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Total quality management in small and medium enterprises: An overview in

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DOI: 10.1080/10686967.2020.1767008

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Total quality management in small and medium

enterprises: An overview in Indian context

Lalit K. Toke & Shyamkumar D. Kalpande

To cite this article: Lalit K. Toke & Shyamkumar D. Kalpande (2020) Total quality management in
small and medium enterprises: An overview in Indian context, Quality Management Journal, 27:3,
159-175, DOI: 10.1080/10686967.2020.1767008

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QUALITY MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
2020, VOL. 27, NO. 3, 159–175
https://doi.org/10.1080/10686967.2020.1767008

REVIEW ARTICLE

Total quality management in small and medium enterprises: An overview

in Indian context
Lalit K. Tokea and Shyamkumar D. Kalpandeb
a
Mechanical Engineering Department, Sandip Institute of Engineering and Management, Nashik, Maharashtra, India; bMechanical
Engineering Department, Guru Gobind Singh College of Engineering and Research Center, Nashik, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The purpose of this paper is to carry out the study on Total quality Management (TQM) in Received 21 November 2019
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and understand the key issues involved in the imple- Revised 23 January 2020
mentation of TQM in Indian context. The aim of paper is to identify the critical success fac- Accepted 23 January 2020
tors (CSF) through quality award model for effective implementation of TQM. Study found
KEYWORDS
that very few TQM implementation model are developed for SMEs and no large scale empir- Critical Success Factors for
ical research has been systematically conducted dealing with TQM implementation in Indian TQM; Indian SMEs; Quality
manufacturing SMEs. It is found that the investigation for to bridge this gap is truly needed awards models; TQM and
by developing the TQM model especially for SMEs. The limitations identified for this paper ISO; Total quality
are (First) this study was limited only to SMEs of the manufacturing industries in Indian con- management (TQM)
text. This cross sectional study was based on the quality award model and suitable to
achieve the expected quality level of an organization for continuous improvement. This
paper can increase the awareness of the significance of TQM strategy, which could help
managers of SMEs to have a better understanding of the benefits of implementing TQM
and therefore enable patient satisfaction within their organizations.

Introduction some similarities can be found. Worldwide, there are

several quality awards such as the Deming Prize (DP),
TQM
European Quality Award (EQA), Malcolm Baldrige
Total quality management (TQM) is an approach to National Quality Award (MBNQA), Rajiv Gandhi
improve the effectiveness and flexibilities of business National Quality Award (RGNQA). Each award model
as a whole. It is essentially a way of organizing and is based on a perceived model of TQM. However,
involving the whole organization, all departments, these award models are different from each other and
each activity and every single person at every level. each has its own characteristics. In the field of TQM
TQM ensures that the management adopts a strategic implementation lot of research has already been con-
overview of the quality and focuses on prevention ducted, different researchers adopting different defini-
rather than inspection and has a vital driver for con- tions of TQM. The concept is still a subject of debate
tinuous improvement in an organization for improv- (Easton and Jarrell 1998), still a hazy and ambiguous
ing their performance (Md Fauzi Ahmad et al., 2016). concept (Dean and Bowen 1994). So far, TQM has
Over the past few decades, quality gurus such as come to mean different things to different people
Deming (1986), Juran and Gryna (1988), Crosby (Aburayya et al. 2019).
(1980), Feigenbaum (1991), and Ishikawa (1985), the A TQM system makes it possible for corporations
primary authorities of TQM, have developed certain to combine all their quality systems into a single,
propositions in the field of TQM, which have gained unified strategy, which can lead to benefits that cor-
significant acceptance throughout the world. Their respond with both profitability and regulatory compli-
insights provide a good understanding of the TQM ance. In order to get the most of it, the whole
philosophy, principles, and practices. After careful organization must fully accept the basic guidelines
study of their work, it was found that these quality of quality and the way they apply to each and
gurus have different views about TQM, although every individual.

CONTACT Lalit K. Toke [email protected] Mechanical Engineering Department, Sandip Institute of Engineering and Management,
Mahiravani, Trimbak Road, Nashik 422213, Maharashtra, India.
ß 2020 American Society for Quality
160 L. K. TOKE AND S. D. KALPANDE

A TQM system ought to incorporate various tools shown that the adoption of TQM practices can allow
which can help corporations sustain their standards of firms to compete globally (Hendricks and Singhal
quality and compliance with any industry regulations. 1996; Baidoun, Mohammed, and Omran 2018).
When all these tools are brought together in a single Several researchers also reported that TQM imple-
solution, it can be very simple for a company to mentation has led to improvements in quality, prod-
enhance productivity and harmonize the relationship uctivity, and competitiveness in only 20% to 30% of
between productivity and quality. the firms that have implemented it (Yusof and
The importance of TQM lies in the fact that it Aspinwall 2000; Umesh and Kumar 2000; Sahoo and
encourages innovation, makes the organization adapt- Yadav 2018). The TQM literature study indicated that
able to change, motivates people for better quality, 90% improvement rate in employee relations, operat-
and integrates the business arising out of a common ing procedures, customer satisfaction, and financial
purpose and all these provide the organization with a performance is achieved due to TQM implementation
valuable and distinct competitive edge (Kalpande, (Ghobadian and Gallear, 1996; Majumdar and
Gupta, and Dandekar 2013). Manohar 2016,). However, Burrows (1992) reported
95% failure rate for initiated TQM implementation
programs, however TQM implementation has uncer-
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
tain or even negative effects on performance. Few
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the TQM study indicated that achieving high product
engine of the nation’s economy. They are an essential quality and pursuing successful TQM implementation
source of jobs, create entrepreneurial spirit and innov- are highly dependent on top management support.
ation in the country and are thus crucial for fostering However, Motwani, Mahmoud, and Rice (1994)
competitiveness and employment. reported that there is no association between top
SMEs play an important role in developing any management support for quality and the level of prod-
particular sector, economy of any country, alleviating uct quality achieved. Many researchers suggested that
poverty, and increasing employment. Within the last effective product design can lead to the improvement
few years many developed and developing countries of product quality (e.g., Juran and Gryna 1988, Cao,
have realized the importance of this sector. Fast deci- Clarke, and Lehaney 2000, Reed, Lemak, and Mero
sion making due to less staff and more control of an 2000); whereas Motwani, Mahmoud, and Rice (1994)
entrepreneur, availability of raw material at your door reported that there is no relationship between system-
step, as many SME’s have been started in the area atic product design and the level of product achieved.
where availability of raw material is not a hindrance, Thus, conflicting research findings have been reported
innovative products which cater to the needs of a par- surrounding the effects of TQM implementation on
ticular region and its vicinity, are certain key factors overall business performance (Al-Dhaafri, Al-Swidi,
making SME’s significant. Furthermore, economic fac- and Yusoff 2016).
tors which constitutes to the development of the sec- These seemingly conflicting results were also found
tors are, addition of output of goods and services to in Indian manufacturing firms. TQM has been intro-
economy, low capital cost for establishment, reduction duced in India in 1980s. In order to encourage firms
in income disparities, and admirable propagation in implementing TQM, great efforts have been made
ground for entrepreneurial talent. by Indian government. However, the effectiveness of
Notwithstanding the fact that government of devel- the deployment of TQM in Indian SMEs is still puz-
oped and developing countries have taken various ini- zling. According to Lakhe and Mohanty (1994), and
tiatives, and, on regular intervals have provided Deshmukh and Lakhe (2010), central India still lacks
support, however, still a lot needs to be done. effective TQM systems and application at the firm
level. Some basic quality principles and modern qual-
ity management methods have not been widely used
TQM implementation effects
by central India’s manufacturing SMEs.
TQM has been widely implemented throughout the The existing literature shows that very few TQM
world. Many firms have arrived at the conclusion that implementation model are developed for SMEs and no
effective TQM implementation can improve their large scale empirical research has been systematically
competitive abilities and provide strategic advantages conducted dealing with TQM implementation in Indian
in the marketplace (Lewis, Pun, and Lalla 2005, Yusuf, manufacturing SMEs. In order to bridge this gap, an
Gunasekaran, and Dan 2007). Several studies have investigation into the successful implementation of
 QUALITY MANAGEMENT JOURNAL 161

TQM in Indian manufacturing SMEs is truly needed.
This sector gives quick returns and has a shorter
Such a study can explore the degree of the impact of gestation period;
TQM implementation on overall business performance
These units helps to maintain/ retain traditional
in firms and help in identifying problem areas and pos- skills and handicrafts;
sible remedies.
These units assist large industries by acting as
ancillaries.

Parent discipline There is also a growing worldwide appreciation of

These form the basis for literature review of the the fact that the SMEs play a catalytic role in develop-
immediate discipline wherein the focus is on the ment process of most of the economies. This position
interaction between different aspects of TQM. gets reflected in the form of increasing number, rising
Different immediate disciplines have been taken up as proportion in overall product manufacturing, export
they naturally emerge during discussion. That is, the and manpower employment by these units. This
immediate disciplines have not been taken based on makes them the backbone of industrial economy in a
any given a-priori set or point of view. Thus the fla- developing nation like India.
vor of the discussion is rather eclectic. Each major
theme is also reviewed in Indian context so that the Performance and importance of Indian SMEs
focus remains on the implementation of TQM in
The SMEs sector is a green field for nurturing of
Indian SMEs.
entrepreneurial talents and helping the units to grow
in size. In developing countries like India, small-scale
Parent discipline: Entrepreneurial synergy of SMEs industry is the potent way by which maximum
employment can be generated with comparatively low
The challenges and opportunities of economic liberal- investment. It is also helpful in removal of regional
ization and global market have shaken the economies imbalance in industrial development. The perform-
of developing countries like India where industrial ance of SSI sector in terms of critical parameters such
growth often gets retarded because of higher popula- as number of units, production, employment gener-
tion growth, declining GDP, growing inflation, illiter- ation and export is significant. In India, SMEs play a
acy and unemployment. In today’s dynamically vital role for the growth of Indian economy by contri-
changing society there is an urgent need to create an buting 45% of the industrial output, 40% of exports,
environment of entrepreneurship to effectively counter 42 million in employment, create one million jobs
these socioeconomic ills (Baidoun, Mohammed, and every year and produces more than 8000 quality prod-
Omran 2018). Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process ucts for Indian and international markets. As a result,
of vision, change and creation. Vision is to recognize MSMEs are today exposed to greater opportunities for
the opportunity where others see chaos, contradiction expansion and diversification across the sectors
and confusion. Change and creation involve applica- (http://www.smechamberofindia.com).
tion of energy and passion toward creating and imple- In the growing economic disparity, Indian SMEs
menting new ideas and creating solutions (Kuratko will have to play a far more significant role in the
2005, Saumyaranjan Sahoo and Sudhir Yadav, 2018). future, both in terms of employment generation as
An extensive array of research in the past decade has well as contribution to India’s overall GDP and
shown that the entrepreneurial movement led by the exports. If India takes a holistic and pragmatic
small units has contributed significantly to the eco- approach to creating new enterprises, while support-
nomic growth of any nation ing the growth of the existing SME base, India is
These enterprises serve as the seedbed of entrepre- aspiring to grow its economy by 9 % or more over
neurship due to following features: the next decade (Jyoti, Kour, and Sharma 2017). To
achieve this level of overall GDP growth, assuming a

They create more employment opportunities with steady growth of 2.5 % and 8 % in the agriculture and
comparatively low capital investment; services/manufacturing sectors respectively, the SME

SMEs units are generally local resources/ sector (both existing and new enterprises) would need
demand based; to quadruple its GDP contribution from the current

They can be located anywhere more easily, resulting in level of USD 200 billion. This would mean that both
horizontal growth and removal of regional imbalance; existing and newly created enterprises could
162 L. K. TOKE AND S. D. KALPANDE

Figure 1. SMEs contribution to projected GDP growth in next 10 year.

Source: Tanuku (2010)

contribute as much as 28 % of India’s GDP by the framed from time to time. The basic accent of Indian
year 2020, when the overall economy is expected to policy for small scale sector had been defensive, aim-
reach USD 2.8 trillion from the current base of USD ing to protect this sector from the dynamics of the
1.2 trillion in FY 20018-19 (Ministry of MSMEs, Gov. competitive growth. The changing economic and lib-
of India, 2016). India can achieve its socio-economic eralized scenario has removed this protection. The
objectives by focusing on gainful employment for mil- new environment for small-scale industries consists of
lions of educated youth and by helping millions of changes emerging from the ongoing process of eco-
others transition from an overburdened agricultural nomic reforms conforming to the World Trade
sector to the small-scale manufacturing and service Organization (WTO) agreement and to the fast chang-
sectors in the next decade (Toke and Kalpande 2018). ing economic, technological and information environ-
A strategic and holistic approach of encouraging entre- ment. In this process, according to Vasundhara (2000),
preneurship can tap into India’s entrepreneurial gene and the liberalized policy has posed certain challenges and
redirect a few million of the job seekers into jobs creators. provided opportunities to the SMEs. The challenges are
Nationwide entrepreneurship development with the
in the form of increased competition; reduced protec-
appropriate scale, scope and relevance can catapult India
tion due to lowering of tariffs and market determined
into the higher orbits of socio-economic prosperity
rates of interest. On the other hand opportunities have
(Tanuku 2010). Figure 1 shows the SMEs contribution to
come in the form of access to better technology, avail-
projected GDP growth in the next ten year and may con-
ability of raw material and components, impetus to
tribute up to 30% in total GDP growth.
quality, efficiency and opportunity to restructure and
diversify. Further the challenges and opportunities to
Challenges and opportunities of SMEs SMEs can also be expressed as:
Contemporary transformation of the business environ-
ment due to liberalization, privatization and globaliza- Opportunities
tion has increased competitive pressure on the SMEs
Owner is entrepreneur, combines managerial as
in India. SMEs are facing an entirely new paradigm of well as technical aspects; Management of change is
competitive threats like major shift in product and very easy;
process technology; changes in preference from cus-
Technology transfer is very easy;
tomer segment; increased customer awareness etc.
The organization is extremely flexible;
Under the changed circumstances, ability to generate
It provides a vital support for large scale industries;
and utilize knowledge is the only way to sustain one
It can acts as a catalyst in regional development by
self. Technological innovation is a key to survival and removing the industrial imbalance.
growth for small enterprises in India and so technical
entrepreneurship plays a pivotal role in the process of Challenges
industrialization (Hu et al. 2015). The Government of
Increased competition (both domestic and inter-
India (GOI) ever since independence has consistently national) in most of the spheres of manufacturing
encouraged this sector as is evident from the policies activities including those in rural area;
 QUALITY MANAGEMENT JOURNAL 163

Figure 2. R and D Intensity of Indian Manufacturing Firms, 1991-2008 (in %).

Source: Pradhan (2010)

Increased penetration of branded consumer prod- competitive resources like new technologies to com-
uct from large scale industries; pete with large national firms, foreign firms and cheap

Deep penetration of media increased awareness of imports. Rapidly changing consumer preferences,
consumers leading to: quality consciousness; pref- shorter product life cycle and growing quality con-
erence for branded products; wider choice of sciousness clearly call for SMEs to upgrade their
brand/product and services to satisfy similar needs; technological assets.

Limited scope for quality price trade off; Technology has come to be a critical strategy for

Increased purchasing power among the rural popu- national firms’ growth and survival in the last two
lace/masses. decades of liberalization process. The period since
Study reports (Vidya and Shashidhar 2005), shows early 1990s is a crucial phase of competitive restruc-
that in India numbers of SMEs are increasing every turing in Indian domestic market place with large
year. In spite of this, it is also observed that many scale entry and expansion of foreign firms, inflow of
SMEs are sick and some are close down. It is felt that, cheap imports and emergence of product patent
the main problem of those SMEs was the low quality regime. These changes in policy framework throw
of their product and rise in competition in the mar- critical challenges to domestic SMEs to upgrade their
ket. To overcome this situation, SMEs need to adopt a technological and skill capability urgently. R and D is
policy of meeting needs of customer through continu- being the main driver of enhancing competitiveness.
ous improvements. It is expected that the policy and The trends of R and D intensity of Indian manufac-
practice of TQM would help in achieving this. turing firms across different sizes have been presented
in Figure 2.
From graph given in Figure 2, it is apparent that
Overall trend of research and development (R and
Indian manufacturing firms has very low incident of
D) performance in SMEs
incurring in-house R and D and the intensity of such
It is no longer feasible for SMEs in emerging econo- activities is very weak. For instance, average percent
mies like India to take refuge in policy protection as of R and D expenses on large firms was about 38 per-
current economic openness policies saw the removal cent during year 1991–2008. This share slides to 16.17
of special treatment to SMEs in industrial policies like per cent and 8.46 per cent for medium firms and
exemption from price controls, product reservation, small firms respectively. In small firms the R and D
preference in government procurement, etc. They can performance has very poor and large number of small
use the competitive strategy of reverse engineering firms not doing R and D, the overall intensity of all
and innovative cost-effective processes to survive small firms is very small at 0.1 per cent. As compared
under the new technology policy regime. Therefore to small firms, medium firms have relatively better
SMEs are required to develop or acquire necessary incidence of undertaking in-house R and D. R and D
164 L. K. TOKE AND S. D. KALPANDE

intensity of medium firms as continued to be below increased number of error free process that delivered
0.2 per cent in the overall period and it has gradually products and services fit for use, on time, with com-
declined. In contrast, large firms’ R and D intensity petitive pricing and good value. When properly car-
has generally been increased over 1991–2008. ried out, TQM was seen to integrate well into all
As a corollary from graph shown in Figure 2, aspect of the corporate identify.
SMEs substantially lagged behind large firms in terms TQM works better in the manufacturing sector
of allocating resources for R and D relative to sales, than in service sector (Boyne and Walker 2002). The
nevertheless R and D doing SMEs are way ahead in R implementation of TQM has not been an easy task for
and D intensity than R and D doing large firms. many organizations (Yusof and Aspinwall 2000).
The discouraging R and D performance of SMEs in According to Umesh and Kumar (2000) the success
the last two decade underscore an uneven techno- rate of TQM implementation has been around 25% to
logical development that is taking place across firm 30%, while Tata and Prasad (1998) have reported that
size within Indian manufacturing sector. While large about half of organizations have experienced improve-
firms are increasing their R and D involvement over ments through TQM. It has been said that the TQM
years, SMEs remain the most vulnerable section of model provides a self-assessment protocol outlining
enterprise with least probability of incurring R and D. the criteria for business excellence, but without solid
guidance on ‘how’ to achieve it (Chan et al. 2008).
The Tata and Prasad (1998) also suggested that TQM
Immediate Discipline-TQM as a philosophy
implementation is influenced by the cultural and
of change
structural variables and insufficient attention on these
As the quality of life improves, the demand for variables influenced failure of TQM implementation.
improved quality of products and services also In view of this criticism and given the multi attri-
increases. ‘Customer is the King’ is true today than it bute characteristics of TQM as emphasized by the
was ever before. Buyers all over the world, required to founding fathers of TQM and a question arises that
be assured and satisfy that the product or the service what are the different parameters or organizational
for which they are paying will meet their specifica- attributes which are required for an effective imple-
tions and will perform as intended, or as ordered. mentation of TQM as it is understood today.
From the review of the literature it appears that there Three approaches have been used by different
is no universally recognized definition of TQM. There researchers to answer this question. The approaches are:
is little arrangement as to whether TQM should be
described in terms of its ultimate goals or by the i. TQM from a systems perspective
optional elements that need to be addressed to achieve ii. Understanding the CSF of TQM
these goals. Different researchers have defined quality iii. TQM as understood from different quality
and TQM differently. award models.
TQM emerged as a solution to this need and has
been adopted enthusiastically by many successful
TQM- a systems perspective
world class businesses TQM differs from traditional
quality improvements philosophies and process in that Industries have used many approaches in implement-
it is a company-wide initiative involving everyone in ing TQM. One starting point, which has gained good
the organization. Typically, TQM’s scope covers all acceptance as a normative benchmark is the quality
the functions within an organization from design, pro- system route. A comprehensive quality system would
duction, sales, marketing, and service. In brief, TQM normally encompass quality in all function such as
represents a new management paradigm that suits marketing, design, purchase, manufacturing, assembly,
the fast changing economic trade and investment testing, packing, shipping, installation, commissioning,
environment. after sales service and all other activities of an organ-
TQM combines culture-changing approach with ization. Numerous surveys reveal that a properly
structured techniques, whose focus is on satisfying the established quality system can help to reduce cost,
needs of internal customers and hence external cus- improve the quality of products, establish confidence
tomers. Numerous report of successful TQM imple- and create a good image in the minds of the customer
mentation in a variety of organizations has appeared and the public (Wiele and Brown, 1997).
in management literature (Youssef, Boyd, and The first approach to the understanding of TQM is
Williams 1996). Essentially, the reports highlight the from a systems perspective. System thinking developed
 QUALITY MANAGEMENT JOURNAL 165

Table 1. Definition of Variable for Enablers and Results.

Variables Definition Reference
Enablers
Leadership Senior managers who provide clear vision and values that promote total Crosby, 1984;
quality. It is the most important enabler for driving a TQM culture. Deming 1986
Strategic planning Business strategies incorporate long-term and short term goals based on Ishikawa, 1985
customer and market expectations.
Information management Effective information and communication systems for continuous improvement Ishikawa, 1985
of all work.
Human resource focus Maximize opportunities for all employees to realize their full potential. Juran and Gryna (1988)
Customer and market focus Customer (internal and external) relationships must be managed to secure clear ISO 9000 -2000
understanding of requirements.
Supplier focus Suppliers are treated as partners in the process of improvement. ISO 9000-2000
Process management Systems approach to quality control of all operations including appropriate use ISO 9000-2000
of “quality tools” (7 QC)
Results
Impact on society Societal responsibilities/environmental management ISO 14001/ OHSAS 18001
Human resource satisfaction All employees are motivated and dedicated to continuous improvement–feeling ISO 9000-2000, ISO/TS
empowered and valued 16949/2002
Customer satisfaction Internal and external customers know that their needs are important –
and addressed
Supplier satisfaction Suppliers want to do repeat business– as partners
Company specific business results Do the company’s results demonstrate effective performance
Source: Khanna et al. (2002).

in the 1950s as an alternative to traditional manage- Critical success factors for TQM
ment thinking (McElyea 2003). The systems school
The second approach which was used to assess the
grew out of the ‘general systems theory’ developed by
organizational requirements for successful implemen-
the biologist Bertalanffy (McElyea 2003) and the tation of TQM is through the identification of CSF. In
quantitative techniques- operations research and sys- an attempt to establish empirically validated factors
tems analysis that were developed during the World that influence successful implementation of TQM.
War-II. The system school views organizations as The various researcher (Saraph, Benson, and
complex interrelationships amongst input, throughput Schroeder 1989; Ghobadian and Gallear, 1996; Toke
(process), output, and feedback. Harrington, Carr, and and Kalpande 2018, 2019) proposed measures of overall
Reid (1999) have explained three interrelated concepts organizational quality management for both manufac-
of system, emergent properties and complexity. turing and service firms. This appears to be a system-
atic attempt to organize and synthesize the various sets
TQM and system dynamics of critical factors identified by different quality gurus.
Bauer, Reiner, and Schamschule (2000) has developed a From the literature Saraph, Benson, and Schroeder
model from system dynamics point of view for under- (1989) identified 120 organizational requirements (pre-
standing of TQM. System dynamics is a tool which can scriptions) or effective quality management. Through a
capture the interactions among a range of system varia- judgmental process of grouping similar requirements,
bles and predict the implication of each over a period these prescriptions were grouped into eight separate
of time. Khanna et al. (2002) have quoted a study by categories. These eight categories reflected the prescrip-
Forrester wherein he used system dynamics to investi- tion of all or nearly all of the quality gurus.
gate how strategy, decision-making, structure and delay The study subsequently paved the way for several
influence the growth and stability of organizations. other empirical studies to be connected using the
Taking the study of TQM through system dynam- instrument developed in the study (Motwani,
ics further, Khanna et al. (2002) have studied the Mahmoud, and Rice 1994; Mohanty 1997; Yusof and
dynamic interactions among TQM subsystems in Aspinwall 2000; Garza-Reyes, Rocha-Lona, and
Indian automobile sector. Using the MBNQA model Kumar 2015, Pimentel and Major, 2016).
and modifying it to suit Indian socio-cultural condi- Baker and Starbird (1992) used the Saraph et al.’s
tions, they identified 12 TQM variables which help in instrument to evaluate the extent to which the factors
implementing the TQM philosophy. They developed critical to effective quality management are present
causal relationships among different variables and among California food processors. The study empiric-
clustered seven of them as enablers and five of them ally confirmed the importance placed on the role of
as results. The definitions of the full set of variables top management and their behavior and the quality
are given in Table 1. policy in the pursuit of policy management. The result
166 L. K. TOKE AND S. D. KALPANDE

of study also indicates that compared to a central- TQM and industry 4.0 era
ized approach, All the quality researchers recommended that the pro-
Companywide sharing of responsibility for quality duction process be planned, monitored and adjusted
is generally more conductive to the pursuit of quality to enhance quality improvements (Crosby 1980, 1984;
management. The study involved the identification of Juran and Gryna 1988; Deming 1982, 1986; Ishikawa,
the critical factor for effective quality management 1985). The quality philosophies stresses the import-
and the use of instrument to identify organizational ance of such critical factors as top management lead-
training needs. The study of finding of earlier studies ership and quality policies, employee involvement and
is seven critical factors were identified as. empowerment, employee training, quality data and
reporting, supplier quality management and manage-

Administrative support for strategic quality ment of process for producing quality goods and serv-

Strategic quality planning ices (Toke and Kalpande. 2019).

Continuous quality improvement In Industry 4.0 is the era of consumerism, manufac-

Strategic human resources management turing industries is required to manufactured products

Quality information and analysis and services of the highest quality in order to retain

Clients satisfaction competitiveness in the consumers market. The concepts

Quality in education and training of smart factory, cyber-physical system as well as
Internet of Things (IoT) and Services offer very capable
Motwani, Mahmoud, and Rice (1994) used Saraph opportunities and also downside challenges for quality
et al.’s instrument in their study of quality manage- management in manufacturing sectors. Industry 4.0
ment practices in Indian organizations. The study, improves cost, speed and quality. It takes lot of cooper-
provided the opportunity to test the reliability and ation and commitment in order to enable this planning
validity of the instrument in an internationally envir- to be achieved. Eventually, the manufacturing industry
onment. The study involved interpretation of data to is able to earn more revenue and profit by applying
correlate the critical factors and the quality perform- Industry 4.0 (Zaidin et al., 2018).
ance of the companies. The study produced a few Basically, if the industry can managed the challenge
conclusions contradictory to widely accepted know- well, then the opportunity to propel the company’s
ledge, notably that top management direct commit- name will become higher and well known worldwide.
ment and hands on involvement are not essential for Nowadays, the requirement of manufacturing industries
effective quality performance. must to maneuver in an extreme economical and tre-
The researches replicated Saraph et al.’s study and mendously, then, they need to continuously increase
identified ten factors which affect successful imple- the product quality at lowest costs and within the
mentation of TQM (Black and Porter 1996). shortest possible time in order to retain their position
in the market especially satisfy what customer need.

People and customer management Industry 4.0 provided a “stone rock” support for a

Supplier management successful implementation of TQM by providing the

Communication of improvement information Qualitative and quantitative measures of following

Customer satisfaction orientation TQM principles (Sader, Husti, and Dar
oczi 2017). The

External interface management contribution of Industry 4.0 through the lens of TQM

Strategic quality management principle is summaries in Table 2

Teamwork structures for process improvement

Operational quality planning Customer focus. Industry 4.0 will enable industries to

Quality improvement measurement system provide customized products at a regular time, away

Corporate quality culture from the complexity of changing mass production sys-
tems. Moreover, Industry 4.0 will provide businesses
Other replicate studies were conducted in India with early forecasting about consumption behavior
and United Arab Emirates (Mohanty 1997). An early and trends, thus, providing a competitive advantage
exploratory attempt to arrive at CSF in Indian context for the business by providing proper products at the
was made by Motwani, Mahmoud, and Rice (1994) proper time.
wherein they arrived at nine critical factors for effect-
ive management of quality in Indian manufactur- Leadership. Industry 4.0 had a great impact on infor-
ing industry. mation flow over the production line, integrating the
 QUALITY MANAGEMENT JOURNAL 167

Table 2. TQM Vs Industry 4.0.

TQM Principles Qualitative & Quantitative Measures Industry 4.0 Contributions
Customer Focus
Improved customer satisfaction & loyalty,
Improved responsiveness,

Growth in customers’ base,
Customized product/customer,

Improved organization’s reputation.
Smart prediction of market demand.
Leadership
Unity of purpose among organization,
Smart allocation of resources,

Aligned strategies, policies, processes and resources,
High coordination among all levels of the

Effective communication between all administrative levels. organization,

Effective evaluation for results.
Engagement
Increase motivation of people,
Improved communication and collaboration,
of people
Increasing innovative ideas,
Facilitating innovation and sharing of ideas.

Enhanced people satisfaction,

Self-evaluation & self-improvement culture.
Process approach
Identify key processes and points of improvements,
Transparent, interconnected, dynamic processes,

Optimized performance and effective process management,
Self-learning, early prediction of errors,

Manage processes, and interrelations, as well as
Less downtime, early maintenance prediction.
dependencies.
Improvement
Responsive systems to customer requirements,
Active dynamic interaction with market needs,

Enhanced ability to react to development of processes,
Instant re-configuration of production processes to
products and market needs, respond to improvement requests,

Support drivers for innovation.
Motivating for change environment.
Evidence-based
Clear and agreed decision making process,
Rich information and analytics dashboards about
decision making
Data availability and clarity, production, machines, markets, etc.

Effective past decisions,
Early prediction of failures, thus, anticipating

Analyze and evaluate data using suitable methods and tools. early reactions,

Early evidence to correct or support decisions.
Relationship
Stakeholders are identified and suitable communication
Easy identification and communication tools,
management tools to each are known,
The ability to hire segmentation of stakeholders based

Stakeholders are satisfied and their feedback is considered, on priorities,

Suppliers are responding to materials requests on time and
Stronger collaboration with providers and partners to
at the required quality, encourage continuous improvements.

Supply chain is stable and no downtime due to lack supply.
Source: Sader, Husti, and Daro
czi (2017).

business processes and supporting the ERP systems to an organization became one of the benefits of I4.0.
optimize manufacturing management. Suppliers are connected with production systems,
understanding the organization needs, and responsive
Engagement of people. Industry 4.0 will support the to markets demand more than ever before.
communication and collaboration of all players inside
the organization, it will stimulate innovation, encour-
TQM and quality awards models
age individual contributions.
The literature review, till now, shows that in the west-
Process approach. Industry 4.0 will support the trans- ern literature, TQM has been an important field of
parency of business and production processes in the study for the last two to three decades. In Indian con-
organization, it will help to optimize processes, text however, the TQM initiative was first set up by
improve efficiency, resources allocation supply chain the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the
responsiveness. early 1980s. In 1987 and 1988, the CII invited the
Juran Institute to India to conduct workshops and in
Improvement. Industry 4.0 will provide a basis for 1989 a team from India attended the Deming seminar
continuous improvements at the product, process and in London.
the business level for an organization. Because of the strategic tie-up between many
Japanese automobile manufacturers and Indian auto-
Evidence-based decision making. Industry 4.0 and the mobile manufacturers, there have been TQM imple-
new IT solutions such as big data, afforded a great cap- mentations in some Indian automobile companies
acity to improve the decision making process. Machines such as Maruti and TVS Suzuki. It has been reported
are self-learned, connected to each other forming a col- that some Indian companies’ mostly ancillary suppli-
laborative community, collecting and analyzing data, ers to large automobile manufacturers in India had
providing ability to make independent decisions. tied up with Japanese consultants to implement total
quality (Jagadeesh 1999). Jagadeesh further adds that,
Relationship management. Total integration and in general, the manufacturing sector in India is well
effective communication between all stakeholders of aware of the importance of quality but the service
168 L. K. TOKE AND S. D. KALPANDE

Table 3. Major Indian National Quality Awards Vs MBNQA and EQA.

Percentage Emphasis of Quality Award Model
International Indian
US Deptt. of Confederation of
European Commerce, Tech. Bureau Indian Industry Indian
Foundation for Administration- of Indian Institute and Export Import Merchant’s
Quality on, NIST, Standards, of Directors, Bank of India, Chamber
Management Gaithersburg, MD New Delhi New Delhi New Delhi Bombay
Organizations EQA MBNQA RGNQA GPNQA CII-EXIM IMC-RBA
Criteria Point Point Point Point Point Point
Enablers Leadership/ 100 10 110 11 100 10 120 12 100 10 100 10
Organization leadership
Strategic Planning/ 80 8 80 8 80 8 80 8 80 8 80 8
Policies and strategy
HRM/HRDM/ 90 9 100 10 90 9 100 10 90 9 100 10
People management
Information analysis – – 80 8 – – 80 8 – – 80 8
Process management/ Process 140 14 100 10 140 14 120 12 140 14 140 14
Resources 90 9 – – 90 9 – – 90 9 – –
Customer market focus/ – – 80 8 – – – – – – – –
Customer focus
Sub Total 500 50 550 55 500 50 500 50 500 50 500 50
Results Customer satisfaction 200 20 – – 200 20 150 15 200 20 100 10
People satisfaction 90 9 – – – – – – 90 9 – –
Employee satisfaction – – – – 90 9 100 10 – – – –
Business Result 150 15 450 45 150 15 150 15 150 15 400 40
Impact on society 60 6 – 60 6 100 10 60 6 – –
Sub Total 500 50 450 45 500 50 500 50 500 50 500 50
Total K H K H K H K H K H K H
Note: K ¼ 1000, H ¼ 100.
Source: Kumar (2005).

sector, mostly government owned, lags behind the competition, quality awards were instituted on the
manufacturing sector in all aspects that imply quality. lines of MBNQA and EQA. The MBNQA was intro-
Also, there are large variations in the depth and the duced in 1987, and the EQA was introduced in 1991.
spread of quality culture among Indian organizations. In comparison, the first Indian quality award RGNQA
Some are comparable to the best in the world, but the was instituted in 1991. Thereafter a number of quality
bulk of Indian companies are yet to make use of the awards were also announced. This was a measure of
various techniques for continuous improvement. In the maturing of quality related concepts in India. In
what is perhaps one of the few studies of TQM in Table 3, different Indian quality awards and their cri-
Indian industries, Blythe and Shahani (1997) have teria have been compared. It is seen from the table
described a continuous improvement initiative at Glaxo that all the four Indian awards have given almost the
which has been successfully implemented. Gondhalekar same weight-age to different quality criteria.
and Karamchandani (1994) have described a kaizen When these quality awards were instituted, they
improvement system started at Godrej. were generally based on western quality models of
In a countrywide survey of competitiveness of MBNQA and EQA. Even now, the comparison of
Indian manufacturing industry, it has been reported Indian quality awards with MBNQA and EQA show
that quality is the topmost competitive priority of that there are striking similarities among the ‘enablers’
Indian firms (Chandra and Sastry 2001). In a study of and the ‘results’ of the Indian quality awards vis-a-vis
propagation of quality management practices among the corresponding enablers and results of the western
Indian manufacturing companies since 1985, Mandal quality awards. The relative weight-age given by
et al. (2000) have stressed the improvement of organ- Indian quality awards on different criteria are also
izational culture in the direction of team working, har- similar to those given by EQA and MBNQA as shown
mony and participation. The same study also reports in Table 3.
that there were a small number of companies which
have started using SQC (Statistical Quality Control)
Synthesis of system dynamics, CFSs and
techniques but the bulk of the focus continued to be
quality award criteria
on inspection as a means of achieving quality.
As the concept of quality began to be internalized The extensive literature survey based on the quality
by Indian industry, spurred to a great extent by award model identified the various critical success
 QUALITY MANAGEMENT JOURNAL 169

factors for successful implementation of TQM. It is quality management education to employees, use of
worthwhile to compare these factors to understand information on quality, process management, resource
their commonalities and the differences. management, customer expectation, need of documen-
The commonalities are that across the world, lead- tation and essence of team-work are the other criteria’s
ership, policy and strategy, human resource manage- for quality award frameworks. The detailed comparison
ment, process management, information and data of award framework is given in Table 4. It is observed
management, customer and market focus and supplier that MBNQA, EQA & GPNQA are ideal model for any
focus are the factors or enablers which contribute to organization and follows the guidelines of TQM model.
the success of TQM. This is confirmed by the three The comparison and critically examination of major
sources of studies: characteristics of these award model focus on some
important aspects.
i. The study of different award models (Hui and It is observed that MBNQA, NQA and GPNQA are
Chuan 2002; Tan et al. 2003); almost similar in the sense that these awards give
ii. By empirical research done in arriving at CSF for maximum weight to customer satisfaction, 30 per cent
TQM (Black and Porter 1996 in the European or 300 points in the MBNQA, 20 per cent or 200
context; Motwani, Mahmoud, and Rice 1994 in points in the EQA and 15 per cent or 150 points in
Indian context; Saraph, Benson, and Schroeder the GPNQA. The quality and operational results in
1989 in American context) and the MBNQA and the business results in the EQA and
iii. By the modeling of TQM on the lines of system GPNQA have the next highest weight. It should be
dynamics (Bauer, Reiner, and Schamschule 2000; noted that the business results criterion includes
Khanna et al. 2002). financial measures such as profits, cash flows, working
capital, liquidity, and shareholder returns. The
However, different countries tend to look at these MBNQA, on the other hand, does not include them
factors differently. For example, the cultural pattern of in the quality and operational results criterion as the
a country and within a country the organizational val- award criteria do not cover the organization’s finan-
ues of different companies have been found to be var- cial performance. As one of the judges of the award
iables which affect TQM implementation. Another pointed out, financial performance does not belong in
difference is with respect to the path followed by the MBNQA. If it is included, then it might over-
organizations of these countries in their pursuit of shadow the quality and operational results that are
TQM. Given the birth of TQM in Japan, it is not sur- observed as a result of the quality improvement strat-
prising that the Japanese organizations have readily egies that were employed.
gone for TQM implementation. But the western coun- The EQA and GPNQA considers human resource
tries have in general used ISO as the first tentative development and management strategies in two separ-
step toward TQM. Indian organizations too, have in ate criteria as people (employee) management and
general used ISO as their first step toward develop- people satisfaction with a total of 180 (¼ 90 þ 90)
ment of a quality consciousness. While all these points or 18 per cent in EQA and human resource
approaches work, the most useful TQM implementa- management and Employees satisfaction with total of
tion plan is an integrated blend of them. However 200 (100 þ 100) point or 20 percent in GPNQA
Melan (1998) has suggested a contingency approach whereas they are considered as one criterion in the
for the implementation of TQM in an organization. MBNQA with 150 points or 15 per cent. Thus the
The moderating influence of culture on TQM imple- human resource development and management criter-
mentation and the adoption of quality management ion receives the third largest weight in these awards.
practices like ISO as the first step toward adoption Processes criterion in the EQA (with 14 per cent)
of TQM. and the management of process quality criterion in
the MBNQA (with 14 per cent) received the fourth
highest weight. The GPNQA considers Process
Analysis of awards and comparison between
Management (with 12 percent) and Organizational
MBNQA, EQA and GPNQA
Leadership (with 12 percent) as fourth and fifth high-
The analysis of the awards shows that policy and est weight. Leadership, Resources (in the EQA) or
planning, role of management leadership in driving information and analysis (in the MBNQA) or infor-
quality and measurement of performance are the cri- mation Management (in GPNQA), and policy and
teria’s common in all award framework. Need of strategy (in the EQA) or strategic quality planning (in
170 L. K. TOKE AND S. D. KALPANDE

the MBNQA & GPNQA) criteria are rated as the fifth,

Customer Satisfaction

Process Management
People Management
Strategic Planning

Impact on Society
sixth and seventh ranked criteria with respect to their

Business Result
GPQA
point values. It should be noted, however, that the
Leadership
order in which these criteria are ranked is the same as
described above even though the point values (or the
corresponding percentages) are not exactly the same.
In addition to the above analysis, it is observed that
Resource Management

Customer Satisfaction
Process Management
the MBNQA does not specifically consider the impact
People Management

Business Operations
People Satisfaction
Policy & Strategy

on society criterion included in the EQA and GPNQA.

RGQA

Social Impact
Even though the MBNQA includes some of the related
Leadership

aspects such as business ethics, public health and safety,

environmental protection, and waste management in the
leadership criterion, the criteria impact on society in
EQA (with 6 percent) & in GPNQA ( with 10 percent)
Customer Satisfaction
People Management

is one of the nine criteria, covers more aspects, for

People Satisfaction

Impact on Society
Policy & Strategy

Business Result

example, preservation of global resources, organization’s

EQA

involvement in the community in terms of charity, edu-

Leadership

Resources

Processes

cation and training, and sports and leisure, etc., in a

more detailed fashion. Similarly, the resources criterion
in the EQA covers financial, information, and material
resources as well as alternative and emerging technolo-
Measurement and Analysis
Employee Empowerment

Improvement Result.
Top Mgt. Leadership &

gies. The MBNQA, on the other hand, covers only the

Quality & Productivity
Employee Training &

management of quality and performance data and ana-

and team work
Strategic Planning

Quality Assurance
Customer Focus
FQA

Recognition

lysis, and the related issues in the information and ana-

Support

lysis criterion. The material resources and the alternative

and emerging technologies are included in the manage-
ment of process quality criterion of the MBNQA. The
material resources, customer and supplier’s relationship
Information & Analysis

management, process design and development are

People Management

product & service

Quality of process,

included in the process management criterion of the

and Planning
Company Policy

Customer Focus
Performance
Organizational

GPNQA. As mentioned earlier, the MBNQA does not

AQA
Leadership

consider financial resources as formally as they are con-

sidered in the EQA & GPNQA. This is one of the major
differences between MBNQA with EQA & GPNQA
awards. Also, consideration of human resource develop-
Table 4. Comparison of the criteria of various award model.

Process Management

ment and management into two categories, as in the

and Satisfaction
Strategic Planning
Human Resource
Development

Customer Focus

EQA & GPNQA, may make it easier to understand the

Business Result
MBNQA

Information &

award criteria better and that would help in preparing

Analysis
Leadership

the written reports for application. Figure 3 illustrates

the cross-relationships among the criteria.
Based on these observations, conclusions are-
Quality Control Education
Collection Transmission &

Analysis Standardization

All the MBNQA, EQA and GPNQA are results-

Organization and its

oriented awards.
Quality Assurance
Deming

and Planning
Company Policy

Management

Management

All awards give maximum weight to customer sat-

Future Plans

isfaction results. Thus, customer focus and satisfac-

Control

Effects

tion is the overall goal of these awards. The

GPNQA puts equal weight to Customer satisfac-
tion and Business result.
TQM Model

The MBNQA criteria do not include financial per-

Results
Enablers
and

formance whereas it is included in the EQA &

GPNQA criteria.
 QUALITY MANAGEMENT JOURNAL 171

Figure 3. Comparison of MBNQA with EQA & GPNQA.

The GPNQA and EQA, by including the impact benchmark for others units for improvement pur-
on society as one of the nine criteria, cover more poses. This stimulates organizational learning’s.
aspects such as preservation of global resources in
For effective implementation of TQM, the top
a more detailed fashion than the MBNQA. The management has to assess and appropriate not
GPNQA gives comparatively higher weight to only total quality concept, but also the existing cul-
impact on society. ture and belief, habits, norms and values of the

The MBNQA, GPNQA and EQA are neither prod- employees. Quality award model assist the manage-
uct nor service excellence awards, nor are they cor- ment in this direction.
porate management excellence awards. All are
Organization making use of these award model
positioned between these two extremes. need training for internal assessors and employees

Because of the inclusion of financial performance who will be involve in doing the self-assessment
in the criteria, the EQA and GPNQA are more using the guidelines of the award. For these train-
broad-based than the MBNQA ing activities, material (score books, guidelines for

The impact on society is one of the key criteria of these report writing) can be used that has been devel-
awards and GPNQA puts more weight than EQA. oped for the assessor training of the formal award
schemes. Such material is available to the market
from the institutes that are responsible for the
Role of quality award (QA) models in
award procedures.
achieving TQM

The model generates the enthusiasm with managers
The Quality Award (QA) models help organization in as they can make the links between the TQM phil-
managing quality improvement activities for a number osophy and their business objectives (EFQM, 1993).
of reasons (Wiele and Brown, 1997). Some of
QA have been successful in creating a better
them are understanding of strategic quality work among top
managers in both private and public organizations.

A quality award model gives a definition and Through these programs, TQM principles are
description of the vague and broad concept of being spread and are gaining acceptances. More
TQM, which makes it easy to start TQM in an and more organizations are using the criteria
organization. award to guide their quality improvement efforts.

The award models enable measurement of the pro-
gress of TQM in the organization and of the out-
TQM in SMEs
comes as a result from improvement activities.

Business units can be compared and the best with In spite of success stories of TQM, still the concept
regard to a specific criteria can be used as a has not been really adopted by SMEs. The main
172 L. K. TOKE AND S. D. KALPANDE

reason for low use of TQM in SMEs is cost con-
The models are often written in large company
straints, lack of sources and information on TQM, language and not with the small business in mind.
specially oriented to SMEs and lower level of aware-
ness and understanding (Ghobadian and Gallear, The literature review till now focused on the devel-
1996; Ahire and Gollar 1999; Kalpande, Gupta, and opment of TQM in large scale industries. An attempt
Dandekar 2013). was then made to understand TQM through the lens
Literature shows that, many SMEs have imple- of TQM awards. The growth and status of TQM in
mented TQM and enjoying the benefits from TQM SMEs quality awards are now reviewed. Literature
(Ahire and Gollar 1999, Lewis, Pun, and Lalla 2005; review show that very few TQM implementation
Bouranta et al. 2019). Survey report found that stated model are developed for SMEs. For the purpose of
reasons for adopting TQM in SMEs are promotion of researching the value of TQM in SMEs avilable mod-
growth, (TQM as a marketing tool) changing customer els are of limited use. The models do not help to
expectations, consistent with management style, quantify the effort required and the benefits achieved
improving poor company performance. Ahire and through quality management. To overcome this limi-
Gollar (1999) concluded that TQM implementation in tation, Saunder and Preston (1994) have developed
SMEs ‘represents a good strategy to execute quality the TQM model which provides a useful framework
management practice in an integrated manner’. It was for study of the applicability of TQM in SMEs. It can
found that TQM business reported better product qual- also be used to identify the aspect of the environment
ity than non- TQM business despite a lack of market required for successful implementation of TQM.
clout, capital and managerial expertise, they can and do
implement TQM elements as effectively as large busi-
Summary of literature review and gaps in
nesses and in turn achieve high product quality. The
existing literature
survey report shows that higher quality products,
improved business performance, customer satisfaction, In brief, literature review shows that the importance
improved supplier relationship, improved process, of TQM for managing quality has been recognized by
improved people, improved policy deployment, devel- large scale industries, worldwide. Some are using
opment of quality culture and improved training were TQM as an effective tool for continuous improve-
the main benefits achieved by introducing TQM in ment. It is also observed that the industries, which
SMEs (Deming 1986; Lewis, Pun, and Lalla 2005). have implemented TQM, are enjoying the benefits out
The literature shows that SMEs are using different of it. The various approaches are being used to
approaches to achieve TQM. One most commonly achieve TQM. Literature shows that the various TQM
used approach is ISO 9000 series registration implementation models are developed by researchers
(Motwani, Mahmoud, and Rice 1994; TQM Center but there are no such things as ‘one fit all’ model. All
1996). This certification is act as a bridge between the these models are of descriptive type and for the pur-
traditional management of SMEs and a more sophisti- pose of researching the value of TQM, they are lim-
cated one. It plays a catalytic role in the adoption of ited use.
new management tools. For continuous improvement, Even though, SMEs play an important role in the
it is essential to evaluate the organization according to development of economy, still the concept of TQM is
award model. The values of self- assessment and con- not yet adopted widely by SMEs in Indian context.
tinuous improvement is not fully appreciated by SMEs The prominent reason is the non-availability of TQM
(Hewitt 1996). implementation model with weightage system of its
Researchers (Hewitt 1996; Green 2006) have found components. So it is imperative to pay attention
that the contemporary quality award models toward implementation of TQM model considering
(MBNQA and EFQM) are not ideal for SMEs in the the weightage system of the components. Literature
present form. Some of the short comings with the review has identified few models which are developed
award models of today are for SMEs. For researching the value of TQM in SMEs
these models are of less useful, as they are not help to

They are too extensive for the reality of small identify the effort required and the benefit achieved
organizations. through quality management. So it is essential to

The models provide a good framework for TQM develop a new ‘TQM Model’ for SMEs which can
in large scale industries, but take no accounts of overcome the limitation of the above models and
the need of small organizations. facilitate the use of TQM in SMEs.
 QUALITY MANAGEMENT JOURNAL 173

Based on the literature survey the following gaps success factors of TQM. Thus, this paper appeals an
are identified- industrial partner who is interested to ensure good
implementation of the TQM in SMEs toward obtain-

Even though models for TQM implementation are ing quality management principles and through the
available, there is hardly any model for SMEs. lens of Industry 4.0 technologies at the organization.

There is hardly any model which tries to quantify
the effort required and the benefit achieved
About the Authors
through quality management.

In Indian context, there is very few reported study Lalit K. Toke, He is working as Associate Professor in
especially for SMEs. Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sandip Institute of
Engineering and Management, Nashik, Maharashtra, India.

Though studies are carried out for finding reason He earned his doctorate in Green Supply Chain Management
for sickness of SMEs, there is no concentrated from S.G.S.I.T.S, Indore, India. He has been associated with
effort to study quality related problems. teaching for the last 20 years. He has contributed over 35

As already stated, SMEs contribute significantly to research papers in international referred and national jour-
the economy, however their linkage with large nals, and conferences at international and national level. He
has received over182 citations on Google scholar (h-index ¼
scale industries are not investigated in detail espe-
3). His specific areas of interest are techniques; green supply
cially in Indian context. chain management, sustainable supply chain management,
green manufacturing, operation management, total quality
Hence, it appears that studying SMEs from a qual- management, reverse logistics, renewable/sustainable energy
ity perspective would provide a challenge to both technologies, business sustainability etc. His research has
academician and practitioners. With the motivation, been published in the International Journal of Sustainable
Development & world Ecology, International Journal of
further study is carried out. Sustainable Engineering, among others.
Dr. Shyamkumar D. Kalpande, He is a Professor,
Conclusion Mechanical Engineering Department at Guru Gobind Singh
College of Engineering and Research, Nashik, MS, India. He
The literatures on various aspect of TQM were is having 25 years of teaching, industrial and research
reviewed and gaps existing in the literature were iden- experience. He has published various papers on his area of
tified. Literature reviews shows that there is a need of interest viz. Total Quality Management, Industrial
TQM model specially developed for SMEs. The exist- Engineering and Management, Total Productive
ing literature shows that very few TQM implementa- Maintenance, etc. He is associated with various professional
bodies and life member of Indian Society for Technical
tion model are developed for SMEs and no large scale Education (ISTE) and Indian Institution of Industrial
empirical research has been systematically conducted Engineering (IIIE).
dealing with TQM implementation in Indian manu-
facturing SMEs. In order to bridge this gap, an inves-
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