Total quality management in financial services: An empirical study of best practice

This paper presents the results of research carried out at the University of Bradford's European Centre for Total Quality Management (TQM), investigating the status of TQM within the financial services industry in the UK. The research finds that at the present time the financial services industry is in a state of considerable structural change, and competition is intense. This paper explains that the case for adoption of TQM as a generic strategy is now established and overwhelming. However, it is apparent that financial services are lagging behind other sectors in this regard. The research finds that TQM is not yet well established as an overall management philosophy. The leading group have 2-3 years' experience of implementation, and are assessed as low to medium adopters when measured using the European Quality Award model. There is strong evidence to show that the leading group have achieved marked improvement in performance. The research also shows, however, that some implementations have failed to deliver expected benefits, and in some instances costs have been extremely high and the consequences of failure significant. The reasons for these differences are explored Summary case studies are presented of five organizations from the leading group, and their approaches to implementation compared and best practices identified.