AT LAST, AN ALTERNATIVE TO PERFORMANCE-APPRAISAL - TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Is the current emphasis on performance appraisal in public sector agencies appropriate to efforts to adopt total quality management (TQM)? Jim Bowman claims that performance appraisal's focus on assessing and changing individual behavior is misguided. In contrast, TQM stresses improvements in work processes rather than in individual employee performance. Bowman reviews the barriers performance appraisal has posed to TQM and considers various scenarios for the future of quality management in the public sector under such circumstances.