W. Edwards Deming/s management philosophy of continuous
improvement, TQM, has gained attention in the public and
private sectors as a means of resolving the "crisis" in
modern American organizations. TQM's effectiveness is
dependent on its principled implementation. As an
imbalanced perspective, the hyper-rational masculine
conventional management wisdom has thwarted real
organizational innovations by limiting methods, techniques,
and actions to its frame of assumptions. A radically
different set of assumptions or world view, the feminine
perspective, is needed to provide balance and to create the
possibility of true innovation that can lead to resolution
of the crisis faced by American organizations.
Jungian psychoanalytic understanding of psyche
structure, development, and the dynamics of repression
provide the theoretical framework for understanding the
importance of a principled implementation of TQM. This
principled implementation will avert an masculine warping of
TQM and will provide a means of balance between the
masculine and feminine principles. Critical analysis of
documentation and literature reveals clear evidence of TQM's
congruence with the feminine principle and its potential for radical change in organizations and society.
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