Journal of Advanced Research in Automotive Technology and Transportation System

Volume 3, Issue 1&2 - 2018, Pg. No. 5-13

Peer Reviewed Journal
Research Article

Assessment of TQM practices in Automobile

Industry - An Empirical Investigation
Kuldeep Kumar1
1
M. Tech. Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rayat Institute of Engineering & Information
Technology, Railmajra, Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar, Nr. Ropar, Punjab-144 533.

Abstract
TQM is a way to continuously improve performance at every level of operation, in every functional area
of an organization, using all he available capital resources. This study is an attempt to identify the critical
factors for TQM implementation through survey- based research carried out n Indian automobile industry.
Questionnaire was prepared to measure the effectiveness of nine TQM practices including Top Management
commitment, leadership, Customer Focus, statistical Process Control, and Benchmarking. Extents of various
TQM aspects are investigated from data collected from 29 respondent and relationship between different
TQM practices are investigated using them. Some findings are consistent with established TQM norms and
some provides an understanding of the neglected domains of TQM in automobile sector. It is also observed
that some specific TQM approaches have found their wide dissemination in a particular segment of industry.

Keywords: Total Quality Management (TQM), Resources, and Automobile sector etc

Introduction specifications (Kumar et al., 2009).

It is known fact that concept of quality has been around
for a very long time, but the stress on the word quality
in every aspect of life i.e. in business, service or social
life has increased in the last few decades. Quality has
awakened all the nations, industries and organizations
around the world. The word “quality” means different
things to different people. The ranges of meanings
include that quality is excellence, value, conformance
to specifications, conformance to requirements, fitness
for use, customer satisfaction, meeting and exceeding
customers’ expectations and minimizing the loss imparted
to society. Successful companies over the years have not
fundamentally redefined the word quality; they have
expanded it to design and service quality. Incorporating
the customer’s requirements into the product design and
services requires companies to change the way they treat
their customers. Companies now need to translate the
words and ideas of customers into product and service
One of the fundamentals of Total Quality Management is a
long-term commitment to continuous improvement on the
part of everyone in the organization. The second objection
that usually arises in a liberal environment stems from
TQM emphasis on benchmarks; on the identification of
quantifiable items so that data can be gathered and analyzed
to substantiate the improved quality. TQM is defined as
the Management approach of an organization centered on
quality with a global strategy, based on the participation of
all its members and aimed at long term profitability through
customer satisfaction, including benefits to the members of
the organization and society. (Sreehari, 2003). This study is
an attempt to assess different TQM practices in automobile
sector of Northern India and results are highly encouraging.
Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis has been
performed to ascertain the significance of different TQM
practices towards performance improvement.

E-mail Id: er.kuldeep931@gmail.com

Orcid Id: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8467-4640
How to cite this article: Kumar K. Assessment of TQM practices in Automobile Industry - An Empirical Investigation. J Adv Res Auto
Tech Transp Sys 2018; 3(1&2): 5-13.

Copyright (c) 2018 Journal of Advanced Research in Automotive Technology and Transportation System
Kumar K
J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2)
Literature Review
Juran (1989) explained the aspect of customer focus that it
is aimed at determining the needs of a customer before he
or she becomes aware of that. Product characteristics are
categorized as “must be” and attractive”. These “attractive”
chics are the latent or hidden requirements, meaning
that if they are not present, customer is not aware they
are missing. Their absence does not detract from level
of customer satisfaction; however, if they are present
satisfaction increases dramatically Inspection through
acceptance sampling etc. can be eliminated, if companies
deal with suppliers under statistical control.
Carter and Narasimhan (1994) analyzed on the application
of TQM to the purchasing function have been analyzed
by they found several advantages of this, including
implementation of best practice through benchmarking
activities, identification of areas for improvement through
quality management methodologies, application of quality
management systems, tools and techniques, and improved
team working. But they also identified the following
problems:
• Poor levels of communication between purchaser
and supplier.
• Inadequate supplier quality improvement processes
• Suppliers’ lack of confidence and trust in the purchaser
Rao (1996) found many quality awards such as Malcolm
Balaridge and CII- EXIM AWARD have assigned a high
weight age to customer focus of the applicant organization.
The author stressed that the relative effectiveness of a
change program is contingent on the technology, values
and strategy of each organization. TQM leads of the
changes, and changes are always associated with many
factors related to an organization, it can not be said
of a TQM program that it context-free. Since TQM is an
organization-wide function, organization theory should
be used to describe, explain and improve it. Organization
variables may have considerable effect on TQM practices
and study of these effects could contribute to improve
TQM performance.
Sinha and Subash (1998) found that Indian companies are
increasingly committing to the concepts of total quality
management (TQM). Liberalization of the Indian economy
has posed new challenges to the manufacturers of fast
moving consumer goods. Consumers now have a wide range
of products to choose from. They demand that products
of their choice be made available to them whenever and
wherever required.
Obeng and Ugboro (2000) explained that this empowerment
is effectively by being associated with employee satisfaction
in terms of employee participation in the organization. Also,
empowering employees by providing them access to job
6
requirement information is associated with improvements
in employee’s participation. They also stated that top
management, leadership and employee empowerment are
considered two of the most important principles of total
quality management because of their assumed relationship
with customer satisfaction. Empowering employees to
participate and be involved in an organization is strongly
associated with job satisfaction in terms of equitable
reward.
Chong and Rundus (2003) stated that quality difference
can give a competitive edge to a company in the world
market; therefore, high quality is driving force of new
manufacturing practices. The firms that have adopted
now TQM practices are enjoying tremendous cost saving,
improved product quality, and reduced waste rate and
optimal utilization of capacity.
Ismail and Maling (2005) highlighted the critical factors of
TQM can be described as best practices or ways in which
“firms and their employees undertake business activities
in all key processes: leadership, planning, customers,
suppliers, community relations, production and supply
of products and services, and the use of benchmarking.
Masahiro and Kosaku (2005) underlined the process
Strategic planning process of quality management which
includes the operational plan to improve customer’s
satisfaction relates to external performance such as
increasing market share and competitiveness.
Research Problem and Research Methodology
Research Problem
Indian automobile industry is a growing sector. TQM is
also growing in Indian industry but how much TQM is
affecting automobile sector is still a far away question.
It is a study on implementation of different variables to
know how much TQM is effective in this growing sector.
Recent debates over the merits of new systems of work
organization in the automobile industry are promoting
TQM to reduce employee alienation and improve the
quality of working life. This study also tries to explore the
effects, which different organizational variables have on
the implementation of TQM practices. An attempt has
been made to know the extent of implementation of TQM
aspects. Each organization operates with different kinds
of sophistication and maturity.
Research Methodology
Research is an exercise full of trade-offs. Good research
design should reflect the question being addressed.
Decisions regarding subject of study, data collection
procedures, and geographical location subject and so on are
based on the degree of precision and control. High degree
 Kumar K
7 J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2)

of these factors almost always translates into higher costs. Three levels i.e. top, middle and lower management were
Keeping these facts in mind, after evaluating the strength considered. Top management includes personnel from the
and weaknesses of various research designs, field survey rank of executive directors and GMs, middle management
method was selected. Present study covers the automobile include senior managers, engineers and assistant managers
industry and requirements for some generalizability of were included in lower management. In some organizations
results over this segment. Case study method is not suitable there is no independent department for quality; personnel
for our purpose as it is difficult to generalize on the basis from other functions are looking after related activities.
of a sample of one or two; also it is too time consuming. Such quality respondents were considered as representing
By keeping in view these considerations, a questionnaire quality function. In some organizations researcher was
based field survey of automobile companies was carried referred directly to quality department heads. From Table
out. Measuring instrument is discussed in questionnaire 3.4 we can see that maximum numbers of responses are
design section. from top management. Maximum responses are from
upper level (14) followed by middle (11). Production
Research Instrument and Respondent Charac- function (11) has major representation. Responses from
teristics other functions are nearly same in number (2-4) into the
sample. Some of the data was collected by personal visits
Research Instrument of researcher to every company. In the beginning of data
For field survey, a questionnaire was used to measure TQM collection, persons mentioned in the lists were contacted
constructs and contextual variable. The data collection over telephone. After getting prior appointment from the
instrument consisted of two parts: the first solicited person concerned, the plan and purpose of the study was
respondent’s ratings on TQM aspects; the second part explained. Full confidentiality regarding data was assured.
asked for the organization‘s details. In all 20 items were Persons representing various department and positions
used in questionnaire. Perception regarding TQM practices were suggested as respondents. Appointments were fixed
sought on five-point scale. The five views are; “1= strongly according to mutual convenience. Nearly all respondents
disagree”, “2=disagree”, “3 = neutral”, “4 = agree”, “5 = were quite co-operative and responsive. Responses were
strongly agree”. A “CC = cannot comment” option was also received through E-mail and by post too.
added to avoid the bias resulting from the unawareness Data Analysis
of the respondent.
This section includes the validity and reliability of the
Respondent Characteristics content of questionnaire, descriptive statistics and
A list of companies enlisted with Thompson directory was correlation analysis used to validate the questionnaire
taken into account. From this list, keeping in view the time towards performance improvement.
constraints 100 organizations were randomly selected Validity and Reliability of Content
which belongs to northern region Companies generally
selected were distributed near Northern region. Total 100 An instrument of measurement is valid if it measures what
companies were sent the questionnaires by different ways it is supposed to measure and reliability is the degree to
and in all 29 responses were gathered. In the sample all which the results are consistent. Validity analysis is done
possible efforts were made to give representation to all by using one or more of the following methods: content
constituents within the organization: For this responses validity, convergent validity, discriminate validity and
were collected from different levels as well as functions. criterion related validity. Convergent validity is the extent
Initially the plan was to collect one response from each to which varying approaches to constructs measurement
department and on average six from an organization. But, yields the same results. A scale exhibits discriminate validity
during data collection, even two responses were obtained if its constituent’s items estimate only one construct.
from same department. Table.1 contains the distribution Criterion related validity is a measure of how well scales
of respondents across levels and functions. representing various TQM practices are related to quality
Table 1.Respondents’ Matrix
Top Middle Lower Total
Function Management Management Management
HR 1 2 3
QA 3 1 2 6
R&D 2 1 3
Purchase 2 2
Marketing 2 2 4
Production 4 5 2 11
Total 14 11 4 29
Kumar K
J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2) 8

performance (Criterion). An instrument has content validity if its items representatively sample the intended domain
of the concept it is intended to measure. To ensure content validity of questionnaire, it was given to two experienced
mangers of reputed Industry.. The questionnaire was modified to incorporate with their suggestions. Reliability test is
conducted of the survey by finding out reliability from Cronbach’s Alpha. Table 2 Reliability test of different TQM factors.
Table 2.Reliability test of different TQM factors
Category Factors Cronbach’s Alpha
Top Management Support. .7787
Leadership .7403
Customer focus. .8487
Statistical Process Control. .7505
Benchmarking. .7339

Cronbach’s coefficient alpha is used to assess inter-item reliability, with alpha values of 0.70 or higher considered to
indicate acceptable reliability for established scales.

Assessment of nine TQM practices

Top Management Support

TQM and senior management demands the support of top management as the driving force and main “change agent”
who must demonstrate uncompromising support because of the risks and resistance to change. It is a fundamental
quality principle that quality improvement projects must have support and leadership from top management before
quality-driven continual improvement projects can start. Without support from the top, quality improvement efforts
can wither and fail. The different variables under the Top Management Support are identified from the extensive
literature review. There is a need to know the extent of importance of different variables in automobile industry. The
manufacturer were asked to rate the extent of implementation of different variables with the Likert scale.
Table 3.Extent of Implementation in Top Management Support variables
Variables Mean S.D
Quality goals in which “Vision & Mission” are identifiable by all in the organizations 4.24 .786
are conveyed.
Top management promotes to create the new ideas. 4.34 .614
Adequate resources are allocated for making efforts to improve quality. 4.24 .577
Focus is on human resource satisfaction. 3.55 .870
Compatibility and co-ordination of quality management Policies and programs 3.90 .724
within the company between various levels.

The mean and standard deviation are calculated to know the extent of implementation of top management support and
most effective variable under this category. Above given Table 3. shows that the point “Top management promotes to
create the new ideas” is considered most important (Mean =4.34) by the automobile industry. Hence creative thinking
plays very important role and top management is very keen to promote the new ideas. But the least important point
is that industry is not giving much stress on human resource satisfaction.
Table 4.Correlations analysis of different variables of Top Management Support
Variables 1 2 3 4
Quality goals in which “Vision & Mission” are identifiable by all in the
organizations are conveyed.
Top management promotes to create the new ideas. 0.4133
Adequate resources are allocated for making efforts to improve quality. 0.3395 0.2609
Focus is on human resource satisfaction. 0.4251* 0.1661 0.2235
Compatibility and co-ordination of quality management Policies and 0.2963. 0.2437 0.3184 .3207
programs within the company between various levels.
* Correlation is significant at 5 % confidence interval.

The correlation analysis reveals how variable are related with each other. The positive correlation shows that one
variable has positive effect on other variable. The higher correlation for point “Quality goals in which “Vision & Mission”
are identifiable by all in the organizations are conveyed” and point “Focus is on human resource satisfaction” indicates
that human resource or employee’s satisfaction increase when the quality goals or objectives are conveyed to them. It

9 J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2)
means vision; mission and quality policy should be properly
conveyed to every employee of the organization. Point
“Top management promotes to create the new ideas
“and point “Focus is on human resource satisfaction” has
least correlation coefficient which revealed that employee
satisfaction is not much increased with implementation
and promotion of new ideas. It is fact that whenever any
change takes place in the organization the resistance forces
will be there. Adequate resources should be allocated
for making efforts to improve quality. Focus should be
on human resource satisfaction. This study would like to
impress upon the importance of top management. Top
management should be put in place a system where man
and machine work in tandem towards fulfillment of the
objective.
Leadership
Leadership can determine an organization’s future and its
results.  Without effect Leadership Skills and organization
may not reach its maximum potential. TQM is a way of
life for a company. It has to be introduced and led by
top management. Attempts to implement TQM often fail
because top management doesn’t lead and get committed
- instead it delegates and pays lip service. Leadership
Commitment is while our personnel are working in the
system; our managers are working on the system to improve
it with the help of personnel. Everyone within the Center
from leadership must be committed for TQM to be effective.
The different variables under the Leadership are thoroughly
analyzed from the extensive literature review. There is a
need to know the extent of importance of different variables
in automobile industry.
Table 5.Extent of Implementation in Leadership
variables
Variables Mean S.D
Organization’s commitment to 4.21 .675
quality facilitates and improving
Organizational control.
Managers communicate the 3.93 .842
need for quality throughout the
organization to motivate employees.
CEO and all senior managers are 4.14 1.060
accessible to customers.
The mean and standard deviation are calculated to know
the extent of implementation of leadership and most
effective variable under this category. Above given Table
5. shows that the point “Organization’s commitment to
quality facilitates and improving organizational control” is
considered most important (Mean =4.21) by the automobile
industry. Hence if organization commitment to quality will
develop core values, vision and overall control. Leadership
commitment towards quality will appreciate and encourage
the open communication of employees which will fulfill the
goal of top management. But the least important point is
Kumar K
that managers need quality throughout the organization
to motivate employees.
Table 6.Correlations analysis of different variables of
Leadership
Variables 1 2
Organization’s commitment to
quality facilitates and improving
Organizational control.
Managers communicate the need .4957*
for quality throughout the organi-
zation to motivate employee.
CEO and all senior managers are .2083 .4612
accessible to customers.
* Correlation is significant at 5 % confidence interval.
The correlation analysis reveals how variable are related
with each other. The positive correlation shows that one
variable has positive effect on other variable. Following
correlations are statistically significant and shows that
“Organization’s commitment to quality facilitates and
improving Organizational control “is more related to
“Managers communicates the need for quality throughout
the organization to motivate employees” are relatively
more related. If the commitment of organization is towards
Quality, leadership has both direct and indirect effects on
business results and motivate employees. When motivated
employees work cooperatively, as a team that will lead
to explore qualities in their leaders and supervisors that
embrace the organizations focus on quality and change in
all aspects.What Leadership tells is ‘a culture of willingness’
.This study tells: If CEO’s are easily accessible to customers
,organization customer base will improve exponentially.
Customer Focus
“Customer Experience – The Voice of the Customer”
Customer-driven quality .TQM has a customer-first
orientation. The customer, not internal activities and
constraints, comes first. Customer satisfaction is seen as
the organization’s highest priority. All companies believe
they will only be successful if customers are satisfied. The
TQM organizations are sensitive to customer requirements
and responds rapidly to them. In the TQM context, `being
sensitive to customer requirements’ goes beyond defect
and error reduction, and merely meeting specifications or
reducing customer complaints. The concept of requirements
is expanded to take in not only product and service attributes
that meet basic requirements, but also those that enhance
and differentiate them for competitive advantage. The
different variables under the Customer focus are collected
from the extensive literature review. There is a need to
know the extent of importance of different variables in
automobile industry. The manufacturer were asked to rate
the extent of implementation of different variables with
the Likert scale. Each part of the company is involved in
Total Quality, operating as a customer to some functions
and as a supplier to others.
Kumar K
J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2) 10

Table 7.Extent of Implementation in Customer Focus Variables

Variables Mean S.D
TQM awareness surveys generate appropriate information to determine customer needs. 4.21 .819
Continuously improving the product customer expectations are noted regularly and 4.56 .632
separately held.
We are in touch with our customers. 4.55 .827
Customer feed back system are used in organization. 4.41 .628
General meetings with the customers are to be regularly. 4.34 .857
Customers complaint is solved carefully and quickly. 4.18 .567

The mean and standard deviation are calculated to know the extent of implementation of customer focus and most
effective variable under this category. Above given Table 7. shows that the point “Continuously improving the product
customer expectations are noted regularly and separately held” is considered most important (Mean =4.56) by the
automobile industry. Hence if product customer expectations are emphasized i.e. customer needs are reflected in products
and services so customer complaints should be systematically monitored and properly addressed. If we are in touch
with the customers and they are satisfied this is must for brand loyalty and growth/survival of the organization .But the
least important point is that TQM awareness surveys should be generated appropriately to determine customer needs.
Table 8.Correlations analysis of different variables of “Customer focus”
Variables 1 2 3 4
TQM awareness surveys generate appropriate information to
determine customer needs.
Continuously improving the product customer expectations are noted .3930
regularly and separately held.
We are in touch with our customers. .4055 .4901
Customer feed back system are used in organization. .3835 .4845 .4136
General meetings with the customers are to be regularly. .6077* .3618 .4273 .5221
Customers complaint is solved carefully and quickly. .3088 .4478 .3598 .3402
* Correlation is significant at 5 % confidence interval.

The correlation analysis reveals how variable are related with each other. The positive correlation shows that one variable
has positive effect on other variable. Following correlations are statistically significant and shows that “TQM awareness
surveys generate appropriate information to determine customer needs” is more related to “General meetings with the
customers are to be regularly” .Customers complaint is solved carefully and quickly” has least correlation coefficient
which revealed that if customer’s complaints are not updated continuously the credibility of the products is not in the
market. With the help of TQM awareness surveys in the organizations employees continuously improve the product,
customer expectations and these points are noted regularly for future reference. Organizations touch with customers
is generally generated from TQM awareness programmes. General meetings with the customers are regularly held
which feedback people in work unit for determining customer needs. A feeling of belongingness is created to care
about customers for driving ‘sense and respond’ organizations policy.

Statistical Process Control

SPC relies on measuring variation in manufacturing output and setting control limits based on observations of variations
arising solely from common causes. A process that is “in control” is expected to generate output that is within the control
limits. The main quality improvement process consists of the intentionally varying the production process to achieve a
smaller range of control limits. A process can achieve zero defects – because even articles that are outside the control
limits due special causes are still within the specified tolerances. The reduction in waste and inspection resources can
make processes subject to SPC far more efficient, and the predictability implied by processes that are in control allows
further savings to be made by adopting Just In Time inventory control.. Despite a lofty title, understanding and using
SPC does not require advanced knowledge of statistics.  Rather, the seven basic tools of quality and formalized body
of techniques involve tabulating, depicting, and describing data sets.  The Excel software program actually does the
tabulating. Once the system is visible, the describing and identifying appropriate actions to improve the processes and
systems are generally self-evident.
 Kumar K
11 J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2)

Table 9.Extent of Implementation in SPC variables

Variables Mean S.D#
Product quality is checked / inspected regularly. 4.59 .501
Production operators are well trained in SPC techniques. 3.97 1.017
Control charts are used in most of the processes. 4.31 .712
Cause & effect diagram are used to solve the problems 4.17 1.002
Critical components are identified and emphasized more. 4.31 .806
Taguchi’s technique’s are to be used for quality improvements. 3.41 1.119

The mean and standard deviation are calculated to know the extent of implementation of statistical process control and
find out the most effective variable under this category. Above given Table 9 shows that the point “Product quality is
checked / inspected regularly” is considered most important (Mean =4.59) by the automobile industry. Hence if product
produced is checked at regular intervals quality is improved tremendously. But the least important point is that Taguchi’s
concept of robustness; it should be motivated.
Table 10.Correlations analysis of different variables of “Statistical process control”
Variables 1 2 3 4 5
Product quality is checked / inspected regularly.
Production operators are well trained in SPC techniques. .1812
Control charts are used in most of the processes. .3725 .5083
Cause & effect diagram are used to solve the problems. .3603 .2512 .6726*
Critical components are identified and emphasized more. . 4174 .1877 .6346 .5500
Taguchi’s technique’s are to be used for quality .0022 .3583 .2813 .3800 .2485
improvements.
* Correlation is significant at 5 % confidence interval.

The correlation analysis reveals how variable are related with each other. The positive correlation shows that one
variable has positive effect on other variable .As evidence by the correlation analysis presented in the above table
positive relationship is found in the following points” Control charts are used in most of the processes”,” Cause & effect
diagram are used to solve the problems.” and” Critical components are identified and emphasized more are invariably
more related. If control charts and inspections are carried out regularly the probability of defective product is very less.
Cause Effect diagrams and Control charts are used to monitor, control and improve critical components and systems
and thus critical components are identified and emphasized more for improvement.

Benchmarking

The term benchmarking was originally used by early land surveyors, who used the term to identify a fixed point from
which all other measurements are made It has a particular significance in technology, where the rapid change of the
business climate can leave a company out in the cold.  Now governmental and non-profit organizations have begun
implementing benchmarking. Benchmarking is both different and similar in ways to other types of business improvement
practices.  These practices include total quality management (TQM), reengineering, and performance measurement.
Table 11.Extent of Implementation in Benchmarking variables
Variables Mean S.D
We are aggressive in our quality policy with respect to the competitors. 4.21 .819
Benchmarking activities have reduced costs. 4.07 .884
Internal benchmarking is carried out to be competitive and awards are also given. 3.86 .915

The mean and standard deviation are calculated to know the extent of implementation of benchmarking and to find
out the most effective variable under this category. Above given Table 11. shows that the point “We are aggressive
in our quality policy with respect to the competitors” is considered most important (Mean =4.21) by the automobile
industry. Hence aggression towards quality policy with respect to competitors shows the attitude to win. But the least
important point is that industry is not giving much stress on internal benchmarking. It is very surprising because internal
benchmarking should be first than external benchmarking.

Correlation between various practices

The correlation coefficient is calculated between various practices. The highest positive correlation is tested at the level
of significance adopted.
Kumar K
J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2)
Table 12.Correlations analysis of 5 different practices
Variables 1 2 3 4 5 internal benchmarking. After personnel have been
1 trained, managers are giving them opportunities and
2 .2017
3 .1812 .2173
4 .2071 .0325 .4721
5 .3614 .1161 .4320 .4761*
* Correlation is significant at 5 % confidence interval.
Results of investigation demonstrated that benchmarking
practices significantly aimed at carrying out statistical
process control activities.
Conclusions, Limitations and scope of future work
Conclusions
The following conclusions are drawn from the survey:
Top Management Support
• The most important point is “Top management
promotes to create the new ideas.”
• The high positive relationship has been found in
following point’s .If the vision and mission of the
organization is long term it will help for the satisfaction
and morale boosting of employees. Findings also
suggest a strong and active role for top management
in creating an organizational culture that promotes
total quality.
Leadership
• The most important point is “Organization’s
commitment to quality facilitates and improving
Organizational control”.
• The positive correlation gave the conclusion that when
motivated employees work cooperatively, as a team
that will lead to explore qualities in their leaders and
supervisors that embrace the organizations focus on
quality and change in all aspects.
Customer focus
• The most important point is “Continuously improving
the product customer expectations are noted regularly
and separately held.”
• The positive correlation gave the conclusion that with
the help of TQM awareness surveys, organizations
continuously improve the product, customer
expectations and these points are noted regularly for
future reference and further improvement.
Statistical Process Control
• The most important point is “Product quality is checked
/ inspected regularly. “
• The positive correlation gave the conclusion that if
12
innovative ideas of co-workers are very appropriate
and constructive it helps in controlling the process of
awards to apply what they have learned; this ensures
continuous improvement.
Benchmarking
• The most important point is “We are aggressive in our
quality policy with respect to the competitors.”
• The positive correlation gave the conclusion that
the internal benchmarking is carried out between
departments and awards are given to the best
departments thus its positive correlation with cost
reduction is a good sign.
Limitations
A key source of bias may be the selection of respondents.
As this study was cross-sectional, the causal relationship of
findings might be reinforced by a longitudinal study. This
study measures perception regarding TQM practices from
the personnel above the supervisory level. Since supervisors
enjoy the unique organizational position, midway between
management and workers their inclusion might be resulted
in less biased and more representative data. The cross-
sectional design of the study is another limitation since it is
not measuring pre and post TQM performance measures.
Geographical location and absence of comprehensive
statistical validity analysis may also result in some bias.
Scope of future work
This study can be extended by including manufacturing
as well as service organizations. One (1) causal model
relating TQM constructs and an organization’s contexts
(both internal and external such as environment, nature
of competition, and market share) can’t hypothesized and
be tested. Greater validity can be ensured by including
criterion variables such as TQM performance, product
quality etc. in further study.
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Date of Submission: 2018-05-07
Date of Acceptance: 2018-05-15