Total quality management practices and performance outcomes in Spanish service companies

The present study focuses on total quality management (TQM) implementation in service companies. The purpose of the study is to determine the latent factors of the TQM practices implemented as well as the dimensions of the respective performance outcomes. A research project was carried out in 72 Spanish service companies, using the questionnaire method. Two measurement models were formulated. The first model includes the TQM practices, while the second contains the performance outcomes. Exploratory factor analyses are applied to extract the latent factors. The TQM factors revealed by this study are the quality practices of top management, process management, employee quality management, customer focus and employee knowledge and education. The dimensions of the performance outcomes are financial performance, customer satisfaction, product/service quality performance and operational performance. In this study, TQM adoption in service companies is decoded by determining specific TQM factors. Moreover, the performance outcomes from TQM are classified. The TQM factors and the dimensions of performance outcomes expand the literature on TQM in the services sector.