TQM in American Hotels An Analvsis of Atdication by Deborah Breiter and Priscilla Bloomquist An exploratory study finds that large, chain-affiliated hotels have embraced total quality management, but TQM is by no means universally practiced. T otal quality management (TQM) has be& evolving as a busi- ness practice in the United States since the 192Os, when Walter Shewhart, working in the Bell Tele- phone Laboratories, began studying process data.’ Shewhart was one of the first scientists to explore the concept of statistical process control Deborah Breiter, Ph.D., and Priscilla Bloomquist, Ph.D., are assistant professors in the department of hotel, restaurant, and tourism manage- ment at New Mexico State University. 0 1998, Cornell University ’ Richard Reed, David Lemak. and Joseph C. Montgomery,“Beyond Process: TQM Content and Firm Performance,” Academy ofManagement Review, Vol. 21, No. 1 (1996), pp. 172-202; and V. Daniel Hunt, Managing&r Qualify: Integmfing Quality and Business Strategy (Homewood, IL: Business One Irwin, 1993). 26 I:IIRNEL HOTELANDRESTAURANTAOMlNlSTRATlONQUARTERLY