THE EFFECT OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

ABSTRACT

The literature on quality contains numerous case studies of successful companies and description of quality concepts and quality improvement programs. The purpose of this study is to determine the critical factor of total quality management on business performance in large organization. The instrument used in this study was developed to identity critical factors {areas} of total quality management in an organization.

Performance of the organization was measured using by subjective measured based in organization administrator’s perception of how their organization performed relative to the competition.

The findings indicate that total quality management practices such as supplier relationship; bench marking, top management commitment and customer focus are critical factors and have a positive impact on performance of Source du pays Muyuka

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter contains the background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, limitation of the study, and scope of the study.

1.1 Background of the Study

Under the developing and changing world conditions, businesses in the race which is excessively competitive and to be able to grab rapidly increasing market share with the developing technology have to revise their understanding of quality and decrease the margin of error in the product or service they produce in order to be able to survive and compete and reach the level they want and maintain this level. In this context, organizations began a ‘quality race’ and Total Quality Management (TQM) approach gained importance. Hill (2012) identified that total quality management is a firm-wide management philosophy of continuously improving the quality of the product/process by focusing on the customer satisfaction and organization’s performance. There are mixed results about the relationship between total quality management practice and performance. The success of any organization is completely determined by the quality of services that they produce, especially in competitive market place, this therefore brings the relevance of the ideology and practice of total quality management into place Katardjieva (2015). Most organizations still believe that the traditional quality control techniques and the way they have always been is still the best and resolve their quality problems, but this however is wrong. Employing move inspectors, developing correction repairs and re-work teams doesn’t promote quality (Edward 2010). Traditionally, quality has been seen as the responsibility of quality control (QC) department and it has still not been recognized in some organizations that many quality problems originate in the marketing, sales services and administrative areas.

The methods and techniques used in total quality management can be placed through any organization. They are equally in marketing, health care, education and hospitality industries. (Hassan et al, 2013) identified that the impact of total quality management on an organization is first to ensure that the management adopts a strategic overview of quality. The approach must focus on developing a problem prevention mentality, but it is easy to underestimate the effort that is required to change approaches.

Total Quality Management strategy is a business management strategy that sees the organizational customers and creates as the key to organizational success. However, some companies define quality by engineering standards (Matata, 2015). Effective Total Quality Management (TQM) strategy entails that the product quality must go beyond acceptability for a given price range. It must involve every staff in the organization and in every department. It expresses the conviction that in order to improve quality, the organization must regularly conduct surveys most from its customers (Internal and External customers) to evaluate its quality improvement programs and strategies (Bahri, 2012) Total Quality Management (TQM) strategist in organizations should measure performance against customer’s standards not determined by the company’s quality engineers. However, firms that do not practice Total Quality Management (TQM) might experience internal and external loss of faith by the organizations senior staff on each other and low morale, see for example, Hendricks and Singhal (2007).

Finally, the ideology of Total Quality Management (TQM), emphasizes on the improvement of product quality and service delivery (Magutu, 2010). Managers improve durability and enhance a product passes through its life cycle managers also strive to speed delivery and improve other services to keep their brands (products) competitive.

1.2 Statement of the problem

This research work is aimed at understanding the effect of Total Quality Management on Organizational Performance. TQM is considered as a new philosophy and its principles and tools are still unfamiliar for a large number of organizations managers and employees. Total quality management impacts the creation of system in an organization that help in learning, cooperation and facilitating the implementation of different management practices to ensure that performance is enhanced. This results in improved performance on products, processes, and services and also the fulfillment of employees’ motivation in the organization (Alkhafaji & Youssouf, 2008). Adebanjo and kehoe (2009), noted that the implementation of total quality management in an organization creates improved performance by engaging activities of management leadership, strategic planning, engaging training programs and ensuring knowledge and process management been implemented.

According to Juran (2009), the benefits and goals of total quality are lower cost, higher revenues, empowered employees and delighted customers. Higher quality also equate to higher revenues through satisfied customers, increases market share, improved customer retention, and more loyal customers. Customers continue to demand services and products with high quality. Delighted customers purchase over and over again, advertised goods and services for the company, and check first when they are going to buy anything else to see what is offered by the company they are loyal to. Customer satisfaction is closely linked to product and service quality and thus quality improvement programs will normally increase profitability. The well-known profit impact shows a high correlation between relative product quality and profitability.

The problems of manufacturing enterprises all over the world and Cameroon in particular have been compounded in recent years due to changes in customer behaviour and increased competition from newly established companies and importers, the effects of system failures, poor product design, delivery delays, untrained staff and ignorance of quality. The change in consumer behavior has increased competitive pressure and this has compelled most producers of goods and services to tailor their products to meet the requirement of potential buyers. Thus, most organisations are concerned about how to satisfy or even exceed the expectation of their customers (Ngambit, 2015).

Many Manufacturing industries are embracing TQM practices and have gone further to attain ISO 9001:2008 certification. Many global, regional and local studies have underscored the role of TQM practices in enhancing customer satisfaction in an organization (Crosby, 2000; Oakland, 2003; Denning, 2006; and Feigenbaum, 2006).These studies have, however, concentrated on the impact of TQM practices on performance of profit making organizations. Past studies have also focused on manufacturing industries but little has been done (Obaraet et al.,2010). This confirms that there is very limited literature on effect of TQ practices on manufacturing industries. The study therefore, seeks to determine the effect of TQM on the performance of manufacturing industries specifically Source Du Pays (SARL).

1.3 Research Questions

1.3.1 Main Research Question

What is the effect of TQM on organizational performance specifically Source Du Pays in Cameroon?

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions

• What is the effect of top management commitment on organizational performance on Source Du Pays?
• What is the effect of customer focus on organizational performance on Source Du Pays?
• What is the effect of employment involvement on organizational performance on Source Du Pays?