TQM practices and quality management performance: An investigation of their relationship using data from ISO 9001:2000 firms in Malaysia

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices and quality performance with special emphasis on ISO 9001:2000 certified manufacturing organizations in Malaysia.

The empirical data was drawn from 122 ISO 9001:2000 certified manufacturing organizations in Malaysia. The data were analyzed using correlation and multiple regression analyses.

The findings revealed that TQM practices were found to be partially correlated with quality performance of the Malaysian ISO 9001:2000 certified manufacturing organizations. It is also found that where customer focus and continual improvement were perceived as dominant TQM practices in quality performance.

This research paper was limited by excluding non‐ISO 9001:2000 certified organizations in the selection of manufacturing firms in Malaysia, making this a possibly biased selection, which might not adequately represent the Malaysian perspective on the entire Malaysia's manufacturing industry.

The outcome of the study could provide valuable knowledge to top management of ISO 9001:2000 certified manufacturing organizations to refine their quality management practices and subsequently improve quality performance.