Critical linkages among TQM factors and business results

Purpose – To empirically investigate the relationships among critical TQM factors and business results. Design/methodology/approach – Twenty‐three hypotheses regarding the relationships among TQM factors and business results have been developed through literature review and tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study utilized survey data obtained from US manufacturing companies. Findings – Provides information about the results of each hypothesis, their implications, and how these findings compare to previous studies. Pays special attention to the relationships between TQM factors and business results and discusses findings in this area by offering insights from 22 previous studies that analyzed TQM‐performance relationships. Research limitations/implications – Researchers could use the results of this study to explore various related hypotheses in more detail and improve the accuracy of future empirical quality management studies. The study makes specific recommendations for such future studies. There were also some research limitations. For instance, the data were obtained through mail survey and relied on the perceptions of the respondents. Practical implications – The results of this study can be used by managers to prioritize the implementation of TQM practices. For instance, those practices that are found to have a positive impact on business results can be recommended to managers so that they can allocate resources to improve these practices to get the best results. Originality/value – This study conducts a comprehensive review of the literature to develop factors of critical TQM practices and business results, and unlike most previous studies, it uses multiple, distinct indicators for each factor to test an elaborate SEM model of the relationships among these factors.