The Impact of Total Quality Management on Corporate Performance in Malaysian Public Listed Companies

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a holistic approach that focuses on meeting needs and expectation of customers through the involvement of all organizational functions and individuals for continued improvement. It is widely accepted as a mean of sustaining competitive advantage. However, the review of performance-related TQM literature shows that researchers have different approaches in conceptualization of performance measures and inconclusive about the positive impact of TQM on corporate performance. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effect of TQM practices on corporate performance, both financial and nonfinancial performance. The empirical data had been drawn from 132 human resource managers in Malaysian public listed companies and analysed using the multiple regression analysis. Finding of this study revealed that TQM has a positive impact on corporate performance across five measure practices, which are, top management leadership, human resource management, customer focus, strategic planning, and information and process management. The major implication of the finding is that the positive impact of TQM on corporate performance is not limited only to Malaysia manufacturing companies, but also be equally achieved across sectors in Malaysia public listed companies.