Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of the essential characteristics of the TQM philosophy by comparing the work of
five notable authors in the field. A framework is produced which gather the identified TQM enablers under the
well-known operations management dimensions of process, business and people. These enablers are linked with
sustainable development via balance scorecard type economic and non-economic measures. In order to capture a
picture of Libyan Company’s efforts to implement the TQM, a questionnaire survey is designed and implemented.
Results of the survey are presented showing the main differentiating factors between the sample companies, and a
way of assessing the difference between the theoretical underpinning and the practitioners’ undertakings. Survey
results indicate that companies are experiencing much difficulty in translating TQM theory into practice. Only a
few companies have successfully adopted a holistic approach to TQM philosophy, and most of these put relatively
high emphasis on hard elements compared with soft issues of TQM. However, where companies can realise the
economic outputs, non-economic benefits such as workflow management, skills development and team learning
are not realised. In addition, overall, non-economic measures have secured low weightings compared with the
economic measures. We believe that the framework presented in this paper can help a company to concentrate its
TQM implementation efforts in terms of process, system and people management dimensions.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | - |
Journal | International Journal of Applied Science and Technology |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |