Quality improvement processes such as Total Quality Management and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) are organizational change models that are increasingly being used in human service organizations. The CQI model of plan, do, study, act is a useful analytical tool to identify ways to improve services in fields such as child welfare. Technologies such as a workflow analysis and cause-and-effect diagrams originated in manufacturing settings but are directly applicable to service delivery processes in human service organizations. All these methods involve work teams within a program analyzing the processes for working with clients as they move through the service delivery process, looking for unnecessary steps or ways to remove barriers and improve services for clients. Depending on the assessment of conditions in the organization experiencing a change process, any of these may be used, either on an organization-wide basis or as needed within particular programs or work teams.
Understanding Total Quality Management in Context: Qualitative Research on Managers’ Awareness of TQM Aspects in the Greek Service Industry
