Quality Improvement Practices and Business Performance Among Commercial State Corporations in the Ministry of Health, Kenya

Abstract

The increasing pressure towards quality improvement practices and the organizations desire to achieve business excellence, high performance, or to become a world-class organization drives them to adopt quality improvement initiatives. The Quality Improvement mindset has compelled managers to continuously improve their operations and look for best practices to adopt. The Kenyan economy is now facing significant challenges as the forces of globalization create intense competitive pressures in businesses. Commercial State Corporations are now under pressure to formulate strategies for competing successfully in a more liberalized trading environment with new players and rivals. Consequently, commercial state corporations are required to place the goal of profitability above other factors. This study sought to examine quality improvement practices and business performance among commercial state corporations in the Ministry of Health, Kenya. The study concluded that Total Quality Management (TQM) and ISO series is the most common quality improvement programme used in the respondents’ organisation to improve business performance respectively. The study concluded that the degree of commitment and support that management takes in implementing a total quality environment is critical to the success of quality improvement practices implementation. The study also concluded that from quality improvement practices point of view, strategy consists of understanding what customers want and aligning the organization with plans to deliver it to them. The study finally concluded that customer service and satisfaction are at the core of the institution and the main focus of quality improvement practices. The recommendations reached for this study, are that the central feature of quality improvement practices that needs to be emphasized is the idea of organizational culture being grafted onto management theory and practice. It needs to be emphasized that the management of processes establishes systems to pursue high levels of quality and operational performance.