Structural relationships

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1 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at The structural relationships between TQM factors and organizational performance Christos V. Fotopoulos and Evangelos L. Psomas Department of Business Administration of Food and Agricultural Enterprises, University of Ioannina, Agrinio, Greece Structural relationships 539 Received May 2008 Revised February 2009 Accepted April 2009 Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationships between the total quality management (TQM) factors and organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach A research project was carried out in 370 Greek companies, using the questionnaire method. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were applied to assess the measurement model reliability and validity. The relationships between the latent constructs were examined through Structural Equation Modelling. Findings The TQM factors revealed by the study were the quality practices of the top management, employee involvement in the quality management system, customer focus, process and data quality management and quality tools and techniques implementation. According to the findings, these factors significantly affect the companies performance with respect to their internal procedures, customers, market share and the natural and social environment. Research limitations/implications The subjective data being dependent on the perceptions of the quality managers and the fact that the sample companies came from different sectors constitute the limitations of the present study. Practical implications Given the increased rate of the companies that adopt quality assurance standards, the organizational performance improvement as well as the competitive advantage in the market can be obtained through a valid quality management model, as specified by the TQM principles. Originality/value The paper describes a reliable and a valid TQM model and a way for a company to lay the foundations for business performance improvement. Keywords Total quality management, Critical success factors, Organizational performance, Greece Paper type Research paper Introduction The emergence of quality as a top priority in many corporate entities is primarily due to the globalisation of world trade and the competitive pressure brought about by the escalating demands of consumers, who want better products and services (Thiagaragan et al., 2001). According to Feigenbaum (1999), the key is transforming quality from the past emphasis upon the reduction of things gone wrong for the customer, to emphasize upon the increase in things gone right for the customer, with The research project is co-funded by the European Union-European Social Fund (ESF) and National Sources, in the framework of the program HRAKLEITOS of the Operational Program for Education and Initial Vocational Training of the 3rd Community Support Framework of the Hellenic Ministry of Education. The TQM Journal Vol. 22 No. 5, 2010 pp q Emerald Group Publishing Limited DOI /

2 TQM 22,5 540 the consequent improvement in sales and revenue growth. Creating better planning, better external and internal focus, better design, strengthening weak processes and protecting strong areas, which give organizations an edge over their competitors, is being achieved through total quality management (TQM). It ensures that the voice of the customer is always matched by the voice of the processes (Zairi, 1994). TQM has been described as a new way of thinking about the management of organizations, a comprehensive way to improve total organizational performance and quality, an alternative to management by control and ultimately, as a paradigm shift (Spencer, 1994). Developing an organizational philosophy based on TQM is a long-term journey and its survival over time is more likely if four major issues are built into the organization: the emotional commitment of Chief Executive Officers is linked to the use of TQM philosophy; the management team has adequate understanding and knowledge about TQM; there are appropriate systems to stimulate, guide and direct TQM activities; and involvement and participation of employees (van der Wiele et al., 2001). Some organizations in the early stages of TQM development have tended to use an excellence model as a method of how to implement TQM. However, these models are measurement methods and not how-to models. Excellence models can be extremely helpful in demonstrating to those organizations inexperienced in TQM, what is involved and highlighting the gap between the ISO 9000 series registration and TQM (van der Wiele et al., 2000). A significant number of companies have adopted some form of TQM in their business and have derived demonstrable benefits from the application of such approaches (Rahman and Sohal, 2002). Despite the fact that the TQM discipline has attracted many researchers until today, there continue to be references of research proposals for the future. As Dale (2002) noted, improvement is a process, which, once started, should never end and the same can be said of the research into TQM. Some of these research proposals are those of Idris and Zairi (2006), Singh and Smith (2006), Gotzamani et al. (2006), Karuppusami and Gandhinathan (2006), Sila and Ebrahimpour (2005), Prajogo (2005), Vouzas and Gotzamani (2005), Sun et al. (2004), Rahman (2004), Coleman and Douglas (2003) and Dale (2002). The purpose of this study is to determine the relationships between the TQM factors and organizational performance. The TQM critical factors and performance measures were validated through Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis, while the structural relationships between them were examined through Structural Equation Modelling. The rest of the paper is structured as follows: the first part reviews the existing literature. The second part describes the methodology of a research project carried out in Greek companies. The third part presents the analysis and the respective results. Finally, the results are discussed and final conclusions are presented. Literature review Exploring the TQM literature numerous studies were revealed. These studies examined the TQM factors implementation, the results of adopting them and their relationships. TQM factors, as they have been detected in recent studies are the following (Rahman and Siddiqui, 2006; Gotzamani et al., 2006; Ju et al., 2006; Karia and Asaari, 2006; Drew and Healy, 2006; Hafeez et al., 2006; Singh and Smith, 2006; Singh

3 et al., 2006; Hoang et al., 2006; Yang, 2006; Ahmed et al., 2005; Lagrosen and Lagrosen, 2005; Lewis et al., 2005; Miyagawa and Yoshida, 2005; Prajogo and McDermott, 2005; Prajogo, 2005; Seth and Tripathi, 2005; Sila and Ebrahimpour, 2005; Tari, 2005): leadership, strategic quality planning, employee management and involvement, supplier management, customer focus, process management, continuous improvement, information and analysis and knowledge and education. However, quality management is not achieved only through adopting the above mentioned factors, but it is supported by quality management tools and techniques, such as flow chart, relations diagram, scatter diagram, control charts, Paretto analysis, quality function deployment, design of experiments and so on. Literature refers to recent studies regarding the quality tools implementation, such as those of Drew and Healy (2006), Ahmed et al. (2005), Tari (2005), Lagrosen and Lagrosen (2005), Ahmed and Hassan (2003). A main point that differentiates TQM from other quality management systems such as the quality assurance models is the evaluation of the organizational performance with respect to customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, the protection of natural and social environment and finally the internal and external business results. Authors such as Ju et al. (2006), Karia and Asaari (2006), Seth and Tripathi (2006), Singh and Smith (2006), Wilcock et al. (2006), Yang (2006), Miyagawa and Yoshida (2005), Sila and Ebrahimpour (2005) and Tari (2005) have examined issues regarding the organizational performance. Most of those writing on the subject of TQM argue that improving quality will reduce manufacturing costs, increase productivity and customer satisfaction (Dale and Wan, 2002). According to Zairi et al. (1994), there is a positive association between the introduction of TQM and tangible benefits. TQM has a direct impact on financial results, provided its implementation is well directed and planned and provided there is strong commitment in sustaining continuous improvements which focus on benefits for the end customer. So, the ultimate objective of a quality management system is to assist the organization in its quest for financial health (van der Wiele et al., 1997). Zhang et al. (2000) stated that TQM is a way of managing business that results in improving its overall performance and effectiveness and in this way world-class recognition is achieved. Jitpaiboon and Rao (2007) used the meta-analysis approach to examine issues regarding the TQM measurement reliability and the relationships between TQM practices and organizational performance. According to them, there is no consensus on the relationship between TQM practices and organizational performance. They showed that all TQM practices are positively related to internal and external performance. More specifically, top management support had the highest impact on both performances. The TQM practices, which had medium sized impact on internal performance were strategic quality planning, supplier quality, benchmarking, employee training and customer focus, while employee involvement had a higher impact. The TQM practices which had medium sized impact on external performance were benchmarking, customer focus, while the TQM practices which had a higher impact on external performance were strategic quality planning, supplier quality, employee involvement and training. These results prove that the quality management not only helps companies to improve their internal environment and effectiveness but also their external status. Structural relationships 541

4 TQM 22,5 542 Siddiqui and Rahman (2007) showed that customer orientation and support of top management constitute the key factors in achieving benefits like cost cutting on maintenance of applications, increased management control, improved quality of products and services, greater customer satisfaction, enhanced productivity, slashed time consumption on production, optimization of human resource use and flexibility in reaching out to customers. Yang (2006) found that TQM practices including quality management, process management, employee empowerment and teamwork, customer satisfaction management, quality goal setting and measurement, supplier s cooperation and quality tools training have positive effects on customer satisfaction and that the adoption of TQM principles is an effective means by which companies can gain competitive advantage. The implementation of the TQM practices also helped companies to improve their image, employee s satisfaction and quality awareness. Sila and Ebrahimpour (2005) explored the relationships among TQM factors such as leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, information and analysis, human resource management, process management, supplier management and the results from adopting such practices such as human resource results, customer results, organizational effectiveness and financial and market results. They identified leadership and information and analysis as the two factors that act as the foundations on achieving favourable business results. The effective implementation of practices related to these factors is likely to result in improved performance. Leadership had both direct and indirect effects on business results. However, information and analysis had only an indirect effect on business results that was mediated through human resource management and process management. Thus, other than leadership, process management was the only factor that had a direct effect on business results. Prajogo (2005) examined the difference of the relationship between TQM and quality performance in manufacturing and service firms. The level of the TQM practices adoption and quality performance were not significantly different between these two sectors. The TQM model adopted in this study, which was based on the MBNQA criteria, was valid across both industry sectors and the strong relationship between TQM and quality performance was not significantly different between the two sectors. The studies presented above have highlighted several arguments regarding the TQM factors and their impact on organizational performance. Among these studies there are similarities and differences in TQM critical factors and performance measures. According to Rahman and Sohal (2002), in order to transform TQM into a coherent management discipline, further work is necessary to develop conceptual and theoretical underpinning of TQM, based on large empirical studies, which could be tested applying analytical models. Having this in mind and the future research proposals mentioned by several authors in recently published papers, we examined these arguments through an empirical study. The main research hypothesis examined in the study was the following, Ha: TQM factors affect organizational performance. Methodology Questionnaire A research project was carried out in Greek companies using the questionnaire method. Based on the TQM factors and the organizational performance measures defined in

5 literature, a questionnaire was designed. The questionnaire was reviewed by quality management academics and professionals and tested through a pilot study on 23 ISO 9001:2000 certified companies. The questionnaire consisted of three parts. The first part contained ten questions regarding the companies profiles. The second part contained 31 questions regarding TQM factors such as leadership, strategic quality planning, employee management and involvement, supplier management, customer focus, process management, continuous improvement, information and analysis and knowledge and education. Moreover, in this part of the questionnaire there were nine questions regarding the use of quality management tools and techniques. The 18 questions of the third part concerned the organizational performance with respect to customers, employees, the natural and social environment and the company itself. The answers would be given on a seven-point Likert scale. According to Hair et al. (2005), before multivariate data analysis we examined the assumptions regarding the sample size, outliers, variables (continuous categorical), their multicollinearity and multivariate normal distribution. Observed variables that caused violations in meeting these assumptions were excluded from the analysis. For the remaining variables it can be suggested that the above assumptions are not violated (e.g. sample size. 300, correlations between observed variables, 0.85, Mahalanobis D 2 /independent variables, 3, p-p plots, q-q plots, skewness-kurtosis,^1, standardized residuals,^2.5). Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were applied to refine the latent constructs of TQM and organizational performance and to assess the measurement model reliability and validity. The relationships between the latent constructs were examined through Structural Equation Modelling. The statistical packages SPSS 15 and AMOS 6 were used for data processing. Structural relationships 543 Sample Given that the ISO 9001:2000 standard is based on quality management principles which are in line with TQM philosophy, the criterion for selecting the companies that would participate in the research project was their certification to this standard. According to ICAP, the largest business information and consulting firm in Greece, the ISO 9001:2000 certified Greek companies that had been recorded in its database, during the research period, were 1,720. In total, 1,720 questionnaires were sent by mail that addressed the quality manager, out of which 370 were returned fully completed. The research project was conducted in three successive phases, due to the initially low response rate. Non-response bias was checked by comparing the 370 companies that participated in the research with the 1,350 companies that did not. No statistically significant differences were detected with respect to their size, their head office location and sector. Moreover, no statistically significant differences were observed among the companies of the three research phases in terms of their profile and the questionnaire variables. This analysis indicated absence of non-response bias. Results The companies profiles The majority of the sample companies were small-medium sized (84 per cent with less than 250 employees). According to the companies main activity, they were divided into

6 TQM 22,5 544 manufacturers (66 per cent), service providers (17 per cent) and wholesale traders (17 per cent). In each of these three sectors, there were companies from almost all fields. A rate of 75 per cent of the companies had been certified to ISO 9001:2000 until the end of 2003, while a rate of 63 per cent stated that it was not the first time that they had implemented a quality standard, since they had been certified to the standards of the ISO 9000:1994 series. The three-quarters of the companies relied on the support of an external business consultant to develop a quality system and they made their choice based mainly on his reputation in the market and not so much on financial grounds. Finally, a rate of 62 per cent of the companies expressed the wish to apply a quality management system in accordance with total quality in the future. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis The observed variables were used as the basis for Exploratory Factor Analysis. The result was to establish 9 constructs, into which the TQM factors and the organizational performance are analyzed (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin ¼ 0.923, Bartlett s test of Sphericity ¼ , p ¼ 0.000, MSA , eigenvalue l. 1, Cumulative variance ¼ per cent and Cronbach s alpha ). These constructs are explained based on the measured variables loadings (. 0.60) and can be identified as presented in Table I. This model that is confirmed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis consists of 28 measured variables that constitute five TQM constructs and 15 measured variables that constitute four quality management results (Table I). The goodness of the model fit to the observed data is shown in Table II. From Table I we observe that the standardized regression weights are almost all above 0.7 (or at least. 0.5) and the respective squared multiple correlations are satisfactorily high. This means that the factor loadings are satisfactorily high and that a high amount of measured variable s variance is explained by a latent construct. The reliability of the latent constructs was confirmed, according to Hair et al. (2005), through Cronbach s alpha coefficients that were higher than 0.7 (Table III). Construct validity was confirmed, according to Hair et al. (2005), through Confirmatory Factor Analysis by evaluating convergent validity (factor loadings. 0.7, AVE. 0.5, Construct Reliability. 0.7), discriminant validity (AVE. Corr 2 ), (Table III), face-content validity (questionnaire review by experts on the field) and nomological validity (significant correlations among the latent constructs and between them and an independent variable, which they predict satisfactorily, R-Square ¼ 0.432). The structural model Structural models differ from measurement models in that the emphasis moves from the relationships between latent constructs and measured variables to the nature and magnitude of the relationships between constructs (Hair et al., 2005). Thus and according to the literature we specified the relationships between the latent constructs that express respective research sub-hypotheses as it is presented in Figure 1 and then we examined the structural model s fit to the observed data. We initially compared the structural model with the CFA model in terms of standardized regression weights (nontrivial, differences, 0.05, not statistically significant). In Table I, we observe that the structural model provides a good overall fit, while as far as the goodness of fit indices are concerned; there are no significant differences with the respective indices of

7 Latent constructs Measured variables Standardized regression weights Squared multiple correlations Structural relationships Quality practices of top management (Z 1 ) Top management communicates its commitment to quality to its employees Top management participates in the quality management system (QMS) Top management discusses quality issues in the meetings of its members Top management incorporates the quality policy into the strategic planning Results are evaluated from top management to check for improvements Employee involvement (Z 2 ) Employees take initiatives Employees participate in the decisionmaking process Employees participate in quality improvement activities Employees take part in designing quality improvement activities Employees implement changes Customer focus (Z 3 ) Process and data quality management (Z 4 ) Quality tools and techniques (Z 5 ) There is a process of collecting customer complaints-suggestions Customers are encouraged to submit proposals and complaints The company evaluates the degree of customer satisfaction Systematic recording and evaluation of critical process performance Systematic recording and analysis of the company s performance data Systematic recording and analysis of quality cost data Systematic quality data recording and analysis Determination of areas and points for improvement Effort to prevent errors during the phase of process planning Cause and effect diagram Scatter diagram Affinity diagram Relations diagram Force-field analysis Run chart Control charts Quality function deployment Failure mode and effect analysis (continued) Table I. Confirmatory Factor Analysis

8 TQM 22,5 Latent constructs Measured variables Standardized regression weights Squared multiple correlations 546 Table I. Quality improvement (Z 6 ) Product defects were reduced Obsolete products were reduced Non-conformances were reduced Reprocessing was reduced Warranty compensations were reduced Market benefits (Z 7 ) Profit has increased Competitive position has improved Performance has improved Sales have increased Customer satisfaction (Z 8 ) Customer complaints have decreased Customer satisfaction has improved Customers are loyal to the company Protection of natural and social environment (Z 9 ) Health and security risks are prevented and reduced Company protects the environment (waste and pollution reduction) Company is actively involved in social issues Goodness of fit measures CFA model Structural model Table II. Goodness of fit measures The basics of goodness of fit Chi-square , Degrees of freedom Probability level a Absolute fit indices Chi-square/degrees of freedom (x 2 /df) Root mean square of approximation (RMSEA) Root mean square residual (RMR) Incremental fit indices Normed fit index (NFI) Incremental fit index (IFI) Tucker-Lewis coefficient (TLI) Comparative fit index (CFI) Parsimony fit indices Parsimony comparative fit index (PCFI) b b Parsimony normed fit index (PNFI) b b Notes: a According to Hair et al. (2005) in case of n. 250, m(variables) $ 30, RMR, 0.08, RMSEA, 0.07, CFI. 0.90; b relatively high values represent better fit of the model given that the respective value for the saturated model is 0.0

9 Latent constructs Cronbach s alpha Average variance extracted a Construct reliability b (Corr)2 c Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Notes: a AVE ¼ Sl 2 i /n, (number of items i ¼ 1... n, l i ¼ standardized factor loading); b CR ¼ðSl i Þ 2 =½ðSl i Þ 2 þðsd i ÞŠ, (number of items i ¼ 1...n, l i ¼ standardized factor loading, d i ¼ error term); c the highest squared correlation between the construct of interest and the remaining constructs Structural relationships 547 Table III. Model reliability and validity the CFA model. Figure 1 presents the structural relationships, the standardized regression weights and the variance explained for the endogenous constructs. From this figure we conclude that the majority of the independent (exogenous) latent constructs influence the respective dependent (endogenous) latent constructs. So, we conclude that the majority of the research sub-hypotheses are not rejected and so does the main research hypothesis Ha, according to which the TQM factors affect organizational performance. Discussion The results of the study prove the small-medium nature of Greek companies as well as their certification to the revised ISO 9001:2000 standard for at least a four-year period of time, which was the successor of their previous certification to the standards of the ISO 9000:1994 series. External consultants supported their attempts to become certified, a fact that shows that the companies intensively perceived the need for guidance and support to develop a quality system. This can also be seen from the fact that the financial factor hardly affected the companies in their selection of the most appropriate consultant, as opposed to his reputation in the market that played a major role. Contrary to the study of Coleman and Douglas (2003) where the majority of the organizations viewed ISO 9000 as the end of their quality journey, in the present study two-thirds of the companies are eager to move towards TQM in the future. The present study revealed the following main quality management factors: quality practices of the top management, employee involvement, customer focus, process and data quality management and the use of quality tools and techniques. In other words, the company s top management supported by its employees, places customer at the center of the system and while using quality tools it manages processes and data based on quality. The result of this form of management is the company s quality improvement, customer satisfaction, its market consolidation and domination and the protection of natural and social environment. Literature refers to several TQM conceptual frameworks that have been validated through the SEM methodology. However, there are common and different points among them and the same applies to the above mentioned. The model of the research

10 TQM 22,5 548 Figure 1. The structural relationships and the standardized regression weights conducted by Sila and Ebrahimpour (2005) is made up of the following factors: leadership, strategic quality planning, information and analysis, human resource, process and supplier management. Prajogo (2005) confirmed a model made up of factors such as leadership, customer focus, process management, quality planning, information and analysis and human resource management, in the manufacturing and service industry. Su et al. (2003) confirmed the validity of a TQM model that was made up of the following factors: leadership, innovation and quality planning, customer and market development, knowledge and human resource management, process and data management and business results. Prajogo and Sohal (2003) included in the TQM model factors such as leadership, strategic quality planning, customer focus, information and analysis, process and human resource management. The results of the present study showed that the quality improvement is affected by process and data quality management and employee involvement in the quality system. These two factors are significantly affected in turn mainly by the adoption of quality practices by the top management and secondarily by the application of quality tools. This highlights the fact that quality improvement is mostly prompted by the top management s adoption of a new quality culture and less by the technical methods that

11 achieve quality. However, the role of quality tools should not be overlooked, since as the results showed, they significantly affect employee involvement and process and data quality management. Furthermore, the results showed that customer orientation significantly affects process and data quality management, while its impact on employee involvement was not significant. By managing processes and data and achieving a substantial quality improvement, companies protect their natural and social environment. Taking this into account, and even more the adoption of quality practices by the top management and the actual quality improvement of the output products, the customers cannot but be filled with satisfaction. Finally, the results of the present study showed that the market benefits depend mostly on quality improvement, the degree of customer satisfaction and secondarily the application of quality tools. The essential role of a company s top management in the implementation of a quality system also became apparent in the research of Sila and Ebrahimpour (2005). More specifically, it was found that leadership constitutes a regulatory factor of strategic quality planning, human resource, supplier and process management and information and analysis. Its role was also significant in the maximization of the benefits received from the management system such as those concerning human resources, customers, the company s effectiveness and the position in the market. Prajogo (2005) by studying the TQM effect on quality performance, not only did not find a statistically significant difference between manufacturing and service companies, but also confirmed the important contribution of TQM. Su et al. (2003) also found that the major factors for establishing TQM and achieving benefits from it are top management and data management. Prajogo and Sohal (2003) indicated that there are significant effects of TQM on quality and the degree of products as well as processes innovation. Finally, Agus et al. (2000) showed that TQM implementation contributes to the achievement of a higher degree of customer satisfaction, a fact that results in the company s financial performance improvement. Structural relationships 549 Conclusions This study proved that in ISO 9001:2000 certified Greek companies top management is the driver of the quality management system. Given this and since these people play a leading role in management decision making, it is recommended that they encourage employees to actively participate in the system, so that by placing customer at the centre they will jointly introduce quality tools and techniques in their everyday practices. In this way, everyday process and data management will be performed based on quality. Thus, improvement will be achieved in terms of business operation, customer satisfaction, natural and social environment and market share. This scenario is enforced given the hopeful message demonstrated by the sample companies according to which they will continue their journey from quality assurance standards towards total quality. The way to achieve this is by adopting total quality principles and participating in the process of obtaining a quality award as well as by implementing the quality management tools and techniques. The authors consider the use of quality tools and techniques as important as the adoption of the so called soft TQM elements, even though the results of the present study confirm the notion that the impact of the hard TQM elements on organizational performance is less significant than that of the soft TQM elements.

12 TQM 22,5 550 However, the data do not constitute objective but subjective business evidence that entails the risk of receiving biased responses. It is also a study conducted on a specific country and the participated companies came from all sectors. Furthermore, the proposed model has not been tested for its validity in separate sectors, which can be the subject of future research. It is also suggested that research efforts in the future should focus on the specification of a quality management model that will be based on subjective business evidence and opinions held not only by top managers but also by employees. References Agus, A., Krishnan, S.K. and Kadir, S.L.S.A. (2000), The structural impact of total quality management on financial performance relative to competitors through customer satisfaction: a case study of Malaysian manufacturing companies, Total Quality Management, Vol. 11 Nos 4-6, pp Ahmed, S. and Hassan, M. (2003), Survey and case investigations on application of quality management tools and techniques in SMIs, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 20 No. 7, pp Ahmed, S.M., Aoieong, R.T., Tang, S.L. and Zheng, D.X.M. (2005), A comparison of quality management systems in the construction industries of Hong Kong and the USA, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp Coleman, S. and Douglas, A. (2003), Where next for ISO 9000 companies?, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp Dale, B.G. (2002), European quality challenges for the new millennium, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp Dale, B.G. and Wan, G.M. (2002), Setting up a quality costing system an evaluation of the key issues, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp Drew, E. and Healy, C. (2006), Quality management approaches in Irish organizations, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp Feigenbaum, A.V. (1999), The new quality for the twenty-first century, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 11 No. 6, pp Gotzamani, K., Theodorakioglou, Y.D. and Tsiotras, G.D. (2006), A longitudinal study of ISO 9000 (1994) series contribution towards TQM in Greek industry, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp Hafeez, K., Malak, N. and Abdelmeguid, H. (2006), A framework for TQM to achieve business excellence, Total Quality Management, Vol. 17 No. 9, pp Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J., Anderson, R.E. and Tatham, R.L. (2005), Multivariate Data Analysis, 6th ed., Pearson-Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Hoang, D.T., Igel, B. and Laosirihongthong, T. (2006), The impact of total quality management on innovation. Findings from a developing country, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 23 No. 9, pp Idris, M.A. and Zairi, M. (2006), Sustaining TQM: a synthesis of literature and proposed research framework, Total Quality Management, Vol. 17 No. 9, pp Jitpaiboon, T. and Rao, S.S. (2007), A meta-analysis of quality measures in manufacturing system, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp Ju, T.J., Lin, B., Lin, C. and Kuo, H.J. (2006), TQM critical factors and KM value chain activities, Total Quality Management, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp

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