The realities of applying total quality management in the construction industry

Abstract

Article information:To cite this document: Abdul-Rashid Abdul-Aziz, (2002),"The realities of applying total quality management in the construction industry", Structural Survey, Vol. 20 Iss 2 pp. 88 -96 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractJapanese contractors have been successful in adopting total quality management (TQM) practices in their domestic operations. By examining Japanese contractors in a foreign country, the research presented in this paper shows that the implementation of TQM in the construction industry is constrained by national markets where the clients, subcontractors and site operatives are not imbued with the same quality culture. The locationbound nature of the production process, competitive bidding which emphasises cost, dependence on subcontractors and the non-direct link between the main contractors and site operatives are some of the constraining factors. Nonetheless, as demonstrated by the Japanese contractors, TQM routines can still be implemented, provided local norms and contracting practices are accommodated. Electronic accessThe research register for this journal is available at

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