An Exploratory Empirical Investigation of the Effects of Total Quality Management on Corporate Performance

This article explores the impact of the adoption of total quality management techniques on the performance of a pilot sample of 39 U.S. firms. Actual performance is compared to an improved benchmark performance measure of how the firms would have performed had they not adopted TQM. The findings indicate that performance, as measured by profit margin, return on assets, asset-use efficiency, and stock returns, is marginally better for firms that have implemented TQM. For a subsample of firms identified as having clearly more mature and well-integrated quality management approaches, the improved performance result is notably and consistently stronger.