ABSTRACT
Joseph Juran is an author, lecturer, and corporate advisor on Total Quality Management (TQM). Juran (1964) has had experience in universities, industry, and government agencies, and he believes that the principles of TQM can be applied with equal success in any of these settings. Swiss (1992), however, argued that orthodox principles of TQM, as taught by Juran, Deming, and others, must be modified to be successfully implemented in government. He suggested that there is a need for output goals and measurements, employee empowerment, feedback from customers, and continuous improvement efforts. This case study of TQM implementation in the Internal Revenue Service (1RS) analyzes one government agency’s approach and explores other issues. Were there improvements in productivity and customer service in the 1RS after TQM implementation? If so, were the changes the result of TQM? Is TQM a change or simply reinforcement and expansion of existing, positive practices of the traditional art and science of public administration?
