Monday, 27 February, 2006

Prof. Vinod Singhal from Georgia Institute of Technology discussed evidence on the financial impact of effective adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles at the ELS talk held on 23rd February at UOWD. The evidence is based on a 600 quality award winners in USA. The talk covered three main themes. First, it described the financial benefits of implementing TQM effectively. Financial benefits are measured using variables such as operating income, sales, costs, and stock returns. Second, it discussed how the financial benefits vary by organizational characteristics such as size, capital intensity, extent of diversification, and the maturity of the TQM implementation. This evidence helps to set realistic expectations of what benefits organizations, with different characteristics, can expect to get from TQM. Finally, it described a methodology, including various performance measures and data sources that organizations can use to link their quality initiatives to financial results. The talk also discussed some of the key aspects of effectively implementing TQM. Vinod Singhal is a Professor of Operations Management at the College of Management at Georgia Institute of Technology and Associate Director for the Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies, an industry center funded by the Sloan Foundation. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1988. Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 1989, he worked for three years as a Senior Research Scientist at General Motors Research Labs. UOWD hosted members of the American Society for Quality at this talk.