Assessing the synergy status of TQM and SCM initiatives in terms of business performance of the medium and large scale Indian manufacturing industry

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an insight into the prevalent quality and supply chain practices adopted in the contemporary Indian manufacturing industry, and compare business performance measurements between transfusion of total quality management (TQM)–supply chain management (SCM) companies and only SCM implementing companies. Design/methodology/approach: To meet the goals of this work, i.e., to ascertain contributions made by TQM–SCM practices, a reasonably large number of Indian manufacturing organizations have been extensively surveyed, through a specially designed TQM–SCM questionnaire. And the design of TQM–SCM questionnaire has been finalized through extensive literature review. Finalized TQM–SCM questionnaire was sent to around 720 industries that are implementing TQM and SCM with other related lean manufacturing practices. Findings: The leading Indian manufacturing organizations have taken proactive initiatives to effectively improve the manufacturing by transfusing various lean manufacturing philosophies like TQM, SCM, TPM, 5S, Six Sigma, etc., for realizing enhanced manufacturing performance. The study reveals that Indian entrepreneurs have been reasonably successful in improving the business performances in the organizations by implementing combination of TQM and SCM, as TQM support to SCM is much effective and this improvement initiative has significantly contributed toward enhancing the overall manufacturing performance. Practical implications: Synergy of TQM and SCM in the context of Indian manufacturing industry has been proved beneficial in terms of competitive image as well as business performance. Therefore, the whole Indian manufacturing entrepreneurs must continue to make an earnest effort in their endeavour to realize enhanced competitiveness through synergizing different business improvement initiatives. A major implication is that only SCM implementing companies should develop their supply chain through synergy of TQM–SCM after analyzing the business environment and their future plans. Originality/value: Much of the attention has been given to TQM practices and SCM practices, and very few studies have been undertaken to integrate TQM and SCM practices. But as far as the authors know till now there is no study undertaken to analyze synergy status of TQM and SCM and then comparing with only SCM implementing companies in India for medium- and large-scale manufacturing class. Therefore, this study compares the transfusion of TQM–SCM with only SCM companies and can be, thus, treated as filling a gap in the extant literature. Therefore, the findings of this research paper will contribute to future research.