TQM and knowledge management: Literature review and proposed framework

This research study seeks to come up with a conceptual framework that investigates the different dimensions of total quality management (TQM) and its effects on knowledge management (KM). This is to help build a theoretical framework of TQM and its dimensions, which mainly consists of leadership, strategic planning, information and analysis, process management, human resource focus and customer focus. These constructs are rooted in the work of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). To build the conceptual framework, the background of TQM and Knowledge Management theory served as a good starting point. The current research study is based on the complete assessment of present literatures, the six constructs of TQM and the three elements of knowledge acquisition, knowledge application and knowledge dissemination. This paper serves as a guide to senior management, who seeks to improve their company’s organizational knowledge management activities through the execution of TQM practices, in which the TQM practices support their company’s knowledge management efforts. Furthermore, the conceptual model serves as a benchmark for practitioners to execute their TQM programmes more effectively and efficiently in their own respective firms. This paper seeks to close the gap on the existing literature, by giving guidance to the senior management of TQM companies that aspires to discover the competency of knowledge management. By developing a deeper understanding of the relationship between TQM practices and knowledge management, senior management can thus focus their efforts on the practices that ensure the firms’ ability to establish a competitive knowledge management capability.

[1]  Sheng-Hsun Hsu,et al.  Knowledge management and its relationship with TQM , 2005 .

[2]  C. Fornell,et al.  Customer Satisfaction, Market Share, and Profitability: Findings from Sweden , 1994 .

[3]  Tim Baker,et al.  A meta‐analysis of the effect of TQM on competitive advantage , 2007 .

[4]  Anand Nair,et al.  Meta-analysis of the relationship between quality management practices and firm performance -- Implications for quality management theory development , 2006 .

[5]  Rick Dove,et al.  Knowledge management, response ability, and the agile enterprise , 1999, J. Knowl. Manag..

[6]  I. Sila,et al.  Examination and comparison of the critical factors of total quality management (TQM) across countries , 2003 .

[7]  Alain Yee-Loong Chong,et al.  Developing an integrated model of TQM and HRM on KM activities , 2009 .

[8]  Siong Choy Chong,et al.  KM implementation in Malaysian telecommunication industry: An empirical analysis , 2006, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[9]  Rosanna Garcia,et al.  The Effects of Environmental Turbulence on New Product Development Strategy Planning , 2003 .

[10]  Mohamed Zairi,et al.  Business process management: a boundaryless approach to modern competitiveness , 1997, Bus. Process. Manag. J..

[11]  Salleh Yahya,et al.  Managing human resources toward achieving knowledge management , 2002, J. Knowl. Manag..

[12]  Thomas H. Davenport,et al.  The rise of knowledge towards attention management , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[13]  S. Brah,et al.  TQM and business performance in the service sector: a Singapore study , 2000 .

[14]  C. Cook,et al.  Management and Organizational Behavior , 1994 .

[15]  David L. Deeds,et al.  The impact of stocks and flows of organizational knowledge on firm performance: an empirical investigation of the biotechnology industry , 1999 .

[16]  Thomas B. Johannessen,et al.  Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award , 1997 .

[17]  R. Grant.  Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm,” Strategic Management Journal (17), pp. , 1996 .

[18]  Deborah Dougherty.  ORGANIZING PRACTICE-BASED KNOWLEDGE IN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. , 2001 .

[19]  Jayant V. Saraph,et al.  An Instrument for Measuring the Critical Factors of Quality Management , 1989 .

[20]  Dick Stenmark,et al.  Group cohesiveness and extrinsic motivation in virtual groups: lessons from an action case study of electronic brainstorming , 2002, Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[21]  K. Al-Mabrouk,et al.  Critical Success Factors Affecting Knowledge Management Adoption: A Review of the Literature , 2006, 2006 Innovations in Information Technology.

[22]  Ismail Sila,et al.  Examining the effects of contextual factors on TQM and performance through the lens of organizational theories: An empirical study , 2007 .

[23]  B J Horak,et al.  Dealing with human factors and managing change in knowledge management: a phased approach. , 2001, Topics in health information management.

[24]  Sanjay L. Ahire,et al.  TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND AN AGENDA FOR FUTURE RESEARCH , 1995 .

[25]  Cristina Mele,et al.  The evolving path of TQM: towards business excellence and stakeholder value , 2006 .

[26]  L. J. Porter,et al.  Identification of the Critical Factors of TQM , 1996 .

[27]  Elizabeth A. Smith.  The role of tacit and explicit knowledge in the workplace , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[28]  Sanjay L. Ahire,et al.  Development and Validation of TQM Implementation Constructs , 1996 .

[29]  T. Andersen.  Strategic Planning, Autonomous Actions and Corporate Performance , 2000 .

[30]  Jenny Darroch,et al.  Developing a measure of knowledge management behaviors and practices , 2003, J. Knowl. Manag..

[31]  Shi-Ming Huang,et al.  Critical factors in adopting a knowledge management system for the pharmaceutical industry , 2005, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[32]  Ângela Denise Lemos,et al.  Technological forecasting techniques and competitive intelligence: tools for improving the innovation process , 1998 .

[33]  James R. Evans,et al.  The management and control of quality , 1989 .

[34]  Victor Oltra,et al.  Knowledge management effectiveness factors: the role of HRM , 2005, J. Knowl. Manag..

[35]  Kaustav Sen,et al.  Does the measure of information quality influence survival bias , 2001 .

[36]  Jay Liebowitz,et al.  Knowledge Management Handbook , 1999 .

[37]  I. Nonaka.  A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation , 1994 .

[38]  Everett E. Adam,et al.  Alternative quality improvement practices and organization performance , 1994 .

[39]  Scott E. Bryant.  The Role of Transformational and Transactional Leadership in Creating, Sharing and Exploiting Organizational Knowledge , 2003 .

[40]  Marianne Gloet,et al.  The dual paradigm nature of knowledge management: implications for achieving quality outcomes in human resource management , 2003, J. Knowl. Manag..

[41]  Mohamed Zairi,et al.  Benchmarking critical factors for TQM , 1995 .

[42]  Binshan Lin,et al.  Implications of total quality management in federal services: the US experience , 1996 .

[43]  Amrik S. Sohal,et al.  Transitioning from total quality management to total innovation management: An Australian case , 2004 .

[44]  Alberto Bayo-Moriones,et al.  Quality management and high performance work practices: Do they coexist? , 2001 .

[45]  Jenny Darroch,et al.  Knowledge management, innovation and firm performance , 2005, J. Knowl. Manag..

[46]  R. B. Woodruff,et al.  Customer value: The next source for competitive advantage , 1997 .

[47]  Jie Yang,et al.  Knowledge value chain , 2000 .

[48]  Iris Mohr-Jackson.  Quality Function Deployment: A Valuable Marketing Tool , 1996 .

[49]  Darryl D. Wilson,et al.  An Empirical Investigation of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Causal Model , 2000, Decis. Sci..

[50]  M. Terziovski,et al.  The relationship between total quality management practices and operational performance , 1999 .

[51]  T. C. Powell.  Total Quality Management as Competitive Advantage , 1995 .

[52]  Keng-Boon Ooi,et al.  Does TQM impact on role stressors? A conceptual model , 2008, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[53]  Juan Carlos Bou-Llusar,et al.  A Model for Evaluating Organizational Competencies: An Application in the Context of a Quality Management Initiative , 2005, Decis. Sci..

[54]  Robert P. Bostrom,et al.  Managerial coaching behaviors in learning organizations , 1999 .

[55]  I. Nonaka,et al.  How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation , 1995 .

[56]  Hsiu-Fen Lin.  Knowledge sharing and firm innovation capability: an empirical study , 2007 .

[57]  C. MacNeil,et al.  The supervisor as a facilitator of informal learning in work teams , 2001 .

[58]  J. Sparkes,et al.  Knowledge transfer and human resource development practices: Japanese firms in Brazil and Mexico , 2000 .

[59]  Carla O'Dell,et al.  Benchmarking unveils emerging knowledge management strategies , 1999 .

[60]  Luis Miguel Molina,et al.  TQM and ISO 9000 Effects on Knowledge Transferability and Knowledge Transfers , 2004 .

[61]  B. Kogut,et al.  Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test , 1995 .

[62]  Kuan Yew Wong,et al.  Critical success factors for implementing knowledge management in small and medium enterprises , 2005, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[63]  María Leticia Santos-Vijande,et al.  TQM and firms performance: An EFQM excellence model research based survey , 2007, International Journal of Business Science and Applied Management.

[64]  P. Ahmed.  Culture and climate for innovation , 1998 .

[65]  B. Ehigie,et al.  Roles of perceived leadership styles and rewards in the practice of total quality management , 2004 .

[66]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Knowledge Creating Company , 2008 .

[67]  Dianne Waddell,et al.  Knowledge Management: The fundamental component for delivery of quality , 2008 .

[68]  Francisco Javier Lloréns Montes,et al.  Relationship between quality management practices and knowledge transfer , 2007 .

[69]  A. Sohal,et al.  The relationship between TQM practices, quality performance, and innovation performance: An empirical examination , 2003 .

[70]  Robert Kaše,et al.  The role of HR actors in knowledge networks , 2007 .

[71]  Roelof P. uit Beijerse.  Knowledge management in small and medium-sized companies: knowledge , 2003 .

[72]  Elias G. Carayannis,et al.  Leveraging knowledge, learning, and innovation in forming strategic government–university–industry (GUI) R&D partnerships in the US, Germany, and France , 2000 .

[73]  Mats Alvesson,et al.  Organizations As Rhetoric: Knowledge‐Intensive Firms And The Struggle With Ambiguity , 1993 .

[74]  Chun-Ming Chang,et al.  Knowledge sharing behavior in virtual communities: The relationship between trust, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations , 2007, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[75]  Ezey M. Dar-El,et al.  What we really need is TPQM , 1997 .

[76]  Roberto Filippini,et al.  Operations management research: some reflections on evolution, models and empirical studies in OM , 1997 .

[77]  Babita Gupta,et al.  Knowledge management: practices and challenges , 2000, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[78]  Richard J. Schonberger,et al.  Human Resource Management Lessons from a Decade of Total Quality Management and Reengineering , 1994 .

[79]  T. Laosirihongthong,et al.  The impact of total quality management on innovation , 2006 .

[80]  Gwo-Guang Lee,et al.  Perceptions of senior managers toward knowledge‐sharing behaviour , 2004 .

[81]  Mark E. Van Buren,et al.  Valuing investments in intellectual capital , 1999 .

[82]  Jaideep Motwani,et al.  Critical factors and performance measures of TQM , 2001 .

[83]  Roger G. Schroeder,et al.  A FRAMEWORK FOR QUALITY MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND AN ASSOCIATED MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT , 1994 .

[84]  M. Gloet,et al.  Knowledge management and the links to HRM: Developing leadership and management capabilities to support sustainability , 2006 .

[85]  Chinho Lin,et al.  TQM critical factors and KM value chain activities , 2006 .

[86]  J. Dean,et al.  MANAGEMENT THEORY AND TOTAL QUALITY: IMPROVING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE THROUGH THEORY DEVELOPMENT , 1994 .

[87]  J. Hackman,et al.  Total Quality Management: Empirical, Conceptual, and Practical Issues , 1995 .

[88]  Elizabeth Barnett,et al.  Knowledge management initiatives: learning from failure , 2000, J. Knowl. Manag..

[89]  K. D. Joshi,et al.  An investigation of factors that influence the management of knowledge in organizations , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[90]  K. B. Hendricks,et al.  Does Implementing an Effective TQM Program Actually Improve Operating Performance? Empirical Evidence from Firms That Have Won Quality Awards , 1997 .

[91]  Juan José Tarí,et al.  The relationship between quality management practices and their effects on quality outcomes , 2007, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[92]  F. Tunç Bozbura,et al.  Knowledge management practices in Turkish SMEs , 2007, J. Enterp. Inf. Manag..