Investigating the role of CSF’s for successful implementation of quality management practices in MSMEs

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to develop and propose a structural framework which may help in successful implementation of quality management (QM) practices in micro, small and medium enterprises. Extent review of literature on QM and quality performance in chronological order is carried out to accomplish the objective of this study. A total of 20 critical success factors (CSF) has been identified and a structural framework has been proposed. Further, to support the framework various hypotheses have been formulated and tested. The survey questionnaire was designed and responses from about 215 ISO certified companies have been used for empirical analyses. The data was analyzed using cross-tabulations and Chi square (χ2) test was used to test the stated hypotheses. Further, bivariate Pearson’s (r) coefficient was used to quantify the impact of relationship among CSF’s and QM practices. From the results, the value of χ2 coefficient was found between (121.01 < χ 2 > 267.28), which is statistically significant at (p < 0.001), suggesting that QM practice are not independent of CSF’s. Overall, all identified CSF’s were found statistically positive associated with regards to successful implementation of QM practices and their impact of association were found high as (0.588 < r < 0.828, p < 0.01). Moreover, the top management commitment was perceived as dominant factor for successful implementation of QM practices with higher correlation (r = 0.828, p < 0.01), followed by leadership quality with r = 0.822.