Total quality management in the UK financial services: some findings from a survey in the Northeast of England

The impact of 'quality initiatives' in the UK financial service sector has been the focus of many recent articles. (Cowling and Newman, 1995 and Wilkinson et al., 1995) There is some evidence that companies are adopting 'quality initiatives' towards cutting costs and achieving shortterm results rather than being committed to the never-ending improvement culture which quality management programmes should promote. It appears that total quality management (TQM) has been adopted as the major 'quality initiative' in this sector. The findings of a survey carried out in the Northeast of England are presented. This survey investigated managers' perceptions of the TQM programmes applied in their organizations. In addition, interviews were conducted with the managers responsible for 'quality initiatives' in the head offices of some of the largest companies in UK financial services.