International Journal of Quality Science

Quality management in developing economies

Christian N. Madu
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Christian N. Madu, (1997),"Quality management in developing economies", International Journal of Quality Science, Vol. 2
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 IJQS
2,4
272
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International Journal of Quality
Science, Vol. 2 No. 4, 1997,
pp. 272-291. MCB University
Press, 1359-8538
Quality management in
developing economies
Christian N. Madu
Department of Management and Management Science,
Lubin School of Business, Pace University, New York, USA
Summary of practical implications
The focus of this paper is on how developing economies can become more
competitive through the practice of quality management. Demings quality
management principles and dialectical materialism inquiry system are both
used to demonstrate how developing economies can appreciate the importance
of quality in national economic development and, therefore, undergo the needed
cultural transformation. Developing economies are likely to benefit if they
adhere to these quality management practices.
Introduction
Quality is a major factor in achieving competitiveness. With the increased
globalization of markets and liberalization of local economies, it has become
necessary for businesses all over the world to develop competitive strategies.
Such strategies often recognize quality management as their focal point.
Businesses in many of the developing economies have often been sheltered from
competition through protectionism at home and government intervention in
foreign trades. However, the rapid globalization of markets and the gradual
acceptance of competition in other words, free trade as healthy to the economy
are making it more difficult to continue to protect local markets. Developing
economies must, therefore, adapt to these environmental changes and develop
programmes to enable them to compete effectively. Furthermore, many of the
developing economies are strapped for foreign exchange and are in dire need of
export market to generate hard currencies. This puts their businesses in direct
challenge of being able to market their products and services in foreign markets.
With the greater customer awareness in the West, and in industrial and newly
industrializing nations, about the importance of quality and the passage and
implementation of ISO 9000 series standards, trading with member countries of
the European Union (EU) has become very difficult without an ISO certification.
Achieving this certification requires developing quality programmes and
meeting stringent quality standards. Todays market environment is, therefore,
predicated by global rather than local events and quality management has
surfaced as one of the most encompassing factors that influence competitive-
ness and international trade. Government protectionism has limited impact
when market forces are dynamic and under the control of customers. We shall,
 therefore, explore potential problems with adopting and implementing quality Quality
in developing economies and recommend ways to improve quality programmes. management
Quality as a culture
It worked in Japan so why wouldnt it work here?. This is a common phrase
whenever we want directly to implant an idea. This concept has been used over
and over in transferring new technologies, and experts on transfer of 273
technologies have attributed the failures of transfer of technologies to this
concept (Madu, 1992). Unfortunately, the same thing is happening when it
comes to the transfer of quality management. We often fail to recognize the
importance of culture and its influence in transplanting what has worked in a
different cultural setup without reviewing its compatibility or incompatibility
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with different cultures. For example, work ethics may differ in different cultures.
These work ethics may also have been influenced by peoples environment and
behavioural modifications over the years, thus influencing their worldviews.
Worldviews cannot be easily changed and have the potential of influencing the
adaptation of quality practice. Inevitably, these worldviews may also influence
organizational culture unless there are some behavioural modifications through
education and training. Hames (1991) notes that culture is, by its very nature,
the most pervasive yet fragile and most resistant to change of all organizational
processes. It is also a primary determinant of the organizational environment,
acting as a composite referential blueprint for the organization, shaping
decision making and manifesting itself physically; through structure and
management system variables and psychologically; through shared values and
beliefs and unconscious, underlying assumptions regarding organizational
reality, both of which govern actual behavior (p. 16).
There are many important aspects of this quotation. First, it is difficult to
change culture. Clearly, organizational culture reflects the beliefs and value
system of members of the organization and the way to change it is by changing
the beliefs and values of these members. But, these are values that have been
internalized and form a basis of behaviour. It is not easy to teach an old dog
how to bark. Thus, care and caution must be exercised in trying to modify this
behavioural pattern. Thus, Hames is right in stating that culture is pervasive
and resistant to change. Different economies have different cultures, some of
them inborn from their tradition and ethical value system, and these often
influence their organizational culture. One lesson multinational corporations
have learned in their operations in developing economies is to develop
strategies that work well within the confines of cultures in those areas rather
than pit their strategy against such cultures. Quality management in itself is a
culture and it should be adapted to different economies. The same goal or
purpose can be achieved through different directions. Hames further notes that
Quality, too, is a series of behaviors ways of thinking and of working and
can only thrive in a compatible environment. As a result, he recommends that
an organization assesses its present culture and determine if its environment is
supportive of quality management before it makes a transformation to quality.
 IJQS This is true but with a caveat. Clearly, no nation can have a sustainable
2,4 economy, let alone compete globally, without adopting quality principles or
practices. The issue is not whether quality management practice should be
adopted but how to implement quality management practice. Doing this
requires management of change and, inevitably, cultural change, because some
aspects of organizational culture may need to adapt to the demands of quality
274 practice; but this has to follow a gradual process that will reinforce existing
behaviours and enrich them by exposing the members of the organization to the
importance of some behavioural changes that may be necessary.
By understanding the variations in culture in different economies, there can
be no general and universally accepted way to implement quality management
in every situation. However, structurally-dependent variables such as culture
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can be investigated and explored in such situations to identify means to build a

cognizance between them and quality.

Building quality-appreciative programmes

One of the important requirements for total quality management is the need to
develop flat organizations which will replace the hierarchical traditional
structure of organizations. Organizations that have been successful in building
up their quality management practice have been shown to have dismantled this
vertical structure (Madu and Kuei, 1995). Campelo et al. (1993) found in their
study that this is more difficult to achieve in Brazil because dominant Brazilian
culture reflects concentration of power, paternalism and personalism. Power
sharing is, however, necessary in order to develop a total quality management
practice. In addition to that, total quality management experts advocate team
work rather than individualism. Edwards Deming (1993), who is regarded
widely as the father of total quality management, developed a new theory of
management known as a system of profound knowledge. This theory is
applicable to any culture. However, he notes that application of this theory to
any culture will focus on issues that are unique to that society or culture.
Through this system of profound knowledge comes the popular Demings 14
points of management. With reference to the Brazilian case, we note that point
8: drive out fear so that everyone may work effectively for the company may be
in direct conflict with concentration of power because absolute power corrupts
absolutely and may limit contribution to work matters; introduce fear and
anxiety; and may cause physical and psychological disorders (Gitlow et al.,
1995). Subsequently, this affects the functioning of the organization and may
impede quality management efforts. Furthermore, individualism discourages
team work, and pits workers against each other as they compete internally and
target numerical goals. While this may serve the interest of high performers,
it may encourage output rather than quality, alienation of workers and, in the
long run, will be detrimental to the organization. Brazil is just one example that
goes to illustrate the effect of differences in culture in adopting quality
management practices.
 In fact, Demings 14 points focused primarily on western style of manage- Quality
ment or leadership which, of course, may be in contradiction to the practice of management
management in other parts of the world. The 14 points served more in helping
American companies to make the transition to quality management in the 1980s
rather than attempting to adopt the practice of quality management as in Japan.
Even then, there may be subtle differences from country to country that need to
be accommodated. Price (1990) in a piece entitled The English disease, 275
laments the proclivity in Britain to readily adopt things from abroad thereby
hampering British industrial performance. The same has also been revealed of
Australia where Barnett (1991) criticized the direct adaptation of quality
practices without concern for peculiarities that may exist in Australia. In his
article, the lack of competitiveness of Australian manufacturers is blamed more
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on culture.
Quality should not be seen as an opposing culture. It can be made congruent
with any existing culture. What is required is an in-depth look on the way
things are done, why they are done that way and how they could be improved
on. Quality involves a new way of looking at things and requires human input
and participation to perfect ways things are done. People in developing
economies understand the need to improve their quality of life and they can see
that their quality of life is influenced by their productivity which affects their
national economy. Thus, if quality is not achieved, their productivity will
continue to decline.
Integrating existing organizational culture to quality practice requires
education, training and awareness programmes. In fact, points 6 and 7 of
Demings 14 points specifically state as follows:
Point 6: Institute training on the job.
Point 7: Institute leadership. The aim of leadership should be to help people
and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Leadership of
management is in need of overhaul, as well as leadership of
production workers.
In the context of culture, it is the responsibility of management to develop
training programmes and enrich the knowledge of workers to understand the
need for behavioural modifications in order to adopt quality management. The
literacy level in many developing economies is still not comparable to that of
industrialized nations. Often, they may not understand the complex nature of
international trade and the globalization of world markets. There may be the
tendency to view their local operation as completely independent of changes in
the world. It is the duty of management to enrich their understanding by
educating and training workers so they can appreciate organizational realities.
When they understand organizational realities, they will come to accept what
has been referred to as quality-appreciative (Bawden, 1987; Hames, 1991;
Vickers, 1968). If organizational realities are not properly communicated, there
is a risk of conflicting subcultures which may not support organizational goals
and objectives (Hames, 1991). It will not be easy to train and educate workers in
 IJQS some of the developing economies without revamping even the present
2,4 educational system and training programmes to recognize their cultural
affinities. For example, some cultures depend more on oral communication
rather than written communication. In those cases, for example, the use of
documentation of quality procedures and practices as done in many western
countries will be ineffective. Again in the case of Brazil Macedo-Soares and
276 Chamone (1994) identified the incompatibility between the Xerox quality
practices in the USA and those of Brazil when its Brazilian subsidiary
introduced its leadership through quality) strategy. While the use of instruction
manuals is standard practice in the USA, however, there is a reluctance to use
instruction manuals in Brazil.
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Cultural transformation
It is evident that there is a need for cultural transformation. Such transfor-
mation must be cognizant of the cultural needs of workers. Workers must align
their survival to organizational survival and understand that improving work
performance and work processes can only help to enrich their wellbeing and
culture. Management must invest in the future of their workers since people are,
perhaps, the greatest asset of any organization. Thus, they must adopt a long-
term view and develop their human resources through education, on-the-job
training and enrichment and awareness programmes. The issue again is more
critical in developing economies due to the high illiteracy rate and the largely
unskilled labour force.
Cultural transformation should also link quality of working life to quality of
life. There is a vicious cycle when it comes to quality of working life and quality
of life. One reinforces the other. If quality of working life is low, ultimately,
quality of life will be low because productivity is low. Low productivity also
implies that national productivity is low and in turn, the national economy is
weak making it difficult to compete effectively. Lack of competitiveness also
implies higher unemployment and the inability for the organization to survive
and be able to produce products and services. It is, therefore, unable to provide
jobs and enhance the welfare of the people.
Management can help reverse the situation by taking proactive steps to
invest in the future of its workers through training and education. By training
and educating workers, they are provided with the necessary tools and skills to
do their jobs right. They begin to appreciate the organizations quality
initiatives and understand the effects globalization and competitiveness have on
their practices, the future of the organization and their future. They can also see
clearly that increasing productivity at work will, in the long run, benefit their
national economy, welfare and the welfare of their children.
Achieving cultural transformation requires a smooth and gradual transition
with some reassurances given to workers that such transformation will in the
long run be healthy to the organization and its wellbeing. However, this idea is
difficult to sell. More often than not, quality efforts to improve productivity have
led to downsizing. When productivity goes up, it is either that input has
 declined for a constant output or remained constant for an increased output. Quality
What this means is more for less. Barnett (1991) notes that improved efficiency management
often leads to loss of jobs and workers are unlikely to support quality initiatives
when, in the long run, they will be victimized by their efforts. This is a major
problem that has to be confronted in adapting quality to developing economies
especially since there may not be enough industrial capacity to absorb workers
displaced from one industry. Job attrition as a result of quality initiatives may 277
make it difficult to achieve further quality improvement since it may become
difficult to sell quality initiatives to workers. Also, this may introduce conflict
between the organization and its community. In many of the developing
economies, communities are closely knit and often made up of family members
and friends who have inhabited the same area for generations. Lack of trust will
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make it difficult for the organization to further realize its goal.

Quality has to be driven from within. We need to understand the differences
in culture and how to harness each of the different cultural attributes to improve
on quality. In some cultures, as in the case of Brazil, individualism may be
important. How can that attribute be integrated into quality programmes? In
some others, as in many of the developing economies, the communal style of
living which reinforces extended family structures is important. That attribute
will in fact be supportive of teams, which many have suggested as an integral
element of quality programmes (Madu, 1992). Even though this supports the
formation of teams, the running and operation of such teams may be hampered
by other cultural attributes. For example, in many of the African countries,
there is a hierarchy of authority which more often than not is based on seniority
by age. This often transfers to the workplace where elders are often seen as role
models in the society and it is often disrespectful to challenge their thoughts.
Obviously, an elder may or may not be the one that has the best idea. When
teams are formed, there is a possibility that the views expressed and widely
supported may be that of elders thus again subordinating the ideas of the
younger members of the team. This is a cultural problem which also affects the
thinking of the organization and may not be in the interest of the organization.
Education, training, awareness and enrichment programmes are again
necessary to get members of the organization to understand that the
importance of teams is to improve work processes for all, that every idea is
valuable and that acceptance of views of a subordinate does not mean disregard
for seniority and respect. In such cultures, seniority permeates everyday
activity. It is the younger one who has the responsibility to greet the older one;
the younger one has to let the older one speak before voicing his/her views; the
older one can recommend when to end discussions and recommend which
issues to discuss; the older one is the one that gives advice to the younger one.
What if in the work place, the older one advises the younger ones that quality
improvement efforts are not good for them and will cost their jobs? Clearly, there
are many elements of culture. It is managements responsibility to understand
these differences and develop strategies to enable the adaptation of quality
programmes.
 IJQS Quality and processes
2,4 One important way to improve quality is by improving work processes,
specifically technological processes. While human resources are the most
important asset of any organization, there are limits to what human resources
can accomplish. In the quality control literature, there are two causes of
variation, namely special and common causes. Common causes deal with
278 variations inherent in the process. For example, the product is not properly
designed, batches of raw materials supplied are of poor quality, the machine or
technological process does not produce the required specification or tolerance,
weather conditions in the workplace make it difficult to meet work
requirements. Conversely, special causes of variation deal with issues such as:
the operator is unable to follow the instructions in the work manual; the
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operator is absent; or the operator is unable to complete the task. Common

causes of variation can be differentiated from special causes because the
operator has control over special causes of variation but no control over
common causes of variation. Some aspects of common causes of variation can
be controlled by management. It is management who has to make the decision
to replace a supplier that supplies high proportion of defective items. It is
management that has to make the decision on when to change the process
technology. When common causes are not effectively dealt with, it does not
matter what the operator does, the problem will remain.
This brings us to the issue at hand, the role of these causes of variation in
improving quality in developing economies. The biggest problem in this context
is how to deal with common causes. With the exception of multinational or
transnational corporations that have subsidiaries in developing countries,
many indigenous corporations in these countries are unable to deal with
common causes of variation. Many of these corporations have a dependence on
the availability of a cheap unskilled labour force and lack the financing to
purchase modern technologies let alone upgrade frequently. With the advent of
computer and information technology, we have noticed rapid proliferation of
new technologies (Madu, 1993). These new technologies offer higher precision,
flexibility, little or no inventory, real time information, lower production cost
and of course, improved quality, among others. These attributes make the
company more competitive since the dynamic changes in the marketplace can
be easily accommodated. With the impoverished state of many of the
developing economies, with their debt ringing in trillions of dollars, they are
unable to modernize their factories, frequently support factory improvements
and clearly unable to keep up with the rapid proliferation of technologies. In
addition, since there is often no indigenous technology base, many of these
technologies need to be imported, thus further increasing their debt and cycle of
dependence on industrialized nations. However, a balance must be struck if
these nations are to break away from their impoverished state and cycle of
dependence. The balance should be to prioritize industries and focus on a few
industries where they have the greatest strength and potentials in the short run
while effort is made through research and development to develop a technology
 base. Furthermore, a liberal economic policy must be instituted to attract Quality
foreign investment. The presence of foreign investment will generate jobs, management
revenues and knowledge and technology transfers. This however, brings
another problem. The fact that many developing economies are politically
unstable makes them unattractive for foreign investment. Some of these
countries are in fact their own nemesis. Leadership is needed at the national
level to create an atmosphere that will be conducive and supportive of business 279
operations. Once this exists, there may be an interest in foreign investment
which will start to build the long road to addressing common causes.
This problem is further compounded by the growing emphasis on environ-
mental or green technology (Madu, 1996). The passage of environmental laws
in many of the industrialized countries and recent ISO 14000 series of standards
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that deal with environmental issues make it difficult to compete in the European
Union. However, these environmental laws and regulations are a necessity that
will benefit the entire universe. For developing economies to achieve these goals,
industrialized nations and international lending agencies can help these
developing economies by encouraging responsible foreign investments to help
boost their economies and enable them to generate products and services that
meet world standards. Developing economies must start thinking in the long-
term and develop long-term strategies. Japans success today did not start
overnight. After the Second World War, Japanese products were scorned all
over the world for their poor quality (Nersesian, 1993). Since 1954, they began a
new era with Deming spearheading it to develop a quality strategy. Now, Japan
is associated with quality and being emulated by everyone. Countries like
Taiwan, now classified as a member of the newly industrializing countries,
developed a 20-year strategy to focus on information technology in the twenty-
first century (Madu et al., 1991). It has also achieved tremendous economic
growth. There is a need for national planning and long-term strategies.
Developing economies have also to institute a programme to encourage quality
improvement since such efforts help their economy and national productivity.
One starting point will be by having government agencies responsible for
assisting small businesses in developing quality programmes, having national
quality awards and instituting quality awareness week. These efforts will instil
in their people the importance of quality and make the work of corporations
easier in selling the idea of quality.

The dialectics of quality

Quality itself is a culture. We agree with Hames that it represents a series of
behaviour. Like every other culture, once it is internalized, it becomes the
guiding principle and the working philosophy of members of the organization.
However, quality is a new culture which may conflict with long held cultural
value systems. And unless some type of behavioural modifications and changes
are made to achieve compatibility with currently held cultural value systems,
transformation to quality may be impossible and even destructive. There is a
need to create a conducive environment that will help to achieve sustainable
 IJQS quality. This contrast between quality as a culture and existing organizational
2,4 culture which, as we mentioned before, may be a function of ones environment
and ethical cultural value system, leads to conflict. Such conflicts need to be
productive, otherwise, transformation to quality organization cannot be
achieved.
Dialectical inquiry system (DIS) offers a way of resolving such conflicts. DIS
280 was initially recognized by Mason (1969) as a strategic-planning tool that is
applicable to ill-structured decision-making problems. It is based on the role of
behavioural factors in decision making and believes that truth can be achieved
through confrontation of opposing sides or, as van Gigch (1978) puts it,
confrontation of thesis and antithesis. Such confrontation will lead to a
synthesis. This definition of DIS was further expanded by Schwenk (1984) who
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notes that it involves an analysis of assumptions behind experts proposals,

negation of those assumptions and proposition of counter-proposition of
negated assumptions. Through structured debate of these opposing views,
hopefully, a synthesis can be reached.
Quality management in developing economies can benefit from a dialectical
inquiry system. There are conflicting cultures with quality being a new
organizational culture attempting to replace existing organizational culture. As
we have suggested in the discussions above, organizational cultures are formed
from value and belief systems and are influenced by the environment and
worldviews. It is not easy to replace an old age culture that has become basis for
behavioural patterns. At the same time, knowing that survival in todays
competitive market environment depends greatly on articulation of quality
management culture, organizations need to make the necessary cultural
transformation in order to survive. Organizational culture cannot change
without changing the culture of the workplace and the culture of the people in
the workplace. These people or the workforce need to be an integral element of
cultural change or transformation. They must share the same views and goals
of management before quality as a culture can be successfully implemented.
Understanding the worldview of the workforce requires setting up meetings
through which structured debate and discussions on the differences and
similarities of both cultures can be explored. The assumptions behind each
culture have to be analysed and shared feelings of management and members of
the organization also analysed on how quality as a culture can be implemented
without disrupting work processes and ethical value systems that are
indigenous to members of the developing economies. The use of this structured
debate positions management and employees to operate in a team framework
for honest sharing of opinion. This may even form the framework for making
employees understand the new culture and that teamwork is one of the critical
aspects of this new culture. If teams are well managed and alienation of
members of the team is avoided, management can effectively use the team
structure to democratize work and the organization. In fact, this emphasizes
one of Demings 14 points namely point 8: drive out fear so that everyone may
work effectively for the company.
 Through structured debate, a synthesis is reached on how better to Quality
implement quality. Obviously, there is conflict involved when there are management
opposing viewpoints. However, what is important is that those conflicts do not
have to be destructive but can indeed become productive. Conflict resolution is
an effective tool to get both opposing views to agree on some common
principles and those will form the basis for implementing this new culture. The
role of DIS in implementing quality in developing economies can be further 281
explored by investigating the six principles of dialectical materialism inquiry
system as outlined by Shapiro and Chanin (1987).

The principle of change

Implementing quality management requires a change of organizational
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culture. We have discussed at great length the changes that may be apparent
from introducing quality as a culture in an organization. Change can come in
different forms. It may result from changes in organizational culture, work
processes, management, attitudes and so on. Change poses new challenges that
must be dealt with. Change is inevitable when it comes to quality implemen-
tation. Adopting the quality culture requires change in organizational and
peoples perceptions of value, work and customers. This new perception will
see the customer as the sole purpose of an organizations existence and efforts
are made to satisfy and make the customer happy.
Change as a process is not easy to manage since it requires a change in
attitude and a devotion to doing things right the first time. Workers through
quality as a culture are assuming more responsibility over their work. They
are now responsible for perfecting their job and no longer will leave their
errors to be detected along the assembly line. Increased power over work
means increased responsibility, which also means increased accountability,
and not everyone can handle such a responsibility. The greater autonomy
given to workers through quality will eliminate some aspects of group
mentality while enhancing others. For example, teamwork is enhanced but, at
the same time, members of the team are expected to do their jobs right without
expecting inspectors along the assembly line to identify faults and defects.
Also, with the all-encompassing definition of quality, as given in the chapter on
strategic total quality management, workers are expected to cater to
stakeholders rather than customers since customers are part of the larger
stakeholder group. For example, emphasis on quality is not limited to product
quality but expands to include environmental, social responsibility and
integrity factors. In particular, the environmental factor has in the past few
years gained so much publicity and notoriety that many organizations are now
including environment and sustainable development in their vision statements
(Woodruff et al., 1991). This again makes change inevitable. Workers must
change their attitude regarding the product and the natural environment; the
organization needs to be re-evaluated and positioned strategically to satisfy
these changing needs of stakeholders; and manufacturers must change their
product designs to respond to these changes. They must use more efficient
 IJQS processes and produce environmentally friendly products in order to compete.
2,4 Developing countries being late starters in the quality and technology game
face even more challenges and must respond swiftly. They cannot compete
abroad if their products do not meet international standards. They may not
even be able to compete in their local markets with the growing consciousness
about protecting the environment. Clearly, they cannot operate in a vacuum
282 and must recognize that they operate within the global village and must
therefore, adapt to these changes.
When developing economies accept change as inevitable, then they will be
able to brainstorm, critically evaluate their options and develop a SWOT
(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis that will enable them to
develop effective programmes for managing change. Such programmes may
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include training of employees, public awareness programmes, socially

responsible public policies and support for local companies. When effective
programmes are developed to manage change, the needs of stakeholders are
better satisfied and organizations are able to compete. Furthermore, continuous
improvement and re-engineering can then be practised.
Management of change is not always smooth and, often, change may be
difficult to implement. Generally, people and organizations are resistant to
change because the outcome of change is unpredictable. Effective leadership is
needed to be able to transform the organization in a way that change will
become acceptable.

The principle of contradiction (unity and conflict of opposites)

This principle can be explained by exploring the relationship between change
and stability. Shapiro and Chanin (1987) argue that change and stability, while
opposites, do form a unity. By accepting stability, business remains as usual.
The present status quo in developing economies will be maintained. There will
be no need to look outward. A microview of market environment and world
economy is taken and it is as if their world is insulated from global changes. It
is not possible to maintain the status quo that has been unproductive and at the
same time, improve efficiency. In accepting the need to adopt quality culture,
then change becomes inevitable. It becomes the only means to achieve cultural
and hence organizational transformation. Business can no longer be done as
usual. Rather, emphasis should be placed on continuous improvement and re-
engineering or breakthrough thinking. Change is necessary in order to adopt or
adapt new technologies and management philosophies that have proliferated
since the 1980s. It is through these changes that organizations have become
more productive, efficient and able to cater to their customers. Organizations
have significantly cut down on production cost, reduce waste, conserve
resources and improved productivity and profitability by adopting quality
management (Madu, 1996).
The business environment is very dynamic. Irrespective of where a business
operates from, the needs of customers are gradually changing. Customers are
demanding more features from the product, more responsibility from
 organizations, are more conscious of their state of wellbeing and how that may Quality
be affected by the product and are, increasingly, more responsive to the needs of management
the natural environment. Markets today are globally connected and information
technology, especially the information superhighway or the Internet, has made
information and knowledge readily available to people all over the world. Thus,
the increase in interaction between people all over the world through the
network of inter-connected computers influences their values, demands and 283
expectations. In fact, with time this may even influence our cultural value
system and make it much easier to change once we begin to understand each
other and our different worldviews. Through the advent of technology, valuable
information on the need to conserve and protect the natural environment is
being spread worldwide by some powerful environment interest groups. As a
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result consumers are more aware and are more careful in selecting products for
consumption. This consciousness has significantly influenced purchasing and
consumption behaviours as well as lifestyles (Madu, 1996). One of the ways
customers needs and wants are integrated into production design is by using
policy deployment or quality function deployment. This can be implemented
through the Internet by developing countries studying potential markets and
how they could possibly compete. With all these, changes must take place in the
way businesses are conducted and in the ways products are marketed. Today
we operate in a small global village and keeping track of trends in the world
economy is a necessity for continued growth and escape from impoverishment.
Change and stability cannot co-exist when it comes to cultural trans-
formation and transformation through quality is one such cultural change.
Organizations must continue to change to respond to their dynamic environ-
ment. The focus, however, should be on the rate of change. Some have advo-
cated continuous improvement while others preach re-engineering or radical
changes. We believe that both forms of change are necessary in developing
economies. When the basic infrastructures such as process technology are
outdated and the skilled labour force is underdeveloped, re-engineering is
necessary to bring them up to world-class standards. When financial resources
are underdeveloped or lacking, continuous improvement may be the only option
available. Also once radical changes are implemented, continuous improvement
may be needed to sustain the achieved level of development. Continuous
improvement is a gradual change from stability but no organization can stay in
a state of equilibrium for long. It is also an illusion to try to achieve stability
since that will only make the organization unable to compete.

The principle of transformation of quantity into quality

In the past, developing economies have attracted multinational corporations
because of the availability of low-skilled, low-paid and almost an abundance of
labour. Then, mass production was the order of the game. Manufacturers will
make identical items without any type of variation. Quality was not the work of
these unskilled workers mounted along the assembly line but was left to a few
inspectors who used sampling techniques to determine when the mass
 IJQS production process was performing as expected. Then, quality was considered
2,4 expensive. There was little or no incentive to train the labour force and make
them part of the organization since their job could be done by anyone, was
monotonous and their input into the work process was not valued. The rules of
the game have since changed. To be competitive in todays market environment,
manufacturers must be able to respond swiftly to market changes. Flexibility is
284 the key and modern technologies offer that feature. Thus, manufacturers may
produce smaller batches of items that are similar in their basic designs but not
identical. In the aggregate, these smaller batches can still attain the volume of
mass production. To achieve this goal requires the use of a skilled labour force
that is constantly challenged and trained to be able to respond to changes in the
market environment. Availability of unskilled labour is, therefore, no longer an
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asset but rather a liability because the cost of training such a labour force from
the scratch may be quite prohibitive. For example, modern technologies are
more sophisticated, rely heavily on computer technology and generate a lot of
data and information that demand some basic skills to interpret and analyse
them. Such skills cannot be expected from an unskilled labour force. The era of
quantity is therefore gone. This poses a big dilemma to developing economies
because labour is no longer attractive to multinational corporations.
Furthermore, with new technologies, there is less dependence on labour and
quantity is not the key but quality.
A transformation from the quantity orientation to a quality mentality is
needed. Such transformation will recognize that the measure of productivity as
the ratio of output to input is flawed unless both account for quality in a holistic
sense. In other words, quality has to be measured as an overall reflection of a
companys performance where defects and social costs are accounted for. This
also poses a new challenge to some members of the developing economies that
rely desperately on the exploitation of natural resources such as crude oil,
natural gas, coal, bauxite, zinc and others to sustain their growing population.
They need to adopt long-term views and think towards sustainable
development rather than a short-term focus that will lead to destruction of their
natural habitat and cost enormously to clean up in the future. Earths natural
resources are limited and should not be exploited with reckless abandonment.
The countries that are blessed to have them should use revenues generated to
plan a better future. They need to develop other industries that may enable
them to achieve sustainable development.
The goal of these efforts should be to achieve transformation from quantity
to quality. Quality of working life, quality of product, quality of life, quality of
product and service are all inter-related and national economies do well when
these goals are achieved. Todays challenges provide opportunities for the
future. Japan exploited its challenges, such as the production of poor quality
products in the 1950s, limited availability of land and natural resources, and
developed strategies such as company-wide quality control programmes and
just-in-time inventory systems to deal with such challenges. Today, its
 programmes are widely emulated. Other emerging nations can likewise exploit Quality
their own challenges to at least solve their local problems. management
The principle of totality and interconnection
We have, throughout this paper, stressed the importance of holistic or systemic
view of quality. This view of quality enables planners to see that their actions
and reactions are often affected by external factors and, therefore, view 285
themselves as members of a global society. When developing economies
perceive competition to be globally oriented, they are more apt to develop a
macro-view of managing quality. A holistic view of quality and hence strategic
planning in achieving competitiveness may lead to a focus on quality and not
quantity, and to long-term rather than short-term focus in planning. It is
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through this view that we can understand the interaction of the organization
with its environment and its stakeholders rather than stockholders. With the
growing changes in worlds market economies, it is important to know that the
emphasis should not be solely on satisfying or maximizing stockholders
wealth but rather on maximizing stakeholders social utility function. This
requires the vision of management to understand that the market environment
is changing. Management in developing economies must be able to respond by
being more proactive, understanding their interaction with the natural
environment and world economies and how such interaction can influence
local operations. A holistic view of business in developing economies will help
them focus on how to compete through sustainable development, build a stable
system of government that can attract foreign investment and plan better for
the future.
Global markets are inter-connected. Political and economic changes in the
industrialized nations influence economic activities in developing countries.
Likewise, regional stability in some of the developing countries with critical
natural resources influences business activities in industrial nations. For
example, the 1992 Gulf war led to a skyrocketing of prices for crude oil which
also affected industrial production and economic activities in industrialized
nations and ultimately influenced the lifestyle of residents of such countries.
Similarly, the skyrocketing cost of crude oil in the 1970s led to drastic changes
in technology with 4-cylinder economy cars replacing the gas guzzling 8-
cylinder cars. Furthermore, the emergence of regional trade agreements such as
the EU, NAFTA and others, have led to new rules on conducting business in
these regions. In particular, the institution of ISO standards in Europe has
meant many foreign businesses redesigning their business processes so they
can compete in European markets.
Activities of multinational corporations in developing countries are also
under heavy scrutiny and so are the policies of leaders in these countries.
There are many in our global village who see a common bond in certain issues
especially the environment and the quality of working life. For example,
several interest groups react angrily to the treatment of women in some
countries or the disrespect of environmental laws by some multinational
 IJQS corporations in developing countries. The inter-connectivity of the world
2,4 through the Internet also helps to readily distribute information about such
defamed organizations throughout the world. So, when leaders in developing
countries develop quality management programmes, they must be cognizant
of the fact that their actions and strategies are being evaluated by others
outside their immediate environment. They must therefore develop responsible
286 programmes. They must see the programme as a package that consists of the
democratization of the workforce. While in the industrialized nations
democracy and freedom are almost taken for granted, they are often non-
existent in developing countries. Thus, democratization of the workplace
cannot be effective if workers lack basic human rights and the right even to
vote in their countries. They must see economic improvement as a necessity for
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their economies and remove the barriers that hinder local businesses and
foreign investment. This means cutting out corruption, privatizing, relaxing
laws that hinder businesses and instituting stability in government policies. A
totality view of quality requires a total evaluation of the entire process in
developing countries. Policy makers cannot think that it is the responsibility of
manufacturers to improve quality when their policies increase the cost of
production (i.e. corruption, monopoly) and makes investment in new
technologies and quality programmes highly impossible. For example, as a
result of corruption, competition is often discouraged by policy makers in
developing countries by guaranteeing monopoly of an industry (i.e. auto
manufacturing) to a manufacturer. This leads to skyrocketing cost for the
product by the manufacturer, less emphasis on technology or quality
improvement, less focus on customers needs and dehumanization of the labour
force. If for example, a turnkey assembly line by a major corporation is given
monopoly in its local subsidiary that does not intend to export its products
abroad, more than likely consumers are going to be short-changed and they
have no other option since the laws make competition impossible. If such laws
are relaxed, there will be competition. This will lead to product differentiation
and wider product varieties and choices for consumers. This also means that
manufacturers will pay attention to the needs of consumers. The economy will
be stronger since business activities will be generated thus creating more
innovative practices and more jobs.

The principle of negation

This principle helps developing economies to evaluate their current position,
the challenges that are facing them and the assumptions behind such
challenges. One thing for sure is that the economies of these countries are not
at par with those of the rest of the world. Their population is also steadfastly
growing. Their increase in population is also accompanied by an increase in
death rate (World Resources Institute, 1993) (see appendix). This suggests
that quality of life is very low. Clearly, their major challenge is to improve the
wellbeing of their people. This can only be improved by improving national
productivity. National productivity is improved only when quality is
 improved. Demings chain reaction shows a strong relationship between Quality
quality and productivity. According to this model, increased quality means a management
reduction in waste and better use of resources which means that productivity
is up. If productivity is up, then the market can be captured and the
organization can stay in business and be able to create more jobs. By doing
this, the organization is achieving a major social responsibility function that
of creating jobs. 287
Policy makers have to query themselves and negate the present strategies
that have kept them down. They need to understand the importance of
sustainable development and the need to improve the quality of life of their
people. Businesses cannot do it alone. While they need support from policy
makers, however, policy makers can help by adopting policies that are
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supportive of quality improvement and sustainable development. They must

show responsibility by re-evaluating their system of government and, perhaps,
reforming it to be supportive of economic growth. A government that is always
under internal strife, war, or autocracy (i.e. military leadership) cannot be
supportive of business investment.

The principle of praxis

Developing economies have a purpose to satisfy the social utility function of
their people. This cannot be achieved if their social welfare and quality of life
cannot be maximized. Unemployment is high, productivity is low and
technologies are antiquated. The lack of competitiveness has created so much
misery. These economies need to develop. They need to improve the quality of
their products and services, improve productivity and generate more revenue to
be able to provide social services. The social utility function cannot be
maximized if there is no influx of capital into the economy. New capital is
needed to continue to invest in technology, train employees and provide on-
going on-the-job training and invest in quality management programmes.
Furthermore, research and development efforts will be required to ensure that
current technologies and quality programmes are updated. It is harder
therefore, to achieve quality improvements and thereby maximize social utility
function when basic infrastructures and skilled labour forces are lacking.
Again, with limited resources, developing countries need to prioritize their
needs and make optimal use of their resources.
Advanced technologies of today will be the basic technologies of tomorrow.
With the proliferation of new technologies today and the rapid obsolescence of
technology, for developing countries to have a chance of competing, they must
encourage a free market economy. This will induce competition which will lead to
more innovation and improvement in existing processes through increased
research and development. Their leaders must be futuristic, develop strategic
plans that can articulate possible changes in the world economy. Emphasis
should be on education and training. If the people of developing economies are
better trained and educated, they will be more able to contribute to planning their
future and the future of their countries. Again, people are the greatest asset of any
 IJQS organization. It is the people that will create the process, manage the process,
2,4 improve the process and make the process to work. People also are the greatest
asset of any nation. They provide the brainpower through which the country can
be better planned. However, to be able to exploit this important quality of people,
they must be given the freedom to participate in making decisions that relate to
them and their future. Many of the industrialized nations of the world enjoy this
288 freedom and this obviously influences all sectors of life and is manifested in easier
adaptation and implementation of quality management programmes.
Finally, the purpose of this paper is to discuss how developing economies can
adopt a quality imperative. The aim is not to provide a general prescription for
quality management practice. Clearly, there are many countries that can be
classified in the category of developing economies. These countries may exhibit
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different cultures and value systems. We have already noted that quality itself
is a culture and it needs to be made compatible with organizational culture. One
has to understand ones own culture and see how quality can be integrated. It
will be a mistake to adopt quality practices that have worked in other cultures
without exploring the differences. For example, Japanese work ethics and
culture may not necessarily be the same as that of the USA. One cannot place
ones culture as superior to another. However, there are elements of a particular
culture that can be exploited to achieve support for quality management
programmes. Irrespective of the differences in culture, there are obvious
remedies to achieving the quality imperative. We have noted, for example, the
importance of management of change and the importance of people as a major
asset of any organization. It is the people that will make the quality initiative
work. They must, therefore, be clued in on why it is important to achieve that
goal and how they may contribute to that end. People as an asset must be
cherished and nurtured. They need to be provided with the right type of tools to
do their work most effectively. One key tool they need is education. An educated
worker is the best asset of any organization. Education and training provide
enrichment to the worker and help the worker to be a better performer. When
performance is improved so is quality.
Developing economies often have unique characteristics, notably lack of
democracy, instability, corruption, unskilled labour force and others. While not
all developing countries suffer from these ills, it is necessary that policy makers
are aware that these issues affect work performance and that quality
programmes may not be easily implemented when workers are denied the basic
opportunity to participate in their work or are denied the necessary tools to do
their work properly. Policy makers in developing economies should realize that
their economies operate in a global economy and that the survival and the
growth of their economy are influenced by market forces. They can at least
provide a conducive environment to give their economies the chance of
competing effectively in the global market.
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 Appendix: life expectancy (years)
See Table AI.

Life Life
Country expectancy Rank Country expectancy Rank

Sierra Leone 41 144 Zambia 53 104

Guinea-Bissau 42 143 Madagascar 54 103
Afghanistan 42 142 Papua New 54 102
Guinea 43 141 Guinea
Gambia, The 43 140 Comoros 54 101
Mali 44 139 Ghana 54 100
Ethiopia 44 138 Haiti 55 99
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Angola 45 137 Swaziland 56 98

Niger 45 136 Lesotho 56 97
Somalia 45 135 Namibia 56 96
Chad 46 134 Pakistan 57 95
Mauritania 46 133 India 58 94
Benin 46 132 Zimbabwe 58 93
Equatorial Guinea 46 131 Kenya 58 92
Mozambique 47 130 Botswana 59 91
Djibouti 47 129 Egypt 59 90
Malawi 47 128 Myanmar 60 89
Burkina Faso 47 127 Indonesia 60 88
Senegal 47 126 South Africa 60 87
Burundi 48 125 Libya 61 86
Bhutan 48 124 Morocco 61 85
Lao Peoples Dep 49 123 Mongolia 61 84
Rep. Peru 61 83
Cambodia 49 122 Vietnam 62 82
Central African 49 121 Guatemala 62 81
Republic El Salvador 62 80
Rwanda 49 120 Guyana 63 79
Sudan 50 119 Saudi Arabia 63 78
Yemen 50 118 Nicaragua 63 77
Nigeria 51 117 Philippines 64 76
Bangladesh 51 116 Fiji 64 75
Nepal 51 115 Oman 64 74
Uganda 51 114 Iraq 64 73
Gabon 52 113 Honduras 64 72
Zaire 52 112 Algeria 64 71
Cote dIvoire 52 111 Turkey 64 70
Cameroon 53 110 Brazil 65 69
Congo 53 109 Thailand 65 68
Tanzania 53 108 Syrian Arab Rep 65 67
Liberia 53 107 Lebanon 65 66
Togo 53 106 Iran 65 65
Table AI.
Bolivia 53 105 Ecuador 65 64
Life expectancy (years)
(Continued)
 Life Life
Country expectancy Rank Country expectancy Rank

Tunisia 66 63 Kuwait 73 30
Dominican Rep 66 62 Singapore 74 29
Jordan 66 61 Portugal 74 28
Cape Verde 66 60 Ireland 74 27
Paraguay 67 59 Austria 74 26
Colombia 68 58 Luxembourg 74 25
Qatar 69 57 Barbados 75 24
Suriname 69 56 Costa Rica 75 23
Mexico 69 55 Germany 75 22
Mauritius 69 54 Belgium 75 21
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China 69 53 New Zealand 75 20

Korea, South 69 52 Finland 75 19
Malaysia 70 51 Cuba 75 18
Venezuela 70 50 United Kingdom 75 17
Korea, North 70 49 Israel 75 16
United Arab 70 48 Denmark 75 15
Emirates United States 76 14
Soviet Union 70 47 Cyprus 76 13
(former) Italy 76 12
Hungary 70 46 Greece 76 11
Romania 70 45 France 76 10
Sri Lanka 70 44 Australia 76 9
Bahrain 70 43 Canada 77 8
Argentina 71 42 Spain 77 7
Trinidad and 71 41 Norway 77 6
Tobago The Netherlands 77 5
Czechoslovakia 71 40 Sweden 77 4
Poland 72 39 Switzerland 77 3
Chile 72 38 Iceland 78 2
Albania 72 37 Japan 78 1
Uruguay 72 36
Bulgaria 72 35
Panama 72 34
Yugoslavia 72 33
(former)
Jamaica 73 32
Malta 73 31
Source: The 1993 Information Please Environmental Almanac, World Resources Institute,
pp. 337-38. Table AI.

(Christian N. Madu is Professor of Management Science at the Lubin School of Business, Pace
University. He is the author of several books and the Editor of the forthcoming Handbook of
Total Quality Management to be published by Chapman & Hall, London. He is the author of a
number of scholarly articles in academic journals.)
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