| Sumario: | The article presents a case study of the impact of total quality management (TQM) in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which has implications for other agencies. An analysis of several input and output indicators reveals no statistically significant difference when one compares IRS productivity before and after TQM. In fact, TQM redefines and consolidates traditional principles of public administration already in place. Nonetheless, there have been cost savings and improvements in customer satisfaction as a result of the IRS's quality improvement process teams, an approach to problem solving specific to TQM. As a result of the use of such teams, the IRS was able to use quantitative analysis to a greater extent in the problem-solving process and saw greater employee involvement in quality improvement. The implications for public administrators are discussed.
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