Total Quality Management in the African business community of Burkina Faso: a change in perspective on knowledge development

L. Karsten and B. Pennink
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B. Pennink: Groningen University

No CDS-25, CDS Research Reports from University of Groningen, Centre for Development Studies (CDS)

Abstract: During the 1990s Total Quality Management (TQM) became diffused to Burkina Faso. The overarching logic of privatization due to Structural Adjustment Programs prepared the ground for far-reaching changes in management practices. TQM became exhorted as a new way of manufacturing. This new management concept was presented as a crucial part of new corporate success and put strong emphasis on empowerment of employers, customer service and charismatic leadership. Interviews with top and middle management in a range of Burkinabé companies showed a willingness for mimetic learning but it turned out that translating the concept into specific new practices by way of new routines remained a complex matter. Although this management concept sometimes became part of the dispositional practice of managers ? a new habitus ? company practices could be better characterized as improvisation on quality improvement.

Date: 2007
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