Autobiographical internal dialogue on TQM
ISSN: 1754-2731
Article publication date: 11 July 2020
Issue publication date: 9 February 2021
Abstract
Purpose
To present the internal dialogue of a TQM practitioner using the conceptual lens of reflective practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a pragmatic philosophical approach to collect qualitative critical reflection data and quantitative career construction data from stratified and purposively sampled respondents, using structured questionnaires. The qualitative data were analyzed through reconstruction, while the quantitative data were analyzed through co-construction using the percentage agreement value and Wilcoxon–Mann Whitney test.
Findings
Five questions were found to be valuable for steering the internal dialogue for critical reflection, thus recommended as a must-have in a TQM practitioner's toolkit. This study found the career adapt–abilities scale to be a valuable tool for assessing the career construction of a TQM practitioner. This was supported by a 64% agreement and non-significant difference between the two groups of raters used, p < 0.05 (U = 3356.5, W = 7451.5, Z = 1.9826), two-tailed.
Research limitations/implications
The pragmatic philosophical stance used in this study lends it to a certain level of subjectivity. However, the inputs from the three other participants neutralize the subjectivity. Most notably, this study is not about consensus-seeking but rather verifiable/testable self-reflection.
Practical implications
The theory-informed results presented in this study are useful for the continuing professional development of TQM practitioners.
Originality/value
This study provides insights for applying an individual-level self-assessment tool for TQM implementation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Thanks to M.L. Savickas for permission to use the Career Adapt–Abilities Scale.
Citation
Babatunde, O.K. (2021), "Autobiographical internal dialogue on TQM", The TQM Journal, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 503-520. https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-04-2020-0075
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited