Costly Thy Habit as Thy Purse Can Buy, But Not Expressed in Fancy; Rich, Not Gaudy: Total Quality Management in Applied Psychology: A Review of Mary Walton’s The Deming Management Method

by Kyle E. Ferguson
University of Nevada - Reno

Managed care is a term used for the diverse cost-containment strategies and financial arrangements presently prevailing over this country’s transforming health care system (Benedict & Phelps, 1998). The quickest to rise in the managed health care system are fully captivated healthcare maintenance organizations (HMOs). Gone are the days of fee-for-service and unbridled spending with all the trimmings. Psychologists and practitioners alike are now being held accountable for delivering services in cost-effective ways to prepaid subscribers (Miller & Farber, 1996). Despite opposing opinions (Blanck & DeLeon, 1996), managed care has arrived, and along with it a set of contingencies placing a premium on proficiency. We are reminded at once that survival in human services rests on lowering costs and improving our practices, while maintaining satisfaction from individual consumers and businesses (Hayes & Heiby, 1996). The professional practices of psychologists must evolve in keeping with the times. We have to if we are ever to mount this exigency we are now facing.

To thwart falling into the trough of melancholy or despair, psychologists in applied settings should consider adopting management strategies already proven effective by businesses other than human services. One such method with an excellent track record (Deming, 1982, 1986) is that of total quality management (TQM) theory, employing the methods of statistical process control (SPC). Rising to the forefront of this system is an American mathematical physicist by the name of W. Edwards Deming. Deming is responsible for rectifying struggling Japanese industries post-World War II, making Japan an economic superpower with a reputation for producing goods of superior quality (Sanders & Sanders, 1994). Since then, he has influenced American industries facing similar difficulties as well, such as the Ford Motor Company, and Xerox (Gabor, 1990).

Deming’s strategies employ simple statistical tools (Mainstone & Levi, 1987), and apply visual analyses such as histograms and control charts (Pfadt & Wheeler, 1995), familiar fare for applied psychology. This being the case, the transition from the field of economics to applied psychology will be an easy one. That said, we turn now to a brief review of Mary Walton’s (1986) book, The Deming Management Method.

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