Benchmarking of TQM practices in INGOs: a literature review

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to aggregate significant part of debates in the field of International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) toward performance improvement by benchmarking of the Total Quality Management (TQM) practices, and to propose TQM-Benchmarking model as a seed for future research in the context of INGOs.

Design/methodology/approach

TQM practices for INGOs were first identified based on critical synthesis of the literature for both, existing for-profit TQM literature and the INGOs field-specific quality and accountability frameworks, initiatives, and practices (Jordan introduced as an example) followed by solicitation of the opinions of experts and colleagues through personal interviews and focus group discussions to define the proposed TQM-Benchmarking model.

Findings

TQM-Benchmarking model of six practices vital to INGOs performance are proposed by this review including leadership and management commitment, beneficiaries focus and participation, partnership management for sustainability, human resource (HR) focus, process management and learning and continuous improvement, and use of quality information.

Originality/value

While TQM practices succeed in improving performance of for-profit organizations, this review proposed TQM-Benchmarking model with field-specific practical pillars of performance improvement in the INGOs.

Citation

Sweis, R.J., Mahmoud Saleh, F.I., Dahiyat, S.E., Sweis, N.J., Saleh, R.A. and Diab, H. (2016), "Benchmarking of TQM practices in INGOs: a literature review", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 236-261. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-02-2015-0013