The effect of total quality management-enabling factors on corporate social responsibility and business performance: evidence from Vietnamese coffee firms

Purpose This article aims to evaluate total quality management (TQM)-enabling factors' impact on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and business performance through evidence from Vietnamese coffee firms. Design/methodology/approach Based on collecting data via in-depth face-to-face interviews with employees, who are working in the Vietnamese coffee companies. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach has been employed to investigate the relationship among the TQM-enabling factors, corporate social performance (CSP) and business performance. Findings A total of 13 TQM-enabling factors have been identified and divided into two categories, namely human and functional. The statistical results revealed a positive signal to remarkably enhance CSP and business performance by adopting those TQM-enabling factors into Vietnamese coffee firms. Research limitations/implications The framework model of this research should be evaluated in different contexts worldwide or in another sector that can further identify the TQM-enabling factor and the correlation among these constructs. Practical implications This article provides top managers of Vietnamese coffee firms with knowledge of TQM-enabling factors that may enable them to meet superior performance, including CSP, finance and reputation. Originality/value This is a unique study to employ the approach into the Vietnamese coffee industry context up-to-date, which is one of the essential sectors affecting Vietnam's sustainable development.