Over the past few decades, quality gurus such as Deming (1986), Juran (Juran and Gryna,1993), Crosby (1979), Feigenbaum (1991), and Ishikawa (1985), the primary authorities of total quality management (TQM), have developed certain propositions in the field of TQM, which have gained significant acceptance throughout the world. Their insights provide a good understanding of the TQM philosophy, principles, and practices. After careful study of their work, it has been found that these quality gurus have different views about TQM, although some similarities can be found. Worldwide, there are several Quality Awards such as the Deming Prize (1996) in Japan, the European Quality Award (1994) in Europe, and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (1999) in the United States of America. Each award model is based on a perceived model of TQM. However, the three award models are different from each other and each has its own characteristics. In the field of TQM implementation, much research has already been conducted, different researchers adopting different definitions of TQM. The concept is still a subject of debate (Easton and Jarrell, 1998), still a hazy and ambiguous concept (Dean and Bowen, 1994). So far, TQM has come to mean different things to different people (Hackman and Wageman, 1995).
