Quality Management Practices vs. Performance of SMEs: An Empirical Study of Indian Industries

Abstract

The intense competition in the current marketplace has forced firms to re-examine their methods of doing business. Economic liberalization and globalization of economy is becoming a worldwide phenomenon. However survival of industry and its economic growth is dependant on the productivity level. This is very true in developing countries like India because of higher population growth, higher interest rates, rising inflation, domestic and international competition, scarcity of raw materials, fiscal deficit etc. The present work is an empirical study of impact of quality management practices like Just-in-Time, 5S's tools, Suggestion schemes, Workers participation, Quality circles and ISO certification on performance of SMEs. The performance parameters incorporated for the study were manpower and assets utilization, inventory management, quality aspects, cost aspects, time performance and purchasing procedure. A comprehensive questionnaire was developed and circulated to the different firms and responses were collected for analyzing the data. On the basis of literature review and the survey of the industry, objectives were identified; the impact was validated on the basis of correlation analysis.

Influence of eco- innovation on Indian manufacturing sector sustainable performance

“…Sustainable Performance Economy (Management) Leitham et al 2000, Ulusoy 2003, Yang 2006 Industrial performance studies Deshmukh, 2000 and per capita Gross National Product (GNP), Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Manufacturing (% of GDP), per Capita Research and Development (GDR) Expenditure and Exports Rho et al 2001, Singh et al 2006 Manufacturing…”

An Optimization Model for Sustainability Program

“…Based, on the extensive review from the previous studies that widely considered major sustainability elements relating to 'Sustainable Manufacturing' and the discussions with the leading practitioners the following six sustainable practices were identified as the contributors of sustainability programs (Klassen and McLaughlin's 1996;Singh et al 2006;Montabon et al 2007;Delmas 2001;Curkovic 2003;Yang et al 2010;Jayal et al 2010;Pandian et al 2013b). …”

“…A sustainability program is a set of essential sustainability practices that are implemented at various intensities from minimum level to maximum level to achieve the desired performances is referred as modes in this paper. Sustainability practices are classified into three major categories to address the underlying triple bottom line performances of industries such as Manufacturing Innovation Practices (MIP), Environmental Management Regulation Systems (ERMS) and Societal Welfare Schemes (SWS) (Rho et al 2001;Singh et al 2006). Sezen and Cankaya (2013) stated that sustainability issues are swiftly emerging as one of the most important aspects in organisation and influences strategic decision making such as business management, manufacturing, and product development.…”

Quality Management Practices in Indian SMEs

“…The SMEs should learn from large organizations and continuously strive for performance excellence by implementing initiatives such as Lean and Six Sigma [7]. Irrespective of growing importance of SMEs in India, there are limited studies (such as [9,10]) about the extent of quality initiatives implementation in SMEs. To address this issue, the chapter analyses the context of Indian SMEs and provides empirical evidences related to quality initiatives.…”

“…Second, it provides empirical evidence of quality practices in Indian SMEs. As the quality practices in Indian SMEs is still at nascent stages (except in automobile or electronic sectors, [9]), this type of study could enhance the thinking of government policy makers and top management to adopt quality initiatives for better management style and preparing SMEs for both local and global competition [1].…”