An Investigation of Total Quality Management Practices in Pakistan

This study investigates the extent of total quality management (TQM) implementation in the textile companies of an under-researched country, Pakistan. It also examines whether ISO 9001 certification leads to improved business results and adoption of TQM. The perceived association of TQM practices with organisational performance and issues faced by the sample companies during the implementation of quality improvement initiatives are also identified.

A self-completion questionnaire was designed and perception-based data were collected from a sample of two hundred and ten (210) textile companies. One thousand and fifty (1050) questionnaires were sent to the companies. The respondents were managers from different departments of the sample companies. Statistical techniques like frequency tables, descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient, multiple regression and chi-square test were used to analyse the data.

The results of this study indicated that TQM philosophy is poorly implemented in the sample textile companies. The majority (81%) of respondents indicated that their companies are certified to ISO 9001:2008, whereas MBNQA, the EFQM excellence model and Six Sigma are not given much importance. The certification of ISO 9001 facilitates the achievement of better business results and the adoption of TQM practices. However, the length of certification is not associated with the business results. All TQM practices have a significant positive relationship with business results; however, partnership and resources are the best predictors of business results. The implementation of TQM practices is not affected by organisational size. However, it varies across the types of textile companies. The lack of awareness of TQM, managers’ perception of quality as money wasting activity and the implementation of multiple quality improvement programmes are the major issues faced by the sample textile companies during the implementation of quality improvement initiatives.