TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND SERVICE DELIVERY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES: CASE OF HORIZONS OFFICES LIMITED IN KENYA
Yvonne Achieng Murenga - Master of Business Administration (Strategic Management), Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Reuben Njuguna - Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
The service industry has consistently been characterized by persistent operational inefficiency and poor customer services and in order to address the problems of inefficiency in service delivery these organizations are fast adopting TQM in order to make them effective in meeting public demands. Despite the fact that quality management practices have been recognized by many organizations as capable of transforming the quality culture and producing substantial financial results for large size companies, some concerns have been raised about validity of quality management practices to generate real economic gains and or improve financial performance of firms. TQM is not only limited to product quality improvement. It also covers a wider aspect of quality. Previous empirical studies regarding the linkage between TQM and organizational performance as well as quality have shown significant and positive results. The main focus of TQM is to improve overall quality including process quality and service quality. Successful TQM implementation will give benefits in improving quality and reducing rework as well as reduction in costs of poor quality such as scrap, rework, late deliveries, warranty and replacement. TQM implementation correlates with quality conformance. The general objective of the study was to establish the effect of total quality management practices on service delivery at the Horizon Offices Limited, Kenya. The specific objectives were to determine the effect of the employee involvement, technology adoption, continuous improvement and cultural change on service delivery at Horizon Offices Limited, Kenya. The research was guided by leadership based theory, institutional theory and Deming’s theory of quality management. The study used a descriptive research design. The population of study was management staff at the four sections of the firm which include service offices, customized offices, co-working offices and virtual offices section. This consisted of 129 respondents who are the management staff of the three sections. A sample of 65 respondents was taken which formed 50% of the target population which was evenly spread across the four sections. The primary data was collected by use of self-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done by use of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean scores and standard deviation with the aid of SPSS and presented through tables, charts, graphs, frequencies and percentages. The study concluded that total quality management practices significantly influenced the quality of service delivery at the Horizon Offices Limited, Kenya. The study concluded that the the firm significantly involved employees through motivation, consultation, incorporating their input and ideas, remunerating and compensating them competitively and engaging them regularly and giving them priority. The study concluded that to a significant extent Horizon Offices embraced technology to enhance quality service delivery through capacity building, proficiency, digitizing communication, knowledge management, innovations and allocating more resources to new technology. It was concluded that to a significant extent the firm embraces Kaizen concept or continuous improvement through training, regular innovations, improved models of communications, system upgrade and updates of accounts to enhance quality and performance. The study concluded that the firm embraces a cultural change that favors quality service delivery. The firm observed structure management, learning culture, prioritizing employee welfare and embracing new ideas and ways of improving service delivery. The study recommends that the Horizon Offices Limited should ensure all employees are significantly involved in decision making, management and system improvement to ensure they are motivated and perform.
