Is TQM more difficult to implement than other transformational strategies?

An empirical study to investigate the effects of critical factors on TQM implementation in the garment industry in Bangladesh

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that enable total quality management (TQM) implementation in the readymade garment (RMG) sector of Bangladesh. More specifically, the present study is a supplement of the previous call from research to investigate the TQM-enabling factors from a broader aspect of organizational change.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted through an online survey, followed by phone calls. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey with 256 respondents of the Bangladeshi RMG sector. The TQM-enabling factors were divided into five distinct groups, based on strategic or overall changes required within an organization for TQM implementation. A theoretical research model was created to investigate the contingency of various TQM-enabling factors. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to confirm the factor that enabled TQM implementation in the RMG sector of Bangladesh.

Findings

The main finding of this study shows that structural, strategic, contextual and human resource-enabling factors are significant to TQM implementation in the Bangladeshi RMG sector.

Research limitations/implications

This study has been completed in single time frame. Therefore, consideration of the time factor is completely ignored in this research. Furthermore, understanding of TQM-enabling factors in this research relied on quantitative findings only. Also, this study was limited to one industry and one geographic region. However, this study could determine whether data triangulation will provide a good perception on enabling factors and the methodology can be extended to other industries and regions.

Practical implications

This study provides a research methodology for other manufacturing industries that are planning to implement TQM in their organization. This research will contribute to the existing literature by examining the contingency of various TQM-enabling factors in the context of the Bangladeshi RMG sector, and it, therefore, provides direction to increase the success rate of TQM implementation. Furthermore, the research methodology can be used in other studies for variation of contextual variables such as size of the industry, developed or underdeveloped country and manufacturing or service industry.

Originality/value

The methodology used in this study can lead the way for other industries in the RMG sector that implements TQM in their organization. Also, this research further contributes to the existing literature by investigating the contingency of various TQM enabling factors in the context of the Bangladeshi RMG sector and developing associated strategies to raise success rate of TQM implementation.

Self-efficacy’s role in success of quality training programmes

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore why some firms succeed while others flounder or fail to implement quality improvement programmes. It synthesises self-efficacy literature to propose a model of self-efficacy’s role in affecting implementation success of quality improvement programmes in organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of scholarly articles on the topics of self-efficacy and quality initiatives brings to light self-efficacy’s role in successful quality programme implementation. When considered in the context of organisation barriers, it can lead to organisational success.

Findings

It is determined that quality training programmes play an important role in affecting existing efficacies and leading to “quality self-efficacy” in employees. The proposed model and related propositions suggest that right approaches of implementing quality training among certain types of employees and/or organisations can promote teamwork to achieve performance success.

Research limitations/implications

Moving forward, the proposed model should be empirically tested to improve our understanding of quality self-efficacy construct and its role in aiding organisational success. Furthermore, it would offer guidelines for the implementation of quality programmes in the most optimal way.

Practical implications

In applying theories on self-efficacy, motivation, empowerment, and quality training, the authors posit that existing efficacy and quality self-efficacy are crucial for quality implementation efforts to overcome organisational barriers and lead to effective teamwork and performance success.

Social implications

The authors postulate that deciding factors for organisational success originate from employees themselves as existing efficacies. Even though employees can foster quality self-efficacy through the implementation of quality improvement initiatives, existing self-efficacy, and organisation barriers will be moderating forces on eventual effectiveness of quality self-efficacy, teamwork, and organisational performance.

Originality/value

The model and related propositions, linking self- and collective efficacies to quality training, teamwork, and quality performance, offered in this paper will prove useful for organisational decision-makers in selecting quality programmes for implementation in organisation to achieve performance success.

Using asset-based criterion to implement quality management philosophy in service operations to enhance business performance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of successfully assessing basic resources of an organization, such as technology and human resources, needed to enhance performance of service businesses through the use of quality management ideals. Effective coordination of these two types of organizational assets is shown to impact both the design and the implementation of quality management practices, which than leads to enhanced organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Retail banking firms were surveyed for this study to analyze empirical data related to technology and people-based assets. Results were corroborated on the basis of in-depth interviews with several banking managers to provide real-world verification of the findings.

Findings

This study identifies the significance of key assets in a banking service environment that can help the implementation of quality management philosophy. Paper discusses how managers can focus on the development of key assets as well as the use of these assets in the design of quality management processes to enhance business performance.

Research limitations/implications

This research focused on a specific sector of the service industry, the banking sector. Relatively small size of the study sample may have impacted the outcome of research applicability on a wide spectrum of businesses. Also, constantly changing financial regulations could not be incorporated in the study. On the positive side, strong managerial feedback provides guidance toward adopting the study results, and lays the foundation for future research suggesting an additional focus on corporate responsibility and sustainability issues while managing quality.

Originality/value

As today’s rapidly evolving society pushes people out of service encounters, replacing them with efficient and cost-saving technology, roles of both the people and the technology in an organization must be fully understood. This paper shows that, despite the exponential growth of technological innovation, both people and technology are critical to enhancing organizational performance through successful adoption of quality management practices.

Implementation obstacles and strategy implementation failure

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the following question: How do strategy implementation obstacles relate to each other and affect strategy implementation?

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology is qualitative and based on an extensive review of the literature and on an in-depth case study analysis.

Findings

This paper draws two main conclusions. The first is that the many obstacles that impact the strategy implementation process can interact and be strongly interrelated in dynamic and complex manners. The second is that obstacles can lead to and reinforce other obstacles, eventually forming long chains of blockages.

Originality/value

Strategy implementation remains a difficult task with improbable success. This paper provides a contribution to an explanation on why so many strategy implementation efforts fail. It is one of the very few papers addressing the issue of the relationships between strategy implementation obstacles.

Economic crisis and business excellence: a comparative multi case study assessment

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that crisis had on quality management and basic business processes using INSEAD’s industrial excellence framework (IEF) towards large Greek industrial units. This study proposes a modified version of the IEF which can help firms to operate through a turbulent environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Data that were collected during the current financial crisis were compared with a matched sample of business units surveyed a decade earlier. The variables that were used to measure performance were grouped into two categories, quality management and process improvement.

Findings

Through the examination of these cases, the authors identify the characteristics that empowered those BUs so as to remain alive during the turbulence. According to the results, the survivors train their staff systematically, have closer relationships with their suppliers, assess their processes and follow up with action plans. Findings also suggest cultural differences between survivors vs non-survivors. Survivors display a cultural profile typical to adhocracy since they describe themselves as more flexible and externally focused instead of being stable and internally focused. These findings are discussed and avenues for future research are presented.

Practical implications

The results of the study can be applied by quality managers of industrial organizations to achieve higher performance and overcome a turbulence of the external environment.

Originality/value

Previous research on the business excellence frameworks neglects the essential issue of sustainability and how an organization can survive a crisis. The study provides new insights into the long-term benefits of applying an excellence framework.

Effects of total quality management in local authorities

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the main total quality management (TQM) factors adopted and the respective results achieved by local authorities – municipalities. Determining the degree to which TQM influences the respective results is also an aim of the present study.

Design/methodology/approach

A research study was designed to be carried out in Greek local authorities – municipalities, 125 of which were approached through interviews with chief executive officers (CEOs) based on a structured questionnaire. The TQM practices and results identified in the literature were used as measured variables of the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analyses were applied for the purpose of the study.

Findings

The TQM philosophy is not highly adopted by the Greek local authorities participating in the present study. Moreover, the Greek local authorities do not seem to derive significant TQM benefits. Finally, adopting TQM strongly and positively influences, first, operational and quality performance of the local authorities; second, citizen satisfaction and society results; and third, employee satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

Subjective data were collected from the CEOs of a small sample of local authorities operating in a European Union country, under circumstances of financial crisis. Based on these limitations, future research studies are recommended.

Practical implications

Areas for improvement are identified for a local authority to develop a robust TQM model, approach business excellence and derive significant benefits.

Originality/value

This is the first research study in the field of TQM to be conducted at city-level administration in Greece.

Identifying the critical determinants of TQM and their impact on company performance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to enrich the existing literature by determining the underlying structure (latent factors) of total quality management (TQM) practices and their impact on company performance outcomes in the Greek hotel industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The research questions were examined using a sample of 153 top-and middle-level hotel-quality managers. Exploratory factor analyses, coupled with multiple linear regression analyses, were used to examine the extent to which elements of TQM influence hotel performance.

Findings

The TQM factors revealed by the present empirical research in the hotel industry are the quality practices of top management, strategic quality planning, employee quality management, customer focus and employee knowledge and education. On the other hand, the performance dimensions revealed through the present study are summarized as: financial performance, customer focused performance and service quality performance. The results also confirmed that most of the TQM elements are antecedents of hotel business performance.

Practical implications

Hotel managers/owners using reliable and valid frameworks comprising TQM practices and performance outcomes may better address their efforts by choosing whether to invest in company refurbishing or better train their personnel to maximize hotel performance.

Originality/value

The purpose of this study is to enrich the existing literature by identifying and confirming the enablers and outcomes of TQM specifically within the hospitality industry. Moreover, the relationship between the implementation of TQM practices and superior company performance is also examined due to the past contradictory results regarding this matter.

Implementing capabilities-based quality management and marketing strategies to improve business performance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of successfully coordinating infrastructural capabilities, such as technology, and structural capabilities, such as people, on the performance of service businesses. Effective coordination of these two types of capabilities is shown to impact the implementation of quality management practices and the design of marketing strategy, both of which when utilized properly, lead to enhanced organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors surveyed retail banking firms for this study to analyze empirical data on infrastructural and structural capabilities. Results were corroborated on the basis of in-depth interviews with several banking managers to provide real world verification of the findings.

Findings

Results indicate that both infrastructural and structural capabilities positively impact the design of marketing strategy, while only structural capabilities impact the implementation of quality management practices. Both, successfully implemented quality management ideals and a well-designed marketing strategy, are shown to enhance overall organizational performance.

Research limitations/implications

Research was conducted on a specific sector of the service industry, the banking sector. Also, the relatively small size of the study sample may have impacted the outcome of research applicability in some large businesses. Continuously emerging financial regulations could not be incorporated in the study. On the positive side, strong managerial feedback provides guidance toward adopting the study results, and lays the foundation for future research.

Originality/value

As today’s rapidly evolving society pushes people out of service encounters, replacing them with efficient and cost-saving technology, roles of both the people and the technology in an organization must be fully understood. This paper shows that, despite the exponential growth of technological innovation, both people and technology are critical to enhancing organizational performance through sound quality management practices and supportive marketing strategies.

The financial impact of a withdrawn ISO 9001 certificate

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to assess to what extent the loss of the ISO 9001 certification affects the decertified firms’ financial performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using standard event study methods, this paper matches a sample of 143 Portuguese companies that lost their ISO 9001 certification with similar non-event counterpart firms (according to return-on-assets (ROA) and size) and compares the performance of these two groups of firms using financial data collected from the AMADEUS database.

Findings

– Results show no statistical significant differences in the financial performance (as measured by ROA, return-on-sales (ROS) and sales growth) between companies that lost their ISO 9001 certification and their matched firms. Although the literature suggests that certification improves firms’ performance and that the benefits of certification may last over long periods of time, this paper’s results suggest that, after decertification, companies do not exhibit over or underperformance in their operations vis-à-vis comparable firms that do not undergo the same event.

Originality/value

– As far as the authors are aware, this is the first study assessing the impact of ISO 9001 certificate withdrawal on the decertified firms’ financial performance.

Strategy implementation: What is the failure rate?

It is often claimed that 50–90% of strategic initiatives fail. Although these claims have had a significant impact on management theory and practice, they are controversial. We aim to clarify why this is the case. Towards this end, an extensive review of the literature is presented, assessed, compared and discussed. We conclude that while it is widely acknowledged that the implementation of a new strategy can be a difficult task, the true rate of implementation failure remains to be determined. Most of the estimates presented in the literature are based on evidence that is outdated, fragmentary, fragile or just absent. Careful consideration is advised before using current estimates to justify changes in the theory and practice. A set of guiding principles is presented for assisting researchers to produce better estimates of the rates of failure.