizational cultures; third, it generates an instrument for soft TQM measurement; lastly, it offers executable behavior for soft TQM.