Exploring total quality management for information systems in Indian firms

Abstract

Purpose Considering IS as an integral part of the Indian firms under the purview of this study the paper seeks to investigate the TQM‐IS relationship. Describing total quality management (TQM) on the basis of five principles: top management commitment, customer‐centric advancements, benchmarking, relentless improvement and strengthening the employee base, it aims to analyze the realization of pragmatic goals by Indian firms through TQM for IS. Design/methodology/approach Data collection was done by mail survey questionnaires. The data set was intended to represent a large variance in their annual turnovers, worth of assets, IS budgets and the segment of the industry to which they catered. Addressed to the top executive In charge of the IS department the survey questionnaire was mailed to 300 Indian companies assumed to be making use of TQM in their information systems department. The questionnaire recipients were selected from a wide array of business areas and the firms belonged to different classes such as insurance, banking, software, manufacturers, etc. Findings It was found to be catching fast in India as a synergy between TQM and IS accrues benefits for improving the quality of products and services – the most common ones being greater customer satisfaction, increased productivity of IS personnel and enhanced quality of services and products. However, the other benefits such as cost and time cutting on production and optimization of human resources too are rated well. Best implementation success was received in the principles of customer‐centric advancements and employee enrichment by strengthening the employee base. Practical implications This shows that TQM has the capability to entice the primary as well as the secondary customer. It was found that the most important factor on which TQM implementation benefits rely is the top management support. The key influencers of TQM benefits were customer‐centric advancements and top management's support. Originality/value Despite the limitations of respondent bias in the methodology the findings are in compliance with other relevant studies and it is argued that the study is of global applicability.

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