Brunel Business School Doctoral Symposium 28 th & 29 th March 2011 Paper 43. Student First Name: Mohamed. Student Surname: Haffar

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1 Student First Name: Mohamed Student Surname: Haffar Copyright subsists in all papers and content posted on this site. Further copying or distribution by any means without prior permission is prohibited, except for the purposes of non-commercial private study or research, as defined in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or as otherwise authorised by statute. To obtain permission, please contact the author of the relevant paper in the first instance or with details of your request

2 An Analysis of the Relationship between Organisational Culture and Total Quality Management Implementation in Syrian Manufacturing Organisations Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct effect of organisational culture (OC) on TQM implementation in Syrian Manufacturing Organisations (SMOs). Also, it aims to test the indirect influence of OC through organisational readiness for change (ORC) on TQM implementation. To achieve this, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to 350 middle managers in SMOs using random sampling. The findings of this study shows empirical evidence in Syrian context to confirm that the adhocracy and group culture types are the most supportive culture for TQM implementation. Additionally, the results revealed that ORC may be the mechanism through which an OC emphasising group and adhocracy culture values influence successful TQM implementation. Keywords: Total Quality Management, Organisational Culture, Readiness for Change, Manufacturing Organisations, Syria - 2 -

3 1. Introduction In today s global competitive marketplace and economic liberalization, many organisations in different parts of the world have adopted and implemented the principles and practices of TQM (Lakhe and Mohanty, 1994; Agus, 2005). This is due to their recognition of TQM as being a mean to achieve a competitive advantage and continued success in international marketing competition (Mehra et al., 2001; Kuo and Kuo, 2010). The current literature indicates a high rate of failure among many organisations applying TQM due to unsupportive organisational culture (OC) (McNabb and Sepic, 1995; Al-Khalifa and Aspinwall, 2001). Therefore, there is a need to better understanding the role that the culture of an organisation plays on the implementation of TQM as it can influence its success or failure. This study seeks to test the direct and indirect impacts (via readiness for change) of OC on TQM implementation in Syrian manufacturing organisations (SMOs). This paper offers a brief review of the relevant literature and presents the research hypotheses and conceptual framework of this study. Then, it presents an overview of the research methodology followed by a summary analysis of the collected data and the findings. The contributions of the study are presented in the final section. 2. Literature Review The current literature suggests that there are negative influences of hierarchy and market; rational culture types on TQM implementation, and that there are positive influences of group and adhocracy culture types on TQM implementation (Al-Khalifa and Aspinwall, 2001; Jabnoun and Sedrani, 2005; Chang and Wiebe, 1996; Dellna and Hauser, 1994) as shown in table 1 below - 3 -

4 Authors Empirical research design Main findings Chang & Wiebe (1996) Interviews with a group of TQM experts to identify the suitable cultural characteristics to support the implementation of TQM TQM practices are associated with different OC types of the CVF but would be best implemented in organisations where adhocracy and group culture types dominant. I.e. adhocracy and group culture are the most supportive for the implementation of TQM practices. Dellana & Hauser(1999) Questionnaire based upon the Baldrige award criteria to measure and represent TQM practices, and the competing values model (CVF) to determine the organisational culture profile. Group and adhocracy culture types have strong and positive influences on TQM practices. While, hierarchy and market culture types have strong and negative influences on the level of implementation of TQM practices. Al-Khalifa & Aspinwall (2000) Questionnaires based on the CVF framework, answered by quality experts in the UK to identify the best and ideal cultural traits that would best The adhocracy and group culture are the ideal culture types that provide the most supportive environment for the implementation of TQM practices. support and assist the implementation of TQM successfully. Jabnoun & Sedrani(2005) Questionnaire answered by 81 general and middle managers in UAE manufacturing organisations. TQM practices correlate with all OC types, but they however, have their strongest correlation coefficient with the dimension of group and adhocracy culture types. Table 1 Summary of studies about the influence of OC on TQM implementation - 4 -

5 The direct-influences arguments for the effects of OC on the implementing of TQM practices, as a model of organisational change, are convincing. However, a deeper investigation suggests the mediating role of readiness for change (ORC) in the relationship between organisational culture types and TQM implementation for two reasons. Firstly, the level of ORC in an organisation affects the level of TQM implementation success (Weeks et al., 1995; McNabb and Sepic, 1995). Secondly, it was argued by a number of authors such as Jones et al. (2005) and Armenakis et al. (1993) that the level of ORC in an organisation is influenced and predicted by culture types within that organisation. They argued that the characteristics of group and adhocracy culture types are associated with higher level of readiness for change, and the characteristics of market and hierarchy culture types are associated with lower level of readiness for change. As ORC influences TQM implementation and influenced by OC, thus, it is proposed in the current study that readiness for change mediates the effects of OC types on the level of TQM practices implementation

6 3. Research Model and Hypotheses The conceptual framework resulting from an overview of the literature is developed and displayed as shown in Figure 1. Direct Influence Of Organisational Culture On TQM Practices Hierarchy culture H1a Organisational Culture Group culture H1b Adhocracy Culture H1c Market culture H1d TQM practices Indirect Influence of Organisational Culture On TQM Practices (Mediating Effect of Readiness For Change) H4a H3a H4b H2 Readiness for change H3b H3c H4c H3d H4d Hierarchy culture Group culture Adhocracy Culture Market culture Figure 1 Conceptual Framework for Research Study In the above figure, the solid arrows refer to direct relationships, while dotted arrows indicate indirect relationships. Therefore, the mediating influences of the readiness for change are represented by the dotted arrows. The above conceptual framework shows the direct and indirect relationships between organisational culture types and TQM implementation, the direct relationships between organisational culture types and - 6 -

7 organisation's readiness for change, and the direct relationship between the organisation's readiness for change and TQM implementation. The following hypotheses were considered in formulating the model: H1a. An organisation's emphasis on the hierarchy culture will be negatively associated with the level of implementation of TQM practices. H1b. An organisation's emphasis on the group culture will be positively associated with the level of implementation of TQM practices. H1c. An organisation's emphasis on the adhocracy culture will be positively associated with the level of implementation of TQM practices. H1d. An organisation's emphasis on the market culture will be negatively associated with the level of implementation of TQM practices. H2: The higher the level of readiness for change, the higher is the level of implementation of TQM practices. H3a. An organisation's emphasis on the hierarchy culture will be negatively associated with the level of readiness for change. H3b. An organisation's emphasis on the group culture will be positively associated with the level of readiness for change. H3c. An organisation's emphasis on the adhocracy culture will be positively associated with the level of readiness for change. H3d. An organisation's emphasis on the market culture will be negatively associated with the level of readiness for change. H4a: The influence of hierarchy culture type on the level of implementation of TQM practices is mediated by the readiness for change perceptions. H4b: The influence of group culture type on the level of implementation of TQM practices is mediated by the readiness for change perceptions

8 H4c: The influence of adhocracy culture type on the level of implementation of TQM practices is mediated by the readiness for change perceptions. H4d: The influence of market culture type on the level of implementation of TQM practices is mediated by the readiness for change perceptions. 4. Methodological Consideration In order to achieve the research aim, the current research applies questionnaire survey. The researcher has utilised three broadly used, reliable and valid instruments from prior studies. In order to measure the level of implementation of TQM practices in SMOs, the valid and reliable instrument developed by Samson and Terziovski (1999) was utilised and adopted. In order to identify the cultural profile and characteristics for SMOs, the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) developed by Cameron and Quinn (1999) was used. Also, the instrument developed by Holt et al, (2007) used and adopted to measure the level of readiness for organisational change. Content validity was checked using experts and academics from Syrian Universities before the questionnaires were distributed to the target sample. All the experts considered that the questionnaire was appropriate and would achieve the aim of the study and needed only a little editing. The proposed questionnaire was then adjusted and amended according to the feedback and comments of the experts. The final version of the questionnaire was distributed to gather quantitative data from a representative random sample of 350 middle managers, i.e. operation, production and quality managers, working in SMOs. The completed questionnaires were 204, 196 of which were useable. The overall response rate was thus percent (196/350)

9 5. Analysis and Results All the collected data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS V.16). Pearson correlation was carried in order to test the direct effects of OC types on TQM practices, to test the direct effects of OC on (ORC) and to test the direct influence of (ORC) on TQM implementation. The Pearson correlation results revealed that adhocracy and group culture types have positive influences on TQM practices, while market and hierarchy culture types have negative impacts on TQM practices. In addition, it shows that the level of ORC has positive influences on TQM practices. The analysis also shows that while adhocracy and group culture types have positive influences on ORC, market and hierarchy culture types have negative influences on ORC. Thus, the results supported the research hypotheses H1a, H1b, H1c, H1d, H2, H3a, H3b, H3c, and H3d. The study follows Baron and Kenny's (1986) procedure to examine the mediating role of readiness for change between organisational culture and TQM practices. The findings show that readiness for change plays a significant mediating role between organisational culture types and TQM practices, supporting the mediation effects in hypotheses H4a, H4b, H4c, and H4d. 6. Discussion The results of this study provide support for the findings of many research studies such as Dellna and Hauser (1994) and Khalifa and Aspinwall (2001) by verifying the significance of the group and adhocracy culture types to implement TQM practices. But at the same time it has found that readiness for change may be the mechanism through which an OC emphasising group and adhocracy culture values influence successful TQM implementation

10 The practical implication of the results is that in order to implement TQM successfully in SMOs, it is recommended to modify their culture orientation to be more flexible and move their emphasis toward the values and characteristics of the group and adhocracy culture types. This will lead to create positive attitude among organisational members toward TQM implementation as a change initiative, which in turn will result in high level of implementation of TQM practices. 7. Novelty and Contributions It is believed that the major contributions emerge from this research are: First, many studies have tested the influence of various organisational culture types on the implementation of TQM practices in developed countries. However, research testing the impact of OC upon TQM implementation in developing and Arab countries has been relatively scarce specifically in Syria. Therefore, this study gives empirical evidence from a relatively new cultural context. Second, this study is one of the few empirical studies that aim to test the mediating role of ORC on the influence of OC on TQM implementation success, i.e. the indirect effect of organisational culture types on TQM practices via their influences on the level of readiness for change. By presenting the differential effects (direct, indirect) of OC types on TQM implementation, the author gives a more refined comprehending of the relationship among OC types and TQM implementation

11 8. Conclusion This paper has offered a brief review of the literature about the relationship between OC, ORC and TQM implementation. It has presented the conceptual framework resulting from an overview of the published literature which was developed to show the hypothesised relationships between these constructs. This paper presented methodological considerations used in this research study. A summery of the results of data analysis and hypotheses testing is then presented. Lastly, this paper has highlighted the contribution of this research. References Agus, A. (2005), The Structural Linkages between TQM, Product Quality Performance, and Business Performance: Preliminary Empirical Study in Electronics Companies, Singapore Management Review, 27 (1), pp Armenakis, A. A., Harris, S. G., and Mossholder, K. W. (1993), Creating readiness for organisational change, Human Relations, 46(6), pp Al- Kalifa, K. M. and Aspinwall, E. M. (2001), Using the competing values framework to investigate the culture of Qatar industries, Total Quality Management, 12 (4), pp Chang, F.S. and Wiebe, H.A. (1996), The Ideal Culture Profile for Total Quality Management: A Competing Values Perspective, Engineering Management Journal, 8 (2), pp Cameron, K. S. and Quinn, R. E. (1999), Diagnosing and changing organisational culture: based on the competing values framework - Addison-Wesley, Inc Dellana, S.A. and Hauser, R.D. (1999), Toward defining the quality culture, Engineering Management Journal, [online], 11 (2), pp , available from: Holt, D. T., Armenakis, A. A., Field, H. S. and Harris, S. G. (2007), Readiness for Organisational Change: The Systematic Development of a Scale, The Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 43 (2), pp Jabnoun, N. and Sedrani, K. (2005), TQM, Culture, and Performance in UAE Manufacturing Firms, QMJ, ASQ, 12 (4), PP

12 Jones, R. A., Jimmieson, N. L. and Griffiths, A. (2005), The Impact of Organisational Culture and Reshaping Capabilities on Change Implementation Success: The Mediating Role of Readiness for Change, Journal of Management Studies, 42 (2) Kuo, T. and Kuo, Y. (2010), The effect of corporate culture and total quality management on construction project performance in Taiwan, Total Quality Management, 21(6), pp Lakhe, R., and Mohanty, R. (1994), "Total quality management: concepts, evolution and acceptability in developing economies", International Journal of Quality, 11(9), pp McNabb, D.E. and Sepic, F.T. (1995), Culture, Climate, and Total Quality Management: Measuring Readiness for Change, Public Productivity and Management, 18 (4), pp Mehra, S., Hoffman, J. M, and Sirias, D. (2001), TQM as a management strategy for the next millennia, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 21(5/6), pp Samson, D., and Terziovski, M. (1999), The relationship between total quality management practices and operational performance, Journal of Operations Management, 17 (4), pp Weeks, B., Helms, M. M. and Ettkin, L. P. (1995), Is your organisation ready for TQM?, An assessment methodology, The TQM Magazine, 7 (5), pp