ABSTRACT
The general manager of the production division of a Latin American export company is considering what to do about cross-functional teams and the quality council, both central to the implementation of total quality management (TQM). The company is the Tropical Export Company that produces LITEP-an acronym that refers to the labor-intensive tropical export product grown in Playa Negra and exported by the company. The company is a U.S.-based multinational corporation with extensive production operations in Latin America that produces LITEP for industrialized markets, mainly North America and Europe. Several production divisions are located in the Central American country of Morazan. Each employs approximately 5,500 to 6,500 employees of whom around 500 to 550 are salaried; the rest are union members. The divisions are focused on exported volume of high-quality LITEP. Quality is vital to the customer and volume is the key to lowering costs and increasing productivity.
