Title: Total quality management: literature review and an agenda for future research

Authors: Amrendra Kumar Singh; Rakesh L. Shrivastava

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Manoharbhai Patel College of Engineering and Technology, Kudwa, Gondia, Maharashtra, 441614, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Y.C. College of Engineering, Nagpur, Maharashtra, 441110, India

Abstract: The past decade has seen many firms focusing on total quality management (TQM) as a means of improving profits, market share, and competitiveness. In this paper, an attempt is made to review the status of literature on TQM. The literature classification is done according to content and process issues of the article. Total of 153 articles from 55 refereed journals and international conferences are classified according to content (instrument, model, literature review, trans-national comparison, best practices, and economics) and process related issues of the articles. The methodology used in the literature is categorised into conceptual, descriptive, empirical, exploratory cross sectional, and exploratory longitudinal approaches. Considering all these aspects, some possible research issues are also identified.

Keywords: total quality management; TQM; contextual factors; business environments; SCM; supply chain management; virtual enterprises; web based enterprises; online enterprises; internet; world wide web; e-enterprises; electronic enterprises; profits; market share; competitiveness; literature classification; article contents; process issues; refereed journals; international conferences; literature reviews; trans-national comparisons; best practices; economics; conceptual approaches; future research; descriptive approaches; empirical approaches; exploratory cross sectional approaches; exploratory longitudinal approaches; productivity management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2012.048753

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2012 Vol.10 No.3, pp.335 - 373

Published online: 31 Oct 2014 *

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