TQM and Health - the employees´ perception

Journal article, 2004

This paper investigates the effects of TQM on the employees´ perception of their health. A case study has been carried out at Fresh, a manufacturing company in Sweden, which received the Alecta Award for working-environment issues in 2001. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods has been used. Qualitative data have been collected through in-depth interviews and a focus-group interview. A structured questionnaire was used to measure the extent of influence of the different values and factors. The most important finding is that there is a high statistical correlation between how the employees perceive the organisational values of ‘leadership commitment’ and how they perceive their health. There is also a statistical correlation with the values ‘participation of everybody’ and ‘continuous improvements’.