Quality Management Practices In Malaysia: Perceived Advancement in Quality Management and Business Performance Ng Kim-Soon1, Mohamad Jantan2 1. Faculty of Technology Management, Business & Entrepreneurship, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, 86400, Johor, Malaysia; 2. Policy Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden Heights, Penang, 11000, Malaysia (
[email protected]) Abstract: Quality management is an important aspect that needs to exert conscious and sustainable efforts to continuously improve all facets of business for a firm to survive and prosper. While a substantial body of literature has been developed linking quality management system to business performance, there is a dearth of evidence comparing the soft and hard factors and its impact on business performance between big firms and SMEs, local and foreign owned firms, and between exporters and nonexporters. The purposes of this research paper include assessing the extent, determining the dimensions and identifying which critical quality factors are associated with business performance and addressing the literature gap. A summary of the findings and future direction will be provided.
practices of TQM implementation and extending this knowledge. [7] identified eight areas of primary quality concerns which they called critical quality factors. These factors of quality management were compiled from an exhaustive review of articles, books and studies of eminent practitioners and academics. These are the role of management leadership and quality policy; training; process management; employee relations; product / service design; supplier quality management; the role of the quality department; and quality data and reporting. They also identified that managerial commitment to quality as one of the vital pre-requisites for the success of any quality improvement programme. Literature reviews by [6] on studies conducted in different countries including Costa Rica, Thailand, Indonesia, Palestine, Singapore, Australia, China and Hong Kong indicated that there are 12 criteria for successful implementation of quality management system. These are quality data and reporting; customer satisfaction, human resource utilization; management and process quality; management commitment; continuous improvement; leadership; strategic quality planning; performance measurement; customers focus; and contact with suppliers and professional associates. Literature investigation of TQM studies published between 1989 and 2000 by [8] found 25 critical quality factors most commonly extracted from 76 studies. While a substantial body of literature has been developed linking quality management system to business performance, there is a dearth of evidence of comparing the soft factors and hard factors and its impact on business performance between big firms and the SMEs. [9] also reported the dearth of written literature on how TQM has been applied in Malaysian SMEs. This study will attempt to fill the gap. This paper is different from previous studies involving firms from developing nations in that the investigation is directed towards understanding if Malaysian firms have made greater advancement in their quality management. Thus the purposes of this research paper include: (1) Determining the dimensions of critical quality factors; (2) Assessing the extent of critical quality factors and; (3) Identifying which critical quality factors are associated with business performance.
Keywords – Quality Management, SMEs, Quality Factors
I. INTRODUCTION For many in business, quality management is an important aspect that needs to exert conscious and sustained efforts to continuously improve all facets of business for a firm to survive and prosper. Not just in the short term, but also on an enduring basis. Empirical evidence supports the argument that by focusing on quality, a business can substantially improve its performance ([1]; [2]). However, this linkage quality, practices and performance is debatable because even Baldrige award winners stumbled after winning it [3]. [4] contended that the execution of certain constructs or practices that lead to better performance, rather than the adoption of TQM practices. Then, the question arises in finding what are these relevant components or constructs of the quality management practices that drive the business performance of an organization. [5] stressed the need to find out the relationship and link of quality management system from the view of “hard” and “soft” quality factors to organizational performance. They regarded that systems, tools, and techniques such as quality management systems, cost of quality and statistical process control and external effectiveness (e.g. benchmarking and customer satisfaction surveys) are examples of hard quality factors while soft quality factors are intangibles and are primarily related to leadership and employee involvement. Research implications by [6] indicated the need to further explore the application of “soft” and “hard” factors to enrich the theories and
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and the remaining 37 are foreign owned. A total of 44 percent of the responding firms have less than 10 years in operation, 28 percent have been operating between 11 to 20 years and another 28 percent for more than 20 years. A total of 44% of the firms responded export 80% or more of their products manufactured. The response bias test using T-test described by [11] for all the quality critical items and the performance measure items. A comparison is made between 68 responding firms that have responded early and the subsequent equal period where there are 39. No variable turn out to differ significantly (p10 – 20 30 d. >20 30 Percent of Products a. >= 80 47 Exported b.
