Integrated Management Systems: A Practical Approach To Transforming Organizations

Based on a six-year study by the Center for the Quality of Management (CQM), "Integrated Management Systems" shows how successful organizations create their own ways of executing the scientific method. The authors collaborated with some of America's largest companies—including Teradyne, Hewlett-Packard, Eastman Chemical, Ritz-Carlton—and notable non-profit organizations like top hospitals and the U.S. Navy. They found that highly successful systems differed significantly from one organization to another.

The core of each successful system was the organization designing a system that gathered data on specific problems, developed theories, tested these theories, and shared the results organization-wide. While each organization’s methods were unique, similar underlying processes led to success. Less successful organizations lacked comparable systems, highlighting the importance of tailored quality management approaches.