Quality Management Practices in Namibian SMEs: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have significantly contributed to growth, innovation and success of several economies across the world. However, SMEs in emerging economies have faced stiff competition in the global market. The purpose of this research is to provide an insight into the status of quality management (QM) practices in Namibian SMEs. This article presents a survey-based approach to evaluate the application of QM practices, the associated critical success factors (CSFs), business performance indicators for quality improvement and the reasons for non-implementation of the quality tools from an emerging economy perspective. An online questionnaire was designed and distributed to 182 Namibian SMEs through stratified random sampling. The overall response rate was 37.86 per cent. Analysis of results showed that the level of application of QM practices was generally low. The main reasons for not implementing QM initiatives were as follows: (a) unknown tools in enterprises, (b) difficulties in data collection and (c) high costs of training. Relative influences of CSFs and the Criticalto-Quality (CTQs) were also evaluated. Intriguingly, top management commitment and support was not a major CSF. Low response rate and context specificity tend to limit the generalization of the results. The study provides insights for policymakers to develop effective policies for QM education and training programmes, hence facilitating effective adoption of QM practices in a developing world context.

Determinant Variables of Quality Management Practices in Micro and Small Enterprises in Ecuador

“…The results found in this research corroborate the proposals of previous research (Mutingi & Chakraborty, 2018;Yang, 2020), regarding the variables considered, as well as the basic conclusion that smaller companies do not present a broad level of development of the variables related to quality management. Similarly, indirectly, information is provided that validates the approach of Majumdar et al ( 2019) and Sternad et al (2019) regarding the proportionality relationship between variables of the number of workers and financial availability and the degree of development of quality management.…”

“…A study with a similar purpose to that of this research was developed in Namibia (Mutingi & Chakraborty, 2018), considering variables related to the direction and management of human resources and the variables of measurement, control and improvement (Garro, 2020). This research found that the application of quality management practices is generally low.…”

The Influence of Employee Involvement in Total Quality Management on Employee Performance

“…In the practice of total quality management, all staff and whole process management are required (Mutingi & Chakraborty, 2021). All staff management means that every employee is in a different quality node, and everyone's quality performance will affect the quality of products or services.…”

Lean Readiness Factors and Organizational Readiness for Change in Manufacturing Smes: The Role of Organizational Culture

“…This weakness in the aforementioned studies creates a huge gap in lean research with emphasis on readiness factors, organisational culture and organisational readiness for change to lean which lead to the existence of mixed and inconclusive findings regarding pre-lean stage has brought a lot of problem and needs to be addressed urgently to avoid further implementation failure. As posited by Danese et al, (2018) & Mutingi, (2018) future studies should explore and formulate a suitable framework for SMEs aimed at promoting the deployment and implementation of QM practices like lean manufacturing in emerging economies.…”