Quality Management principles and practices impact on the companies’ quality performance

Maizurah binti Abdullah

abdullahmaizurah@gmail.com
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore the conceptual model that conveys the relationship between the use and
application of the concepts and practices of quality management and the success of their businesses. There are
a significant number of articles that concentrate on the relation between quality management and
organizational performance. With the growing pressure to achieve optimum level of quality, quality
management practices (QMPs) has gained greater attention in developing countries. However, the
contradictory evidence shown in the existing QM literatures had raised doubts as to whether QMPs alone is
sufficient to achieve promising quality performances. Quality management (QM) has become an all-pervasive
management philosophy, finding its way into most sectors of today’s business society. Several research papers
attribute superior firm performance to adoption of QM practices. The availability of a large number of research
papers that investigate the impact of QM practices on performance provide an ideal setting for theory
extension.
1.Introduction

The word quality itself has a lot of meaning. But out of all quality meanings, two are of considered as critical of
managing the quality. Quality' means certain product characteristics that satisfy consumer needs and therefore
provide customer loyalty. The definition of quality, in this context, is revenue oriented. The aim of such higher
quality is to provide greater value for the consumer and, one hopes, to increase sales. Offering more and/or
higher quality functionality, however, typically entails an investment and thus usually includes cost increases. In
this context, higher quality typically "costs more". Quality in other words also mean free of deficiencies- free of
repeating the same work all over again or that leads to field failures, client disappointment, allegations from
customers, and so on. The definition of quality is cost-oriented in this context, and higher quality typically costs
less. Many companies now are working hard to put themselves in a highly competitive marketplace and of
course at the same time still maintaining the quality itself. There are many publications that gives a cornerstone
to both service and manufacturing companies. Just like the research study done by [ CITATION Vin17 \l 2057 ]
about the effectiveness of service delivery in oil and gas company in Port Harcourt. In recent years, quality
management practices (QMPs) have become increasingly common in developing countries due to their essential
position in preserving and enhancing the quality performance of companies [ CITATION Sim18 \l 2057 ].

Quality management is the act of supervising all activities and tasks that must be performed in order to
ensure a degree of performance that is desired. This involves the development of a quality policy, the formation
and execution of quality planning and assurance, and quality management and enhancement of quality. It is
often referred to as the overall management of quality (TQM). TQM is a corporate philosophy at its heart,
championing the belief that a company's long-term success comes from customer retention and loyalty. TQM
demands that all business partners work together to strengthen the company's own processes, goods, services
and culture [ CITATION Ada20 \l 2057 ] . Although TQM seems like an intuitive process, it came about as a
groundbreaking concept. The 1920s saw an increase in business dependency on statistics and statistical theory,
and in 1924 the first-ever known control chart was created. People started to draw on statistical theories and
jointly developed the method of statistical process control (SPC). However, until the 1950s, it was not
effectively applied in a business environment.[ CITATION Ada20 \l 2057 ]

According to [ CITATION Ana06 \l 2057 ] , for many enterprises, QM is a commonly recognized

corporate target today. Although many quality managements measures such as " Total Quality Management "
brought a faddish aspect with it in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it is now generally believed that the
fundamental practices in QM are important and essential for organizations' successful management and
competitive survival. Meanwhile [ CITATION Jam94 \l 2057 ] emphasized that one of the main advances in
management practice has been the introduction of total quality management (TQM). TQM's acceptance as a
competitive advantage is widespread around the world, particularly in Western countries, and very few
(especially manufacturing) businesses can afford to ignore the term TQM today.

Another scholar also stated the convergent validity of QM exhibits, as there is considerable agreement
among the pioneers of the movement about the core QM concepts and practices. In addition, they also assign
discriminatory validity to QM, claiming that QM theory and implementation can be consistently differentiated
from other organizational change methods, as proposed by the founders of the movement.

[ CITATION Joh14 \l 2057 ] , also claimed that the company that assumes that the conventional
methods of quality control and the way they have always been used can solve their quality issues might be
misguided. It does not improve efficiency by hiring more inspectors, tightening up requirements, establishing
correction, repair and rework teams. Quality has historically been regarded as the responsibility of a department
of quality (assurance or control), and yet in some organisations it has not yet been understood that many quality
concerns arise in the commercial, manufacturing, service or administrative areas. Total quality control is much
more than transferring the burden from the consumer to the manufacturer for the identification of problems. It
needs a systematic plan that, if the incentives are to be realized, must first be understood and then implemented.
The business climate of today is such that managers have to prepare strategically to retain, let alone boost, a grip
on market share. Owing to the expense of repairing faulty work both during the contract period and afterwards,
quality issues in many industries have been found to severely erode margins.
Quality Management Principles and Practices

Several research on total quality principles have explored how clients must be considered to be the highest
priority and come first with virtually everything a company does. It is the desire for full customer satisfaction
that pushes an organisation, corporation or company to work for quality. When TQM is implemented as part of
the work culture, regardless of the work being part of an activity or a mission, it becomes a 'way of life' for the
company as a whole.

Michelle Bangert (2019) stated that most people will agree that consistency is important, but difficult to
implement. A quality management system (QMS) can provide a roadmap towards better quality among the
many instruments available. The business would lack direction without it. She went on to claim that the QMS is
basically how an entity works, and that QMS is the basic basis for success. [ CITATION Rui02 \l 2057 ] said
practices are often highlighted as the visible facet of QM, and it is through them that managers strive to make
organizational changes. For scientific study, concepts are too general and methods are too comprehensive to
achieve accurate outcomes. The concepts of quality management can be used as a framework for senior
management to direct their organizations towards better results.

The American reaction to Japan's quality revolution gave birth to the Total Quality Management (TQM)
philosophy, a quality management approach that stressed not only statistics, but approaches that incorporated
the entire enterprise. Independent organisations started developing standards in the late 20th century to aid in the
development and implementation of quality management systems. The term "Total Quality Management"
started to fall out of favour around this time. The word "quality management system" or "QMS" is preferred due
to the multitude of specific systems that can be implemented.

Many authors (Nair, 2006; Oakland, 2014; Barone, 2020 ) have given positive reactions to correlation of
quality management practices that lead to improvement to company’s quality performance. However there are
some issues that arises regarding how effective are the TQM programs. [ CITATION Gar92 \l 2057 ] as cited in
[ CITATION Las06 \l 2057 ] stated that a 90 percent improvement rate in employee relations, operating
procedures, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. While on the other hand, [ CITATION And92 \l
2057 ] as cited in [ CITATION Las06 \l 2057 ] reported for initiated TQM programs, a 95 per cent failure rate
was registered.

Quality management principles on the other hand are considered as both uniquely described for the
success of management and jointly very critical and they achieve maximum success when they work together,
performance and effectiveness, which means behaving in a harmonious way, synchronized, synergistic fashion.
failure to follow any of these measures, the principles and their conditions will jeopardize the whole structure of
management [ CITATION Rad15 \l 2057 ]
2.0 Literature Review

The idea of the TQM theory and its concepts is very old and was implemented in the United States around 1980,
largely in response to Japan's significant competitive challenge ( Prajogo, 2005). Initially, focus was paid to
manufacturing industries with little respect to the service industries, primarily due to the dominance of
engineering and operations discipline researchers [ CITATION Jos07 \l 2057 ].

A study conducted by [ CITATION Jay89 \l 2057 ] brings out the idea of applying TQM practices in the
service industries, it was the first study in this direction in which both manufacturing and service industries
considered a set of established TQM practices.

Earlier research on practices of quality management (QM) explored their criticality on economic efficiency
and competitive benefits for business. Studies by [ CITATION Jay89 \l 2057 ] has introduced eight framework
for the TQM practices.

Relationship between Quality Management and Performance

In general, number of studies have argued the direct relationship between quality management practices and
quality performance.

[ CITATION Sat08 \l 2057 ] examines TQM's role in improving customer satisfaction with a meta-analysis
approach to current TQM study studies and customer satisfaction in the manufacturing and service industries.
The effectively implemented quality management (QM) methods have a positive impact on the level of
customer satisfaction. They also argued that organizational emphasis on clients is also growing, contributing to
improved business efficiency.

Most of the studies that attempt to link the effect of quality management principles and practices
(QMPPs) on organizational performance that have been conducted conclude that there is a positive relationship
between the implementation of QMPPs and the improvement of organizational performance. The TQM is
designed using a TQM framework. TQM is built with principles/ value as well as practices to make sure that it
is effectively implemented. According to (Zhang, 2000), to ensure that TQM is a success, it is important to
consider the quality principles along with practices, tools and techniques that allow the application of such
principles.

The main success factors are the key areas of the business where, once, properly handled, to ensure that
productivity and market excellence are strengthened [ CITATION Gop98 \l 2057 ] . The elements of quality
control can be split into two dimensions: hard and soft. Hard elements relate to techniques for production and
process management, which ensure the proper operation of processes (such as design process, JIT philosophy)
while soft elements include topics such as leadership, customer focus, training , supplier management and etc.

According to [ CITATION Chr09 \l 2057 ], what makes quality management works is that through
quality practices of top management, involvement of employee, data quality management and process and the
utilization of quality tools and techniques. Soft elements are likely to be less significant to them compared to
hard elements [ CITATION Chr09 \l 2057 ]
Soft Elements of Quality Management

Leadership

Leadership involves guiding people and achieving organizational success through the direction of human labour
[ CITATION Art89 \l 2057 ]. This allows an efficient leader to promote and use the human capital available in
the company to accomplish objectives that should be closely matched with the needs of customers [ CITATION
Art89 \l 2057 ]. The most critical aspect for the effective implementation of the TQM, a declaration made by
quality gurus, is leadership management (Juran, 1988).

Customer Focus

Customer focus is only one aspect of top quality management and relates to paying close attention to enhancing
customer satisfaction aimed at maintaining customers, growing customer loyalty, while increasing company,
business or organizational income at the same time. It is about integrating the viewpoint of the customer into the
production of a service or product and allowing workers to look at the service or product creation process
through the customer's eyes. Customer satisfaction is not simple and calls for the management of customer
relations to be introduced. There is a popular statement that the consumer is still king and that, based on how
well they handle their customers, companies prosper. Not only will happy customers keep coming back for
more, but they will also bring other customers along, making the brand successful and helping it gain a
competitive edge over rivals.

Training

[ CITATION Ray18 \l 2057 ] mentioned that training plays a distinct role in the accomplishment of an
organizational purpose by combining organizational and employee desires. Training these day is now become
the most important factor in the business world because training increases both employees and the organization's
effectiveness and effectiveness. The performance of employees depends on various factors. [ CITATION
Gol02 \l 2057 ]

Supplier Management

According to [ CITATION Ame21 \l 2057 ], supplier quality is the ability of a supplier to deliver goods or
services that will meet the needs of customers. Management of supplier quality is defined as the system in which
the quality of suppliers is managed using a proactive and collaborative approach. It is in the best interest of an
organization to ensure that the highest quality products and services are provided by its service or material
suppliers while also conforming to pre-established requirements. This is also done by the use of quality
management systems for suppliers (QMS), which enable businesses to track supply chains and inspect or audit
products and services at regular intervals. In the product design and supplier selection process, supplier quality
management begins early. It lasts during a product's entire life cycle and for the remainder of the partnership
with that specific supplier. Proper quality control techniques for manufacturers include inputs (such as employee
work, business requirements, operating funds, raw materials and supplies) and reliable inputs (such as employee
work, market requirements, operating funds, raw materials and supplies).
3. Methodology

This research is done to examine how quality management principles and practices has greatly impacted on
companies’ quality performance. This research will mainly focus on manufacturing and service delivery
companies whom researcher believes to implement quality management principles and practices in their system.

This current study was construct on the basis of the previous survey case study focused on the practices that
was done by many scholars before. The methodology adopted for this study was literature review of published
research studies on the current subject focusing on practices influencing TQM in the manufacturing and service
industries separately (studies on mixed industries are excluded) and are either empirical or review studies. To be
able to find the right published researched studies for present study, a comprehensive computer aided research
quality management principles and practices were done by the keyword/ phrases like ‘TQM practices’ : ‘QM
principles and practices article. The results were further narrowed by excluding those studies which are limited
on describing one specific TQM practice responsible for organisation performance or case-studies or projects to
refine the search namely [ CITATION Ada20 \l 2057 ] , [ CITATION Ana06 \l 2057 ] , [ CITATION Joh14 \l
2057 ] and [ CITATION Rui02 \l 2057 ]. The titles and abstracts based on these criteria were extensively
reviewed. The research studies that have been reviewed mainly have been issued in a range of scientific journal.
These are all have been cited and are considered by most authors and researcher for further research.

.
4. Conclusion

Many corporate companies around the world conduct absolute quality control. It is an established way to
introduce a quality-conscious culture through all of the company's vertical and horizontal layers. Total quality
management is a quality-centered management approach focused on the involvement of the citizens of an
enterprise and aimed at long-term performance. In order to please their customers and to enhance efficiency and
sustainability, TQM is a holistic and ethical method for businesses to consistently improve their
products/services or processes involving all stakeholders. The findings suggest that all performance indicators
boost overall TQM practices.

Effective customer focus efforts increase operational performance, customer results, and market and financial
performance. It can be argued that the practice of TQM enhances different performance metrics in businesses. In
a company, all aspects of TQM practices should be efficiently handled because each element in TQM practices
enhances various aspects of company performance. The interaction between the TQM variables brings about
extraordinary or critical changes in the company's efficiency. Companies should enhance employee
participation/skill and organization structure and devote adequate resources to effectively execute TQM.

5. References
Art McNeil , Jim Clemmer. (1989). The V.I.P. Strategy: Leadership Skills for Exceptional Performance.
London: Key Porter Books.
Barone, A. (2020, 7 28). Quality Management. Retrieved from Investopedia:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/q/quality-management.asp
Burrows, A. C. (1992). TQM reliality check it works but it's not chepaer easy. Electronic Business, 8-
22.
Christos Fotopoulos , Evangelos L. Psomas. (2009). The impact of “soft” and “hard” TQM elements
on quality management results. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management,
150 - 163.
Goldstein, I. L., & Ford, J. K. (2002). Training in organizations: Needs assessment, development, and
evaluation (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.: Wadsworth Thomson Learning;.
Gopal K. Kanji and Abdul Malek bin A. Tambi. (1998). Total Quality management and higher
education in Malaysia. . Total Quality Management, 130-132.
James W. Dean & David E. Bowen. (1994). Management Theory and Total Quality: Improving
Research and Practice through Theory Development. Academy of Management Review, 392-
418.
Jayant V. Saraph , P. George Benson , Roger G. Schroeder. (1989). An Instrument for Measuring the
Critical Factors of Quality Management. Decision Sciences, 810-829.
Joseph N Khamalah, Bangalore P Lingaraj. (2007). TQM in the service sector: a survey of small
businesses. Total Quality Management, 973-982.
Lassaad Lakhal , Federico Pasin, Mohamed Limam. (2006). Quality Management Practices and
Impact on Performance. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 625-646.
Luburic, R. (2015). Quality Management Principles and Benefits of their implementation in central
banks. Journal of Central Banks Theory and Practice, 91-121.
Nair, A. (2006). Meta- analysis of the relationship between quality management practices and firm
performance - implications for quality management theory development. Journal of
Operations Management 24, 948-975.
Oakland, J. S. (2014). Total Quality Management and Operational Excellence . London: Routledge.
Paulo Sampaio , Pedro Saraiva, Antonio Guimares Rodrigues. (2011). The economic impact of quality
management systems in Portuguese certified companies: Empirical evidence. International
Journal of Quality and Reliability of Management, 929-90=50.
Prajogo, D. I. (2005). The comparative analysis of TQM practices and quality performance between
manufacturing and service firms. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 217-
228.
Prajogo, D. I. (2005). The comparative analysis of TQM practices and quality performance between
manufacturing and service firms. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 217-
228.
Prajogo, D. I. (n.d.). The comparative analysis on TQM Practices and Quality Performance between
manufacturing and .
Quality, A. S. (2021, 1 6). What is supplier quality? Retrieved from ASQ Excellence Through Quality:
https://asq.org/quality-resources/supplier-quality
Ratigan, G. (1992). Total quality management. Journal of Property Management, 32- 34.
Rui Sousa , Christopher A. Voss. (2002). Quality management re- visited : a reflective review and
agenda for future research. Journal of Operations Management 20, 91-109.
Satish Mehra and Sampath Ranganathan. (2008). Implementing total qualitymanagement with a
focus onenhancing customer satisfaction. Total Quality Management, 913-927.
Sim Choon Ling, Muhammad Shahar Jusoh, Noor Maizatul Akmar Ishak. (2018). AN INTEGRATIVE
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF STRUCTURAL CAPABILITY
IN QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON QUALITY PERFORMANCE. International Journal of
Asian Social Science, 974-984.
Stone, R. J. (2018). Human Resource Manager . Milton, QLD, Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia
Ltd.
Vincent Onuegbu Izionworu and Maxwell Okpara Ukeame. (2017). Effective service delivery through
quality management system (QMS) in oil and gas servicing companies, a case study of
selected firms, Port Harcourt. International Specific Organization, 106-113.