Total quality management (TQM) has been a widely applied process for improving competitiveness around the world, but with mixed success. A review of the literature revealed gaps in research in this area of quality/operations management, particularly in the area of empirical testing of the effectiveness of TQM implementation. The aim of this study was to examine the total quality management practices and operational performance of a large number of manufacturing companies in order to determine the relationships between these practices, individually and collectively, and firm performance. We used a large data base of 1200 Australian and New Zealand manufacturing organisations. The reliability and validity (construct, content, criterion) of the practice and performance measures were evaluated. Our study showed that the relationship between TQM practice and organisational performance is significant in a cross‐sectional sense, in that TQM practice intensity explains a significant proportion of variance in performance. Some but not all of the categories of TQM practice were particularly strong predictors of performance. The categories of leadership, management of people and customer focus were the strongest significant predictors of operational performance. This is consistent with literature findings that behavioural factors such as executive commitment, employee empowerment and an open culture can produce competitive advantage more strongly than TQM tools and techniques such as process improvement, benchmarking, and information and analysis.

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Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN For Authors:If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. Information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comWith over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractThe process of innovation depends heavily on knowledge, and the management of knowledge and human capital should be an essential element of running any type of business. Recent research indicates that organisations are not consistent in their approach to knowledge management (KM), with KM approaches being driven predominantly within an information technology (IT) or humanist framework, with little if any overlap. This paper explores the relationship between KM approaches and innovation performance through a preliminary study focusing on the manufacturing industry. The most significant implication that has emerged from the study is that managers in manufacturing firms should place more emphasis on human resource management (HRM) practices when developing innovation strategies for product and process innovations. The study shows that KM contributes to innovation performance when a simultaneous approach of "soft HRM practices" and "hard IT practices" are implemented.

ISO 9000 certification is one of the most popular quality assurance systems in the world. Despite its overwhelming popularity, there is considerable confusion and frustration surrounding the role and business value of ISO 9000 certification. A review of the literature revealed a major gap in research in this area of quality/operations management. The purpose of this study is to test the strength of the relationship between ISO 9000 certification and organisational performance in the presence and absence of a total quality management (TQM) environment. Our analysis is primarily of a large random sample of manufacturing companies in Australia and New Zealand. The central finding is that ISO 9000 certification is not shown to have a significantly positive effect on organisational performance in the presence or absence of a TQM environment. This supports the view that on average ISO 9000 certification has little or no explanatory power of organisational performance.