Abstract

Automotive companies must implement and maintain a high degree of Total Quality Management (TQM) practices due to competitive automotive market and customer pressure. In the operations management research field, TQM has been considered as infrastructural strategy. It has become one of the most recognized models for operational excellence besides Lean Operation, Supply Chain Management, and Technology Management. The authors have reviewed updated literature on TQM research and one question that arrised was in re-validating the TQM constructs. Eight constructs were consolidated from literature. Can these eight constructs validly represent TQM as a whole? This paper presents findings of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on TQM practices in Malaysia and Thailand automotive industry. Data were obtained from 161 and 150 automotive companies and related suppliers in Malaysia and Thailand with 25% and 21% response rate respectively. The results indicate that from the eight TQM constructs, only seven TQM constructs are acceptable for further analysis. The paper with a proposed future direction ends of this research.

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