Quality management practices in Indian service firms

Abstract The success of Indian software firms, which is partly attributable to their quality, provided the motivation for the study presented in this paper. It would be useful to know the state of quality management efforts in the Indian service sector, and its impacts at a firm level. It is conceivable that other services could model themselves after the software sector, and develop capabilities to successfully compete in the global economy. Such an evolution of the service sector could then contribute significantly to the continued emergence of the Indian economy. The intent of this study is also to extend the current literature in Quality Management research that focuses exclusively on firms in the advanced economies, by investigating firms in an emerging economy. This study is based on a survey administered in India in which a total of 163 respondents participated. They represent a variety of industries including Banking, Hotels, Information Technology, Healthcare, Trading, Entertainment, Courier, Transportation, and Construction services. The responses of the survey are analysed and discussed in the paper. This study begins to shed light on the quality management methods that seem to be effective in emerging economies. It represents a first-step in understanding such issues further.

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