Quality Practices of Indian Organizations : An Empirical Analysis

Identifies critical factors that must be practised to achieve effective quality management in an organization based on the synthesis of literature on quality concepts. A framework to be used by organizations to evaluate their quality practices was developed. A field study was conducted to identify the degree to which quality management is being practised in Indian manufacturing organizations and to locate the organizational areas where better management control can make the quality programme more effective. Finds that all requirements for effective quality management can be classified into the following nine major critical factors: top management; quality policies; role of the quality department; training; product design; vendor quality management; process design; quality data; and feedback and employee relations. Seventy‐three organizations with more than 500 employees and a total sales volume of over 251 million rupees participated in the study. Concludes that all nine factors need not be present to ensure the success of a total quality programme.