An AHP based study of critical factors for TQM implementation in Shanghai manufacturing industries

In recent years, many organizations have looked upon continuous improvement and total quality management (TQM) as the means by which they could maintain a competitive edge. This paper investigates the critical factors and sub-factors that determine the adoption and implementation of TQM in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and foreign joint ventures (FJVs) in China with particular reference to the Shanghai manufacturing industries. It incorporates the main findings of a recent study, in which an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach was employed to prioritize the relative importance of four critical factors and sixteen sub-factors among SOEs and FJVs in China. The findings advocate that these enterprises would stress the soft TQM factors of organizing, and culture and people rather than the hard TQM factors of the systems, techniques and measurement, and feedback. Top management commitment, leadership, education and training are among the most important sub-factors. The results suggest a generic hierarchy model for organizations to prioritize the critical factors and formulate strategies for implementing TQM in Shanghai, as well as other cities and regions in China. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.