Implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) - The Issue of National Culture

by Abraham Allotey

2008 · GRIN Verlag

Master's Thesis from the year 2003 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 70%, University of East London (East London Business School), course: Master of Business Administration, 112 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Total Quality Management has worked in Japan, so why shouldn't it work in the USA, Europe or Africa? This is a very popular statement amongst many multinational companies when they want to implement quality strategies in different countries. They usually ignore the importance of culture and its impact on transplanting quality strategies that has been successful in one cultural set up. This is one of the main reasons why TQM has not worked in many countries. The compatibility of TQM with different cultures should always be reviewed since work ethics for instance in Ghana is different from that in Japan. Culture reflects the way of life, values, and beliefs of a society and as such very difficult to change but rather can be slightly modified through education and training to adapt to certain quality management strategies. This claim of the impact of national culture, on the successful TQM implementation across national boundaries forms the basis of this management report. In this report therefore, literature on both TQM and culture will be critically discussed in the first two chapters. The third chapter will critically analyze the literature on the impact of culture in the successful implementation of TQM across different countries. Chapter four will analyze the managerial implications and finally a conclusion and recommendation will be drawn. ...]

Heart Failure: A Practical Approach to Treatment

by William T. Abraham, Henry Krum

2007 · McGraw Hill Professional

The definitive one-stop guide to treating-and preventing-heart failure This practical reference provides all the expert guidance and up-to-the-minute clinical perspectives you need to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with heart failure. A major focus of the book is integration of various management approaches to maximize patient benefit. Coverage begins with a brief introduction on the incidence and causes of heart failure, then quickly moves into a more thorough clinical overview of symptom evaluation; pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment methods; hospitalization; surgical treatments; and more. Features: Clear, step-by-step coverage of prevention and all treatment modalities with evidence-based recommendations Full examination of the types of heart failure, prevalence, morbidity and associated co-morbidities, mortality, risk factors, etiologies, cardiomyopathies, and pathophysiology Key perspectives on the use of ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, aldosterone antagonists, IV vasoactive medications, diuretics, digitalis, surgical procedures and devices, and more Need-to-know procedures for patient evaluation Heart failure disease management programs and pathways of care that can be applied in any practice setting Clinically relevant diagrams, figures, and algorithms