Total Quality Management, strategic orientation and organizational performance: the case of Spanish companies

Abstract This paper examines the relationship between strategy and Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation, as well as the impact of the adaptation of both to organizational performance. We have used the emphasis on cost leadership, differentiation on marketing and differentiation on innovation as strategic dimensions to develop four great strategic configurations. The degrees of implementation of the TQM elements in each of them, as well as their associations to the various types of performances have been studied. Our results significantly support the hypotheses proposed, and suggest differences in TQM implementation depending on the selected strategy. It is also noticed that companies with greater degrees of co-alignment between their strategies and TQM are those with the highest levels of performance.

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