Organisational culture, organisational learning and total quality management: a literature review and synthesis.

As health services face increasing pressure to meet the expectations of different stakeholders, they must continuously improve and learn from their experience. Many fail in attempts at continuous improvement programs because managers have not understood the complexity of making changes in organisations with multiple subcultures and interests. This article examines the related concepts of organisational culture, organisational learning and total quality management and shows how a synthesis of this knowledge can assist in developing continuous organisational learning and improvement.