Paper Title
Correlating Organizational Culture And Level Of Understanding Of Total Quality Management Philosophy Among Manufacturing And Other Related Companies In The Calabarzon Region, Philippines

Abstract
Implementing changes in the organization such as Total Quality Management requires better understanding of its philosophy. The success of its implementation is dependent upon several factors, one of which is the way of life in the organization aptly called organizational culture. This organizational culture is viewed as a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which govern how people behave in organizations. Organizational culture provides values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of the organization. In this study, organizational culture is viewed along with purpose, governance, relationships, structures, management, resources, leadership, rewards and attitude towards change. With 109 participants in the study representing manufacturing companies in the CALABARZON region, it was found out that purpose, management, leadership, attitude toward change and relationships are the concentrations of the companies in its effort to make their TQM implementation a success. Success of TQM implementation draws from the fact that the employees have better understanding of the underlying concepts and philosophy behind this. Results of the study further showed that the companies have better understanding of TQM principles such as being a management philosphy and practice, the importance of teamwork and participation, the role of training and education, the importance of statistical techniques and the necessity of management leadership and commitment for the successful implementation of this management philosophy. When correlated with knowledge of TQM, the organizational culture has a significant relationship with it. The study recommends that companies should further strengthen their cultural dynamism along with rewards, governance, structures and resources. Moreover, they should deepen their understanding on the role played by provision of adequate resources by the management, doing initiatives like Kaizen, suggestion scheme and quality cicles, creation of a work environment conducive for improvement, appreciation that TQM is about customer satisfaction and the importance of supplier involvement in support of quality improvement. All of these will help strengthen the relationship between a strong organizational culture and TQM implementation.