Evaluating the Relationship and Influence of Critical Success Factors of TQM on Business Performance : Evidence from SMEs of Manufacturing Sector

Global competition has undeniably helped organizations to improve quality integrated with all facets of products and services under their management system. Hence, Total Quality Management (TQM) has been recognized by various researchers as an imperative key to enhance business performance, augment customer satisfaction, and ensure quality and competitive advantage, especially in manufacturing sector. TQM practices have been principally studied in organizations of larger size, but little has been investigated in relation to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), as they present inimitable challenges to quality management due to their diverse features. The Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of TQM can be portrayed as finest approaches applied in all key activities of firms. The purpose of the current empirical study is to investigate the possible linkages between TQM practices and the performance of a variety of SMEs from manufacturing sector located in tricity. The results of the study reveal significant positive relationship between elements of total quality management and business performance, and thus support the model proposed