Influence of total quality management principles on organizations’ competitiveness: a case of selected construction firms in Mombasa county, Kenya

Abstract

The globalization trend is influencing how organizations set plans and operate to achieve their objectives. One way of realizing these objectives is incorporating Total Quality Management (TQM) principles into the company’s vision in order to continuously improve operations, customer relations, and the overall organization’s competitiveness. The aim of this research was to establish the influence of Total Quality Management principles on Construction Firms in Mombasa County. The principles considered in the study were: Management Commitment, Customer Focus, Continuous Improvement, and Employee Empowerment. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of these principles on competitiveness of firms. The research adopted a descriptive research design. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires that were distributed to 25 construction firms in the County. Out of the 25 firms sampled, 20 returned dully filled questionnaires. The data was analysed using mean and standard deviation and presented in form of tables. A regression equation was then formulated to show the relationship. The findings gave a positive relationship between TQM and organization’s competitiveness. It was found that if TQM is implemented properly, it produces a variety of benefits such as meeting customer needs, improved internal communication, better problem solving capacity and improved competitiveness of the firm. This research recommends that in order to get the full potential of TQM, all the stakeholders involved must be trained on TQM to create awareness, interest, desire and action. Thus, top management attention might be fruitfully focused on the development of appropriate training programs on TQM adoption and implementation. Firms should also consider suppliers as business partners and for successful realization of TQM benefits; they need to be brought on board. One limitation of the study was that some of the respondents feared to provide information fearing that it could be used to their disadvantage.