However, some commentators have warned that TQM as implemented by many businesses is fundamentally unsound, and have suggested that quality management faces its biggest problem in "soft" areas such as workforce management (see, for example, Wilkinson, 1994). A new report from the authoritative Institute for Employment Studies (IES), claims that many performance evaluation systems are failing both employees and organisations, and having limited impact on business performance (cited in Cummings, 2001). Such outcomes and results have been also observed and discussed by Long (1986), Segella (1989), and Seddon (2001). Consequently, many of the recent empirical studies in the HRM literature into the interaction between personnel management issues and quality management have focused on practices that improve quality performance through other HRM functions. Again, it is not the purpose of this paper to review all the functions of HRM. But when deciding what form HR performance evaluation should take in a TQM context, consideration must also be given to other HRM practices and how they are going to fit in.