TQM, Customer/Supplier Relations and Human Resource Management

Abstract

Examines a Japanese‐owned customer organization in Britain which has adopted Kaizen (continuous improvement) programmes in order to discover what effect this has had on the internal organization of its suppliers. With a particular interest in HRM and workforce training, uses a questionnaire and case studies to illuminate the changes made in supplier organizations and the mechanisms which support these developments. The evidence suggests that 63 per cent of supplier organizations studied have made changes, with the leading changes being made in the areas of quality management and workforce training as they have become more open to examination by the customer organization and with the increased emphasis on quality. Concludes that increasing adoption of Kaizen or TQM by customer organizations has implications for personnel and HRM functions in supplier organizations, and that the traditionally self‐contained boundaries of companies will become less rigid.