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Services Marketing Quarterly

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Critical Success Factors of TQM in

Service Organizations: A Proposed Model
a

Faisal Talib & Zillur Rahman

Mechanical Engineering Section, University Polytechnic , Aligarh

Muslim University , Aligarh, India
b

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of

Technology , Roorkee, India
Published online: 25 Jun 2010.

To cite this article: Faisal Talib & Zillur Rahman (2010) Critical Success Factors of TQM in
Service Organizations: A Proposed Model, Services Marketing Quarterly, 31:3, 363-380, DOI:
10.1080/15332969.2010.486700
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Services Marketing Quarterly, 31:363380, 2010

Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1533-2969 print=1533-2977 online
DOI: 10.1080/15332969.2010.486700

Critical Success Factors of TQM in Service

Organizations: A Proposed Model
FAISAL TALIB
Mechanical Engineering Section, University Polytechnic,
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

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ZILLUR RAHMAN
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India

The successful implementation of total quality management (TQM)

is often linked with the critical dimensions or critical success
factors (CSFs) which are responsible for achieving effective results.
The purpose of this study is to identify which CFSs are critical to
TQM implementation and support service quality. The current
study identifies nine CSFs from the extant literature that can help
organizations to achieve business excellence. The study further
proposes a model of organizational performance that can help
managers to achieve organizational excellence and help them to
maintain a fit with the changing environment. A possible sequence
for implementation of this model is then presented.
KEYWORDS CSFs, implementation, service organization, services
quality, TQM

INTRODUCTION
In the globalized economy, survival of organizations heavily depends upon
delivering quality products and services with focus on customer satisfaction
and delighting them continuously in every aspect of its operations. Organizations are undergoing a shift from a production-oriented philosophy to a
customer-oriented approach. Organizations with high service quality pose
a challenge to other organizations and act as a benchmark for others to
achieve competitive advantage. Therefore, organizations adopt total quality
management (TQM) philosophy to retain their existing customers and delight
Address correspondence to Faisal Talib, Mechanical Engineering Section, University
Polytechnic, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, (UP), India. E-mail: ftalib77@yahoo.co.in
363

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F. Talib and Z. Rahman

new customers. TQM is an innovative strategy which highlights the need to

improve the quality of productivity and services in order to better utilize the
available resources of organization (Collins, 1996). It offers every individual
the opportunity to participate, contribute, and develop a sense of ownership.
Over the past few years, the TQM concept has proved to be a systematic
approach to the improvements of the organizations overall business performance including products and services (Lau & Iris, 2001). Organizations
have now come to understand that in order to stay globally competitive, a
self-assessment to continuously improve organizational performance is
required (Venkatraman, 2007; Neves & Nakhai, 1993; Mele & Culucio,
2006). Though TQM has established its roots predominantly in manufacturing industries, there has been a strong favor for adopting TQM in service
organizations (Venkatraman, 2007; Prajogo, 2005; Antony, Antony, & Ghosh,
2004; Gustafsson, Nilsson, & Johnson, 2003; Ronnback & Witell, 2008). There
are several research studies that examine the impact of TQM on organization
performance, business performance, small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
performance, and the measurement of quality in service industry; there are
also a number of research studies that investigates critical success factors
of TQM in different service organizations, for example: Hendriks and Singhal
(2001a,b), Flynn, Schroeder, and Sakakibara (1994), Eriksson and Hansson
(2003), Gustafsson et al. (2003), Khamalah and Lingaraj (2003, 2007), Yusuf,
Gunasekaran, and Dan (2007), Jannadi and Al-Saggaf (2000), Wali, Deshmukh, and Gupta (2003), Lewis, Pun, and Lalla (2005), Lu and Sohal
(1993), Black and Porter (1996), Badri, Davis, and Donald (1995) and Porter
and Parker (1993). These studies are intended to help managers implement
quality management principles and practices more effectively by recommending them to adopt in their service organizations to improve organizations performance and gain customer satisfaction for repeat services.
The scope of this study comes from the fact that the role of the service
sector on the world economy over the past two decades has become the
dominant element in the growth of the economy. For example, the service
sectors share of the world economy has grown from 41% of GDP in 1990
to 49% in 2000 and than further rises to 62% in the year 2005 (Banerjee,
Chakraborty, & Sengupta, 2007; World Economy at a Glance, n.d.). The trend
shows that the world economy is now dominated by the service sector
accounting for almost two-thirds of its GDP; the service sector has become
an essential part in the development of the global economy. There is a need
to know which managerial practices are critical for the growth of service
organizations, for that there is an immediate need for a model that identifies
critical factors and can help implementation of TQM in the service organizations successfully. These factors necessitate the need for the present study.
The present study reviews the literature on TQM and tries to identify
various quality management practices used in service sector. These quality
management practices are termed as critical success factors of TQM that

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Critical Success Factors of TQM in Service Organizations

365

can help an organization to attain business excellence. Thus, the focus will
be to investigate CSFs and develop a model for proper implementation of
TQM in different service organizations. The results of this research will help
managers and researchers regarding methodological issues, managerial
practices, and critical success factors while implementing TQM in their organizations as well as providing a scope for future research work in this area.
This study involves an extensive literature survey and then critically
examining and identifying those factors which are critical to TQM implementation. Thus, a model will be generated and discussed briefly.
The present research proposal is organized into four sections. The first
section provides research objectives and methodology. The next section
provides a review of literature relating to CSFs in service organizations as
reported by different researchers in their studies. The third section proposes
a TQM model and describes it in details, and the final section summarizes the
conclusion and scope for future work with some implications and guidelines
to TQM implementation.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

The objective of this study is to identify and interpret the critical factors of
TQM that can help service organizations to achieve business excellence.
Based on these critical factors a proposed model is developed which can
help managers to implement TQM in a better way. Besides this, the study will
also shade the information on guidelines of implementing TQM in service
organizations.
The methodology adopted to achieve these objectives was carried out
by using the secondary data. First, identification of the critical construct=
dimensions to TQM was done through extensive literature review in the service sector such as banks, hotels, ICT=IT, health, etc, and reaching consensus
on critical=major dimensions from broad range of approaches and practices
adopted by various TQM authors. Next, examining the literature on the
quality practices and developing a model which links CSFs identified with
TQM success. These CSFs are explained in detail. Finally, the summary
and conclusions presents the guidelines of implementing proposed model
effectively in service organizations.

OVERVIEW OF THE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF TQM

There is voluminous published literature on TQM practices contributory to
effective performance of service industries. This literature primarily focuses
on the critical factors of TQM and approaches taken to assure successful
implementation of the TQM program. The existing literature also reports that
TQM programs are not always effective and sometimes they fail. The success

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F. Talib and Z. Rahman

of TQM efforts in service organization depends upon certain factors which

are critical and vital, and are contributory towards achieving the goal.
In this study the authors try to identify those critical and vital factors
which are contributory to the success of TQM efforts in service organizations.

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TQM Critical Success Factors

A significant number of literatures on TQM critical success factors (CSFs) is
available and have been adopted by service companies in their business.
The results have derived some demonstrable benefits (Rahman & Sohal,
2002). Furthermore, there is a trend towards stronger demand for improved
measures of the performance of organization and TQM has a role to play in
relation to this (Williams, Vanderwiele, Iwaarden, & Viser, 2004).
Fotopoulos and Psomas (2009), in their study on Greek companies,
identified nine critical factors which were found to be beneficial to them
and could result in the sustainability of a company. They are: leadership; strategic quality planning; employee management and involvement; supplier
management; customer focus; process management; continuous improvement; information and analysis; and knowledge and education.
Tsang and Antony (2001) focused on 11 critical factors of quality
management. They are: customer focus; continuous improvement; teamwork
and involvement; top-management commitment and recognition; training
and development; quality systems and policies; supervisory leadership;
communication within the company; supplier partnership; measurement
and feedback; and cultural change.
Kanji and Wallace (2000) identified 10 TQM practices in their study, they
are: top-management commitment; customer focus and satisfaction; quality
information and performance measurement; human resource management;
employee involvement; teamwork; process management; quality assurance;
zero defects; and communication.
Mahapatra and Khan (2006) analyzed 20 critical factors responsible for
the successful implementation of TQM in the service sector. They are: leadership and top-management commitment; customer focus and satisfaction;
policy and strategy planning; human resource management; process
management and control; product=service design and control; continuous
improvement; supplier management; training; employees satisfaction;
employees participation; employee appraisal, reward and recognition;
quality culture; quality assurance; quality system; impact on society;
teamwork; flexibility; zero defect; and benchmarking.
Lenka and Suar (2008) identifies six core concepts of TQM that can help
organizations to achieve business excellence, they are: transformational leadership; customer orientation; human resource management; organizational
culture; continuous improvement; and quality measurement. Motwani
(2001) suggested seven constructs that accounts for TQM success. They

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367

are: top-management commitment, quality measurement and benchmarking,

process management, product design, employee training and empowerment,
supplier quality management, and customer involvement and satisfaction.
Rahman and Siddiqui (2006) describe five principal factors which are
integral part of IT=IS firms. They are: top-management, customer-centric
advancements, benchmarking, relentless improvement, and strengthening
the employee base.
Yusuf et al. (2007) comes out with 12 CSFs in Chinese companies, they
are: leadership and commitment; customer focus; continuous improvement;
get things right first time; just-in-time; competitive benchmarking; cost of
quality; employee involvement; teamwork; training; communication; and
recognition and reward.
Al-Marri, Ahmed, and Zairi (2007) comes out with 16 TQM practices
which were found to be critical for successful implementation of TQM in
the banking service sector. They are: top-management support; customer
focus; strategy; benchmarking; employee involvement; recognition and
reward; problem analysis; quality technologies; service design; servicescapes; service culture; social responsibility; human resource management;
continuous improvement; quality department; and quality systems.
Saravanan and Rao (2004) define 12 quality management dimensions.
They are: Top-management commitment and leadership; benchmarking; customer focus and satisfaction; service marketing; social responsibility; human
resource management; employee satisfaction; service culture; servicescape;
continuous improvement; technical system; and information and analysis.
According to the research based on Zairi and Youssef (1995), Badri et al.
(1995), Tamimi (1998), Sohal and Terziovski (2000), Hasan and Kerr (2003),
Black and Porter (1996), and Thiagarajan and Zairi (1997), the critical success
factors for the implementation of TQM are as follows: customer focus; continuous improvement; teamwork and employee involvement; top-management
commitment and recognition; training and development; quality system and
policies; supervisory leadership; communication within the company; supplier
partnership and supplier management; measurement and feedback; and
cultural change.
Similarly, the studies by Sila and Ebrahimpour (2002), Khamalah
and Lingaraj (2007), Huq and Stolen (1998), Bergman and Klefsjo (2007),
Sureshchandar, Rajendran, and Anantharaman (2001) and Vouzas and
Psychogios (2007) are of interest.

PROPOSED MODEL FOR IMPLEMENTING TQM IN SERVICES

Based on the review of literature, this study has identified a total of nine
critical dimensions of quality management (also referred as CSFs) in service
organizations as shown in Table 1. The dimensions are: (a) top-management

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F. Talib and Z. Rahman

TABLE 1 List of Critical Success Factors to TQM Extracted From Literature as Adopted by
Different Authors
No.

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Critical success factors

Researchers=Authors

Saraph, Benson, & Schroeder (1989); Antony, Leung, Knowles,

Top-management
& Gosh (2002); Samat, Ramayah, & Saad (2006); Brah,
commitment (includes
Wong, & Rao (2000); Sureshchander, Rajendran, &
leadership,
Anantharaman (2002); Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002); Lakhal,
management support
Pasin, & Limam (2006); Badri et al. (1995); Li (1997); Ahire
and management
et al. (1996); Flynn et al. (1994); Crumrine & Runnels (1991);
commitment)
Khamalah & Lingaraj (2007); Bergman & Klefsjo (2007); Sun
(2001); Quazi, Jemangin, Kit, & Lee (1998); Huq & Stolen
(1998); Woon (2000); Yusuf et al. (2007); Rahman & Siddiqui
(2006); Saravanan & Rao (2004); Sureshchandar et al. (2001);
Fotopoulos & Psomas (2009); Mahapatra & Khan (2006);
Zhang, Waszink, & Wijngaard (2000); Kanji & Wallace
(2000); Vouzas & Psychogios (2007); Lenka & Suar (2008).
Black & Porter (1996); Sureshchander et al. (2002); Antony
Customer focus
et al. (2002) Brah et al. (2000); Samat et al. (2006); Sila &
(includes customer
Ebrahimpour (2002); Lakhal et al. (2006); Flynn et al. (1994);
satisfaction and
Ahire et al. (1996); Crumrine & Runnels (1991); Bergman &
orientation)
Klefsjo (2007); Sun (2001); Huq & Stolen (1998); Woon
(2000); Rahman & Siddiqui (2006); Yusuf et al. (2007);
Saravanan & Rao (2004); Sureshchandar et al. (2001);
Fotopoulos & Psomas (2009); Mahapatra & Khan (2006);
Zhang et al. (2000); Kanji & Wallace (2000); Vouzas &
Psychogios (2007); Lenka & Suar (2008).
Training and education Badri et al. (1995); Ahire et al. (1996); Ueno (2008); Lakhal et al.
(2006); Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002); Saraph et al. (1989);
Samat et al. (2006); Brah et al. (2000); Antony et al. (2002);
Khamalah & Lingaraj (2007); Quazi et al. (1998); Huq &
Stolen (1998); Yusuf et al. (2007); Fotopoulos & Psomas
(2009); Mahapatra & Khan (2006); Zhang et al. (2000);
Vouzas & Psychogios (2007).
Continuous
Antony et al. (2002); Sureshchander et al. (2002); Samat et al.
improvement and
(2006); Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002); Lakhal et al. (2006);
innovation
Crumrine & Runnels (1991); Khamalah & Lingaraj (2007);
Bergman & Klefsjo (2007); Huq & Stolen (1998); Yusuf et al.
(2007); Rahman & Siddiqui (2006); Saravanan & Rao (2004);
Mahapatra & Khan (2006); Sureshchandar et al. (2001);
Zhang et al. (2000); Fotopoulos & Psomas (2009); Vouzas &
Psychogios (2007); Lenka & Suar (2008).
Saraph et al. (1989); Black & Porter (1996); Antony et al.
Supplier management
(2002); Brah et al. (2000); Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002); Lakhal
(includes supplier
et al. (2006); Flynn et al. (1994); Ahire et al. (1996); Badri
relationship, supplier
et al. (1995); Khamalah & Lingaraj (2007); Sun (2001);
quality, and supplier
Quazi et al. (1998); Mahapatra & Khan (2006); Fotopoulos &
partnership)
Psomas (2009); Lenka & Suar (2008).
Employee involvement Antony et al. (2002); Brah et al. (2000); Samat et al. (2006);
Lakhal et al. (2006); Ahire et al. (1996); Huq & Stolen (1998);
Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002); Yusuf et al. (2007); Fotopoulos &
Psomas (2009); Kanji & Wallace (2000); Mahapatra & Khan
(2006); Zhang et al. (2000); Vouzas & Psychogios (2007).
(Continued )

Critical Success Factors of TQM in Service Organizations

369

TABLE 1 Continued
No.
7.

8.

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9.

Critical success factors

Researchers=Authors

Quality information and Saraph et al. (1989); Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002); Black & Porter
performance
(1996); Antony et al. (2002); Sureshchander et al. (2002);
measurement
Lakhal et al. (2006); Ahire et al. (1996); Badri et al. (1995);
Quazi et al. (1998); Sureshchandar et al. (2001); Huq &
Stolen (1998); Woon (2000); Zhang et al. (2000); Kanji &
Wallace (2000).
Benchmarking
Sureshchander et al. (2002); Brah et al. (2000); Sila &
Ebrahimpour (2002) Ahire et al. (1996); Khamalah & Lingaraj
(2007); Yusuf et al. (2007); Rahman & Siddiqui (2006);
Sureshchandar et al. (2001); Saravanan & Rao (2004);
Zhang et al. (2000); Mahapatra & Khan (2006).
Brah et al. (2000); Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002); Ueno (2008);
Employee
Flynn et al. (1994); Khamalah & Lingaraj (2007); Huq &
encouragement
Stolen (1998); Yusuf et al. (2007); Zhang et al. (2000);
(includes employee
Mahapatra & Khan (2006).
appraisal, rewards,
and recognition)

commitment, (b) customer focus, (c) training and education, (d) continuous
improvement and innovation (e) supplier quality management, (f) employee
involvement, (g) employee encouragement, (h) benchmarking, (i) quality
information and performance measurement.
Several authors have proposed different quality management practices
that affect business performance. The present literature comes out with
almost 50 managerial practices which were used by different researchers in
their studies on service sectors. But these nine critical factors were found
to be predominant as these are frequently used in service area. Also, these
factors are responsible for better results and successful implementation of
TQM in service organizations. Table 1 provides a list of nine critical factors
of TQM commonly used by researchers in the service industry. These factors
were identified from surveying more than 30 empirical and exploratory
studies.
Based on the above nine CSFs, a model was proposed for service organizations. The model is shown in Figure 1. The model articulates that these
quality dimensions=factors will enhance the organizational performance in
the form of improved productivity, quality, on-time delivery, less rework,
customer satisfaction, increased market share, increased customer loyalty
and relations, and above all the, service quality. The proposed model will
work and produce desirable results under the assumption that realization
of these CSFs is facilitated throughout the periphery of the organization
and supported by every member of the organization having a quality culture
attitude and thinking about continuous improvement and innovation. It is not
a one-time practice and should go continuously. The nine CSFs are briefly
discussed next.

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F. Talib and Z. Rahman

FIGURE 1 A proposed model for TQM critical success factors in service organization.

Factor 1: Top-Management Commitment

No discussion on TQM is complete without the reference of top-management
commitment and involvement. Before TQM implementation, it is necessary
to plan for vision, mission, ethics, attitude, values, and goals for the organization to follow (Grover, Agrawal, & Khan, 2006). A sound foundation for
initiating TQM activities is laid out by top-management. Managements
commitment towards quality sends positive signals down up to the shop
floor and can inspire the whole organization.
Top-management involvement should be demonstrated by actions that
are needed and not just by words or declarations of quality policies. Thus,
top-management must exercise leadership abilities to influence the behavior
of others. The top-management needs to identify the critical success factors
and to review the structure of management (Yusuf et al., 2007). Apart from
senior management, the middle management also plays an important role
in the process. They must explain TQM principles to the employees and
ensure their responsibilities. Dale (1999) argues that top managers have to
take charge personally, lead the process, provide direction, and exercise
leadership, as well as deal with those employees who block improvement

Critical Success Factors of TQM in Service Organizations

371

and create a nuisance. Taylor and Wright (2003) found that senior managers
involvement, understanding, and customer focus are essential antecedents of
TQM success. Lee, Lee, and Chang (2001) found that top-management commitment affected both quality performance as well as financial performance.
These studies provide support to the link between top-management involvement and commitment, and performance in the service organizations. TQM
process can be implemented effectively only when the whole organization
accepts the responsibility and commitment of quality management.

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Factor 2: Customer Focus

Customer focus including customer satisfaction and orientation is the essence
for the success of business dealing with intangible services. Organizations
that understand what customers really want and provide a product or service
to meet these requirements can gain competitive advantage and profit (Yusuf
et al., 2007). In TQM, customer satisfaction is the driving force for an organization to improve its performance (Zaire, 2000; Lagrosen, 2001; Vouzas,
2007). According to Rampersad (2001), to realize customer satisfaction,
everyone within the organization should consider continuous improvement
as something normal, and urge organizations to make an inventory of customers data, customers complaints, and benchmarking in order to improve
the customer orientation.
For continuous improvement, a customers requirements must be
consistently measured and satisfied. The organization should obtain the
necessary information for the identification of customer requirements and
to obtain reliable, post feedback on quality levels of currently available
products=services (Forza & Filippini, 1998; Yusuf et al., 2007). The needs
and expectations of consumers have always been in the mind of all employees. It is necessary to identify these needs and expectations, as well as their
level of satisfaction (Tsang & Antony, 2001).

Factor 3: Training and Education

In the service sector, training and education means the training of employees
and empowerment responsible for producing products and services. It is an
essential part of TQM implementation, especially in services as it explores the
knowledge to employees about the principles and core concept of TQM to
achieve desired goals. It also imparts knowledge of continuous improvement
and innovation in service process to attain full benefits and business excellence. The core concept of training and education is to maintain high level
of quality through the best use of talents and activities of an organizations
entire workforce. There exists well-established link between training and a
firms performance in TQM literature (Reed et al., 2000). Further, training

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F. Talib and Z. Rahman

alone will not change peoples behavior, but training in the new skill is the
first step towards change (Wilkinson & Willmott, 1994).
The effective implementation of quality training programs demands
considerable commitment and adjustment by the trainers and trainees
(Besterfield, 1995). Senior and quality managers have important roles in
allocating responsibilities for training. Training and education also helps to
improve the employees confidence and hence, improves their personal
development (Tsang & Antiny, 2001). Training is claimed to be one of the
essential features for improving quality (Brown, 1994; Perry, 1995; Ueno,
2008), and to deliver service quality competently and confidently (Berry &
Parasuraman, 1992, Ueno, 2008). Since poor training and education is one
of the reasons for a lack of quality in human service (Joseph, 1996), training
will be able to minimize the risk of service failure (Ueno, 2008) and positively
influence quality performance (Lee et al., 2001).

Factor 4: Continuous Improvement and Innovation

Continuous improvement and innovation in the service quality is one of the
major dimensions=factors of the TQM implementation program. It helps in
eliminating lead times in delivery, as well as reducing rework, error, and
unnecessary slack and variability in the processes, thereby continuously
improving the total business performance and reducing all nonvalue-adding
activities at a minimum (Hyland, Mellor, & Donepadi, 2000). Thus, the
company can attain long-term survival and development. According to
TQM philosophy, the best way to improve organizational output is to
continuously improve performance (Corbett & Rastrick, 2000).
The aim of continuous improvement and innovation is about learning
from the current processes to improve them in the future (Hodgetts, 1998).
Continuous improvement means commitment to the constant examination
of technical and administrative processes in search of better methods (Dean
& Bowen, 1994). Continuous improvement, according to Anderson,
Rungtusanatham, and Schroeder (1994), is an integral part of TQM, and
the main objective behind continuous improvement is customer satisfaction.
The principle of continuous improvement is keeping the never-ending concept in everyones mind and in every job (Yusuf et al., 2007).

Factor 5: Supplier Quality

Selecting a quality supplier can help improve the service quality. Many
organizations know the value of developing long-term relationships with their
suppliers which can increase their competitiveness (Zineldin & Fonsson,
2000). In the past, supplier relationships and management was not considered
to be a critical dimension for service industries, but due to increase in number
of service companies, service globalization, and customer changing needs,

Critical Success Factors of TQM in Service Organizations

373

supplier partnership and supplier management has become an essential

element of the TQM program. The benefits of supplier quality and management are that the flow of information sharing can be sped up and stable relationships can lead to stable delivery and prices (Tsang & Antony, 2001).
The main items or elements used in supplier analysis are: the extent to
which various quality management practices are utilized in relation to a supplier, including inspection of goods=services; agreement contracts; supplier
measure on performance; whether certification is required the use of single
or multisourcing; involvement of system change and improvement; and
involvement in strategic alliances (Terziovski & Dean, 1998).

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Factor 6: Employee Involvement

The term total in TQM implies that every organizational member is involved
in quality improvement processes, decision-making processes, problemsolving, and the financial success of the organization. Hence, employee
involvement is an integral part of the TQM program and cannot be overlooked, especially in service industries as services cannot be delivered to
the target customers without the participation of all members of the organization. According to Snell and Dean (1992), the increase of employees
participation in the quality program brings an increased flow of information
and knowledge to the bottom of the organization for resolving problems.
An organization should utilize all employees skill and abilities, and
people in different departments should work as a team for any problemsolving initiatives. They should be recognized for their efforts and contribution, and should be made to feel that they are part of the system (Tsang
& Antony, 2001). Trust is an important component in employee involvement
and they should be encouraged to control, manage, and improve the
processes that are within their responsibility.

Factor 7: Employee Encouragement

Employee encouragement is one of the pillars for effective implementation
of the TQM program. It covers rewards and appraisals as well as recognition
by the top-management from time to time to maintain enhanced delivery of
services to the customer. Employees should be encouraged for their hard
work, effort, contributions, achievements, and suggestions through cash as
well as noncash incentives at special events so that they feel they are valuable
members of the organization. Recognition and rewards are both effective
motivators and stimulators for desired performance and employee
satisfaction (Yusuf et al., 2007).
There have been studies that link employee rewards and recognition to
productivity performance (Kerr, 1997). Tatikonda and Tatikonda (1996) state
that rewards or recognition is one of the three legs that support

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organizational improvement. It has been argued that performance appraisals

and rewards give the right direction to the workforce and is more critical in
the service sector (Gronroos, 1990; Schneider & Bowen, 1995). Further, an
organization must use recognition and reward not to force people do things
well but to encourage them to do so.

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Factor 8: Benchmarking
Benchmarking is one of the most important approaches to TQM and is widely
used by many organizations. The purpose of benchmarking is to provide a target for improving the performance of the organization in order to achieve
superiority in the market place (Yusuf et al., 2007). The aim is to discover
the best practices and adopt them in the organization to achieve competitive
advantages. The organization can be transformed to world-class status when
benchmarking is directed at the key or critical business processes. It is difficult
to benchmark services because of the very puzzling nature of services (Sureshchandar et al., 2001). Benchmarking is probably more talked about and better
said than done. Benchmarking involves finding gaps, problem solving, and
continuous change. The link between benchmarking and TQM is improving
performance based on organization best practice and should directly contribute to meeting customer needs (Yusuf et al., 2007).

Factor 9: Quality Information and Performance Measurement

An organization must embrace strong acceptance and maintenance of total
quality measurement and information. Measurement is necessary to conduct
against series of key results indicators. Therefore, an organization should
always analyze the feedback (quality information) which helps to improve
the product or service quality on a continuous basis. An organization should
measure the results from customer surveys. This will assist the quality managers in knowing the market and in understanding the customers needs and
desires (Tsang & Antony, 2001).
Measurement techniques should include monitoring supplier quality
levels, utilizing statistical process control (SPC) to reduce process variability,
and estimate the cost of quality (Ahire, Golhar, & Waller, 1996; Powell, 1995;
Motwani, 2001) while feedback techniques include market surveys, surveys
of new customers, feedback from users of the services, personal contacts,
e-mail responses, and the use of feedback forms.

CONCLUSIONS AND SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Based on the extensive survey and synthesis of TQM literature, this study
offers nine CSFs from more than 50 quality management practices supporting

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375

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performance measures of TQM in service organizations as depicted in

Table 1. While it is certainly true that other sets of factors could be developed
or defined in the future, this set appears to capture most of the important
aspects of effective TQM implementation and overall benefits as recommended by todays leading researchers and practitioners. Based on these
nine critical factors, a model was proposed for service organizations TQM
implementation as presented in Figure 1.
The ranking of critical success factors in order of their importance are in
the following manner:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Top-management commitment.
Customer focus.
Training and education.
Continuous improvement and innovation.
Supplier management.
Employee involvement.
Employee encouragement.
Benchmarking.
Quality information and performance.

The criteria for ranking these nine CSFs was based upon the frequency of
their use by researchers and practitioners, as well as their captive importance in
the TQM program which was analyzed through an extensive literature survey.
As for as the implementation of this model, the present study recommends systematic and step-wise implementation of these CSFs as per the ranking order
achieve full benefits of the TQM implementation program and organizational
performance, including improvement in quality and productivity, proper scheduling and delivery, improvement in employee relations, customer satisfaction
and performance, and financial performance of the organization. The study
further recommends the set of nine CSFs as the guidelines in the implementation
of the TQM project successfully in service industries. Managers can use this
model as a guideline for effective implementation of TQM in their organizations
with a proposed outcome as that which has been found in this study. They may
use as a starting point to determine the performance within the organization and
monitor company-wide improvement in TQM program. The managers of the
organization can tailor their own approach and can use their specific strengths
and weaknesses by comparing them with the proposed model.
Undoubtedly, more research is needed to test further the emerged CSFs.
Therefore, the research could be expanded to other sectors like nonprofit
organizations, NGOs, private sectors, and many more in order to identify
whether the same conclusions could be reached. Finally, new research could
focus on the employees instead of the managers, in order to test if the same
outcomes will emerge. The development and use of such CSFs could contribute to a better understanding of TQM for both practitioners and academics.

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