Determinants of Successful Implementation of Quality Management Systems in Local Government Administration in Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

Quality management has taken root in the Malaysian public sector in the mid 1990s. Likewise local authorities in Sarawak begin to embark on implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) and MS ISO 9000. In relation to this, a study was carried out on the implementation of TQM and MS ISO 9000 at four local authorities in Sarawak, namely Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara (DBKU), Padawan Municipal Council (PMC), Serian District Council (SDC) and Bau District Council (BDC), to determine the factors which influence the success of implementing quality management in the local authorities. The convenience sampling techniques was used to collect data from the respondents. There were 240 employees or internal customers from all the local authorities who were directly involved with the implementation of quality management programmes responded to the self-administered questionnaires. They were asked to relate their experiences on factors which contribute to the successful implementation of quality management programmes at the local authorities. The findings of the study showed that all four local authorities had successfully implemented quality management and practiced the essential elements such as top management support, strategic quality planning, customer focus, teamwork and quality assurance. The benefits derived from the implementation of quality management include providing better service quality to the external customers, better teamwork, increased efficiency, job satisfaction, and maintaining a better organizational culture. The study shows that the successful implementation of quality management in the four local authorities are strongly related to factors such as top management support, strategic quality planning, customer driven, teamwork, training and recognition, good performance appraisal and quality assurance.