TQM critical factors and KM value chain activities

Abstract

Just as Total Quality Management (TQM) enjoyed great popularity during the 1980s, Knowledge Management (KM) has attracted great attention in today's business and academic community. Companies are viewing KM as a critical success factor in today's dynamic environment; consequently, knowledge managers and knowledge creation teams are created in many organizations. The idea that both TQM and KM have great influence on a firm's strategic competence has also drawn attention. However, most of the related research lacks empirical evidence on the association between TQQ and KM activities. The major purpose of this study is to explore empirically the relationships between TQM and KM. We adopted the case study research method of the qualitative research to generate themes, and the quantitative research method to refine and support the validity of the findings from qualitative research. Research results include: (1) we survey the TQM and the KM implementation in the manufacturing companies; (2) identify the role of TQM critical factors on KM value chain activities; (3) determine the importance of KM value chain activities to TQM critical factors; (4) confirm the complementary nature of TQM and KM; and (5) recommend practical applications of TQM and KM.