THE IMPACT OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON PRODUCTIVITY IN THE RAILWAY SECTOR IN AFRICAN CONTEXT

Total quality management (TQM) has become acceptable generally as an approach for improving productivity in organisations in this 21st century. Whereas some studies have argued that implementation of TQM practices improve organisational productivity, others have failed to find the linkage between the two. This study, therefore, was conducted to determine and validate whether implementation of TQM practices increase productivity in railway transport sector. The study evaluated effect of TQM practices on productivity in Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA). Data were collected from 177 TAZARA managers through structured questionnaires and correlation and regression analysis were employed to analyse data. Results of the study show that practices of TQM have a positive significant effect on productivity. Results of regression analysis show that important innovations, customer-focus, transformational leadership and commitment, have significant positive effect on productivity in TAZARA. However, education and training, and employee responsibility and involvement have no significant effects on productivity.