Achieving quality in printing: some determining factors in the printing industry in Ghana

Purpose – Implementing quality programmes faces challenges and are not able to yield the needed results. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which three key variables referred to as employee development, empowerment and participation (EDEP) determine the success of a quality programme of printing firms in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – The study is purely quantitative and data were collected from a cross-sectional survey of workers from printing firms in Ghana. The questionnaire instrument assesses the practices of the firms on development, empowerment and participation of employees. Descriptive, correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed to ascertain the contribution and relationship of the variables to quality achievement. Findings – EDEP is directly and significantly related to print quality achievement. Among the three variables, participation has the greatest effect and contributes significantly to quality achievement. This is followed by empowerment, which has moderate effect on successful quality programme. Research limitations/implications – The study was unable to evaluate entire Total Quality Management dimensions. More extended research, preferably longitudinal study, is needed to establish how EDEP affect quality achievement in organisations. Practical implications – Achieving quality printing depends on the level of attention to EDEP. The study suggests that when employees participate fully in quality drive and self-manage their actions and duties, high-quality printing can be assured. Social implications – The study provides useful information on factors that have been overlooked or given less attention, yet affect quality programmes of the firms. Originality/value – The study empirically measure critical success factors of a quality in the printing firms.