Impact of Total Quality Management (TQM) on Organisational Performance

ABSTRACT

Most of the companies in Nigeria take the issue of total quality management (TQM) with levity. As a result, they produce substandard or inferior products compare to their foreign counterparts. This study investigated the impact of total quality management  on organisational performance vis-à-vis service quality, quality assurance, and product quality.  The study adopted descriptive research design. The population of this study was made up of staff of Flour Mills Nigeria Plc located in Apapa, Lagos State.  Chi Square X2 of the Non-parametric test statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 20.) was employed to test the hypotheses in order to ascertain the extend of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables in each hypothesis. A total number of 320 copies of questionnaire copies were administered to respondents during the study; while 287 were properly filled and returned for the analysis. Among other things the result of the study revealed that service quality is a significant predictor of organisational profitability in Nigeria; quality assurance has a significant impact on customers’ satisfaction; and that product quality is a significant predictor of consumers’ patronage. The study recommended that Flour Mills Nigeria Plc should continue to be quality conscious. Continuous improvement is an important factor in TQM. The company should give this more attention in regards to the value of its implementation.


1.1   Background to the Study


1.2    Statement of the Problem

Business customers in the 21st are today very knowledgeable and are better aware of product and service quality, they can easily draw comparison on quality attributes among competing products. Hence, business  customers are becoming not only focused on products being offered by producers but the accompanying quality and utility they stand to gain for using a commodity.

Many organistions whether in the manufacturing, processing and service industries in Nigeria have died a natural death owing to poor quality products being offered to consumers. Undermining of the product quality affects the standard, organization repute, quality control and patronage. The implication is that over the years organizations in Nigeria have witnessed different negative impacts because of substandard products or adulteration.

Moreover, if products are not of the required specifications, this could make the products un-competitive both at national and international markets, money spent in the production may not be recovered or waste of resources and returns on investments will fall drastically. Often, lives are lost as a result of the consumption of products produced below specifications or sub-standard (Shulammite and Addah, 2016). Also inferior products affect the customer health and satisfaction. The organizations corporate image and profitability are also affected negatively, due to non adherence to total quality management principles (Shulammite and Addah, 2016).

Despite the fact that many Nigerian firms began to adopt TQM principles in the last two decades, the literature on TQM practices and its impact on organistional performance in Nigeria is still very limited (Dudu and Agwu, 2014). Thus, creating the gap and identifying the need for further study. Therefore, this motivates the researcher to investigate the impact of total quality management on organisational performance with a particular reference to Flour Mills Nig Plc.

1.3    Objectives of the Study

The major aim of this research is to investigate the impact of total quality management on organisational performance. While the specific objectives include the following:

     i.        To examine the impact of service quality on organisational profitability in Nigeria.

   ii.        To investigate the impact of quality assurance on customers’ satisfaction.

  iii.        To assess the influence of product quality on consumers patronage.

1.4   Research Questions

The following are the research questions generated for this study;

1.   What is the impact of service quality on organisational profitability in Nigeria?

2.   What is the impact of quality assurance on customers’ satisfaction?

3.   What is the influence of product quality on consumers patronage?

1.5    Research Hypotheses

The researcher intends to test the following hypotheses: