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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide reliable and valid constructs of total quality management (TQM) and a measurement instrument in the context of Iranian manufacturing small to medium‐ sized enterprises (SMEs) and to examine the effects of these seven TQM criteria, namely: leadership, process management, supplier, customer focus, employee management, communication and quality information system (QIS) and tools and techniques on the organizational performance of the Iranian manufacturing SMEs.Design/methodology/approachIn order to search the impact of TQM practices on Iranian manufacturing SMEs a questionnaire was developed and distributed to quality managers of 65 Iranian manufacturing SMEs, resulting in a response rate of 81.5 percent. In particular, hypotheses were developed to evaluate the impact of TQM implementation on the organizational performance of the manufacturing SMEs.FindingsStatistical analysis revealed that a number of significant relationships between TQM practices and organizational performance of the manufacturing SMEs. The result found that leadership plays an important role in enhancing organizational performance of the Iranian manufacturing SMEs; however, these organizations encounter some obstacles in fully utilizing some TQM criteria, namely tools and techniques and suppliers.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is restricted to only a single region and manufacturing, so it would be strongly recommended that data be gathered from various parts of Iran including both manufacturing and service industries. As the data in this study were collected from top managers of organizations on the basis of their subjective evaluations, objective performance indicators should also be employed in the analysis.Originality/valueThis study has the potential to enhance the understanding of TQM practices impact on organizational performance of the Iranian manufacturing SMEs amongst researches and practitioners. Also the research adds knowledge in the field of quality management within the context of developing countries and gives a particular focus on the Iran manufacturing SMEs; as a review of literature, has identified no studies that have undertaken a comprehensive analysis of TQM practices and organizational performance of manufacturing SMEs in the Iranian context.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a holistic approach regarding evaluation of knowledge management (KM) practices on organizational performance. The effects of seven critical success factors (CSFs), namely leadership role, organizational culture, KM strategy, processes and activities, training and education, information technology, and motivation and rewarding system, on organizational performance in the framework of four perspectives of balance scored card (BSC) approach were surveyed. Design/methodology/approach – The research hypotheses were raised based on the four perspectives of this approach, namely, growth and learning, internal processes, customer and financial. By literature review, CSFs of KM and organizational performance along with their items were identified in the framework of BSC’s perspectives. Based on these constructs and their items an instrument was designed and distributed among managers and employees of the subsidiary firms of Iran National Petrochemical Company (INPC). Reliability of the instrument was calculated by Chronbach’s α for the two sections of the instrument i.e. KM practices and organizational performance. Also, using factor analysis the construct validity of the questionnaire was approved. Finally, based on the hypotheses of the study and using structural equation modeling the impacts of KM practices on organizational performance were investigated. Findings – The results revealed that KM practices positively and meaningfully (though weak) impact overall organizational performance. This impact is significant only regarding growth and learning dimension and on the other dimensions is insignificant. Also, as customer and financial constructs were loaded on one factor based on the entity of their indicators we considered these two constructs as stakeholders construct. In addition, among the above mentioned seven CSFs, motivation and rewarding system obtained the lowest rank among the survey organizations. Research limitations/implications – The sample is restricted to only three companies, so gathering data from various parts of Iran including both manufacturing and service industries could increase the generalizability of the results obtained. Also, as in this study the data gathered were cross-sectional, a longitudinal study could help gain deeper understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship among the variables. Originality/value – The most significant gap in the literature is the lack of enough application of statistical and comprehensive methods like BSC that KM makes a difference to organizational performance. This study contributes to the field of KM by empirically investigating the impact of KM practices on various measures of organizational performance in order to prove the suitability of a comprehensive approach like BSC.

Purpose -The aim of this study is to empirically test a framework which identifies the relationships between customer relationship management (CRM) practices, organizational performance and innovation capability of Iranian manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approach -Data for the study were collected from a sample of 211 Iranian manufacturing firms. The research model was tested using structural equation modeling.Findings -The results reveal that CRM practices have a positive and significant, though weak, effect on organizational performance and innovation capability of Iranian manufacturing organizations. Innovation improvement caused by CRM also results in better organizational performance.Research limitations/implications -Because this study is conducted in Iranian manufacturing organizations, it implies that the generalizability of this study's findings is limited to the manufacturing firms in Iran and cannot be applied to other markets without a further validation.Practical implications -This empirical research has extended our understanding of CRM components and their impact on business performance and innovation capability of Iranian manufacturing firms which have not been addressed together in previous empirical studies in Iran. Also, the obtained findings offer the Iranian manufacturing executives and managers strategic insights in relation to CRM implementation, CRM items and, more importantly, the most influential components of CRM on the manufacturing organizations' performance and innovation.Originality/value -This paper shows the importance of CRM practices and how they directly influence organizational and innovation capabilities of the Iranian firms. This study is among the few studies which attempt to empirically investigate the relationships between these variables particularly in the context of Iran.

The objective of this research is to develop a functional prototype based on ecommerce, which is carried out to promote a commercialization strategy for graphic arts microenterprises in the municipality of Funza in Cundinamarca.Using it, microenterprises could offer their services and / or products through the internet, implementing new technologies as a platform to make themselves known and start competing in more globalized markets.