Overview of Quality Management Practices in Selected Asian Countries

Multinationals face certain problems implementing productivity improvement programs across Asia because of the diversity of the various countries. This is a comparative study on quality management (QM) conducted in nine Asian countries from 1996 to 2000. The study sought to identify some of the factors behind these problems. Data were collected under controlled conditions using a standardized pretested questionnaire. The regional/country and microfactors influencing the evolution of QM practices into more sophisticated forms (TQM and beyond) were researched. It was found that regional factors are related to the state of industrialization and economy of the country, intensity of government QM initiatives, the role played by multinationals to disseminate QM technology and the maturity of such practices in the country. Based on the maturity of QM practices, three groups of countries could be identified: The first group includes South Korea and Singapore, which are differentiated by their global and world-class QM practices. The second group consists of Malaysia, Philippines, India, and Indonesia, which have installed the equivalent of a Malcolm Baldrige Award. The third group, made up of Thailand, Brunei, and Bangladesh, has instituted ISO-type QM systems. A combination of government, industry, and indigenous factors has led to such groupings. Microfactors tend to be more specific and peculiar to a country. These may include the following: personal involvement of the Prime Minister (Malaysia), the apathy among manufacturers on QM (Bangladesh), the presence of a QM champion (India), and the push for survival (Singapore). The time sequence for the diffusion of QM technology across Asia can be identified as follows: QCCs started in the 1960s. These were followed by TQC (late 1970s), TQM (late 1980s), ISO 9000 (1992), and world-class practices (after 1995).

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