Weaving Quality into Performance: A Deep Dive into TQM Practices among Tamil Nadu’s Manufacturing MSMEs

Abstract

Total Quality Management has emerged as critical strategy for organizational performance improvement, especially for the manufacturing industry. This research analyzes the impact of TQM practices on organizational performance dimensions and the critical challenges in the implementation of TQM among Manufacturing MSMEs (Pump & Motor Industry) in Tamil Nadu. The research is grounded on fundamental TQM dimensions: Leadership, Training, Process Management, Knowledge Management, Strategic Quality Planning, Customer Focus and Supplier Quality Management and their impacts on four measures of performance: Operational Performance, Customer Results, Employee Performance and Financial Performance. Structured questionnaire of Quality Managers and Production Managers was con-ducted among 144 responses from MSMEs in Tamil Nadu. Descriptive statistics, reliability test and regression analysis were performed using Jamovi software. The research findings highlight that Process Management significantly boost Operational Performance, but Training is the negative predictor of Employee Performance. Supplier Quality Management is a prime driver for Financial Performance, but Customer Focus does not have a strong relation-ship with Customer Results, indicating that there might be a stronger role played by external market drivers in customer satisfaction and retention. Despite its contributions, this study has certain limitations including lack of perspectives of other key stakeholders like executives and customers.