ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Unethical or borderline ethical behavior can occur in many areas of total quality management. At the top, CEOs and other high-level managers can profess to the world that the company is committed to quality and not truly promote quality in the organization. Managers who use the quality movement only as a tool for attention and leverage and do not actually intend to implement the process may be acting unethically.

Some of the specifics of quality control and statistical process control lend themselves to unethical behavior. Justin-time systems can be used as an excuse to implement favoritism among suppliers. With the move to reduce the number of suppliers, contracting managers can be more selective in choosing suppliers. This practice can give contracting agents or purchasing agents more leverage in securing deals through unethical means.