PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of total quality management (TQM) practices at the small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) level within the under‐researched context of the Malaysian economy.Design/methodology/approachMalaysia is an economy that is dependent on SME businesses and the improved performance of these organizations to meet the challenges of the economy in the transition to a modern manufacturing state. Following the extensive literature review and interviews with academics experts in the field of TQM, the objectives of this study were designed. The objectives of this research were to determine differences in performance and the differences in features engaged at high and lower performing businesses. In order to achieve this objective eight purposively selected (three awards winners and five non‐award‐winners) and in‐depth case studies of Malaysian SME were employed.FindingsThe findings of this research show those three levels of TQM application starting with quality control, then a broader application of management involvement with quality assurance process and finally a system‐wide application of TQM that involves a high degree of strategic integration of TQM principles. The integration between functional areas in the factory, formalization of activities and clear strategy were present at the TQM businesses and resulted in effective and efficient systems of customer service, operational excellence and human resource integration.Research limitations/implicationsThis research focuses on eight SME businesses that employed simple technology such as plastic injection molding and metal stamping. Therefore, the finding of this research could be generalized between similar businesses in similar industries.Practical implicationsThis paper provides an understanding of TQM practices offering design advice for professional managers and academia who work within SME businesses. The research also helps to identify and inform areas of government policy that might assist the performance improvement of such firms.Originality/valueThe paper finds that there is a logic and structure to high performance businesses and the application of TQM; the award‐winning companies perform better over their closest rivals. The importance of promoting TQM on a national scale cannot be under‐estimated and could bring a renewed interest to the relationship between TQM implementation and SMEs' improvement.

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In response to the Corona Virus diseases 2019 (Covid-19) crisis, the university students became as one of the Malaysian concern especially when they are stranded while the MCO has been exposed by the government. To reduce the impact on psychological pressure, the university via health center and student accommodation center were instructed to function as social support units. Besides food and other necessaries, the information regarding to Covid-19 and crisis management needs to be disseminated. We sampled stranded university students from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) using simple random sampling. With 275 responses, results of multiple mediation regression analysis indicated that the role of relational trust mediates the relationship between crisis responsibility and willingness to seek information. However, gender differences were not influence the behavior and willingness towards seeking the information. It is suggested that the relational trust among UiTM students were influenced by the service quality offered by the centers, thus inculcate them to discover more information with regards to Covid-19 outbreak.