TQM and business performance in the service sector: a Singapore study

Abstract

This paper focuses on gaining insight into the impact of TQM on the business performance of the service sector of the economy. The study yields clear evidence that TQM implementation improved business performance in the service sector of Singapore. Success of TQM implementations appears to be attributable more to the rigor of its implementation rather than the duration. The study finds that while accrued benefits can be attributed to some of the tools of TQM, such as, customer focus and quality improvement rewards, the key to the success of TQM lies in its intangible and behavioral features such as top management support, employee empowerment and employee involvement.

The Integrated Relationship among Organizational Learning, TQM and Firm’s Business Performance: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

“…Some studies have suggested that TQM-adopting firms enjoy a competitive advantage over non-TQM (Powell 1995, Brah et al, 2000. Furthermore, numerous empirical studies, which attempt to examine the impact of TQM, support the proposition that a continuous commitment to TQM implementation has a significant positive effect on superior firm performance, as evidenced in the case of service firms (Agus, 2004), small and medium enterprises (Ahmad et al, 2014;Wali & Boujelbene, 2010;Salaheldin, 2009) and European companies (Boulter et al, 2013).…”

“…The second part contains 19 items on the subject"s cognition of the implementation of TQM by the non-life insurance company. This study is based on the characteristics of the non-life insurance companies and through a comprehensive review of the TQM literature, with four constructs of TQM practices, named customer focus (Oakland, 2005;Fotopoulos & Psomas, 2010;Phan et al, 2011), continuous improvement (Tsang & Anltony, 2001;Wang et al, 2012 ), process management (Brah et al, 2000;Sila & Ebrahimpour, 2005;Samat et al, 2006) and service culture (Sureshchander et al, 2001;Selvaraj, 2009) to represent the core of TQM practices which are found to be useful and relevant to the service industries (Brah et al, 2000;Tsang & Antony, 2001). The third part contains 10 items on the impact of the implementation of organizational learning and TQM on the firm"s business performance, which according to Hao et al (2012) divide into two constructs including financial performance (e.g., Premium revenues, profit after tax, cost improvement) and non-financial performance (e.g., market share, customer satisfaction, employee productivity).…”

A Study on TQM Development, Performance and Sustenance in Service Industries through Effective Communication, Critical Success Factors and Market Orientation

“…The growth of service sector is due to the fact that service organizations cover a broad spectrum [2]. They interact directly with large number of customers.…”

The Relationship between Enterprise Resource Planning, Total Quality Management, Organizational Excellence, and Organizational Performance-the Mediating Role of Total Quality Management and Organizational Excellence

“…Dimensions and measurements have been adopted and adapted from previous studies. ERP measurements have been adopted from Stratman and Roth (2002), whereas measurements of TQM from different sources: Brah, Wong, and Rao (2000), Anderson and Sohal (1999), Terziovski & Samson (1999), and Rao (2000). Measurements of organizational excellence have been adopted from Pinar and Girard (2000), and organizational performance from Kaplan and Norton (1992;.…”