Title: Scale development of critical success factors for quality management practices: evidence from Indian manufacturing SMEs

Authors: Rashmi Srinivas; D.R. Swamy; T.S. Nanjundeswaraswamy

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, JSS Academy of Technical Education, JSS Campus, Uttarahalli-Kengeri Road, Bangalore, 560060, Karnataka, India ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, JSS Academy of Technical Education, JSS Campus, Uttarahalli-Kengeri Road, Bangalore, 560060, Karnataka, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, JSS Academy of Technical Education, JSSATE-B Campus, Dr. Vishnuvardan Road, Post, Srinivaspura, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560060, India

Abstract: In developing countries like India, the level of awareness about quality management practices (QMP) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has increased recently. This study attempts to develop and validate a QMP scale for manufacturing SMEs. Using Pareto analysis vital QMP factors were identified and questionnaire was administered to 750 SMEs with 68.5% response rate. In order to extract and validate the latent factors, exploratory factor analysis coupled with confirmatory factor analysis was used. Further, structural equation modelling (SEM) was deployed for determining interrelationships of extracted factors. This resulted in seven-QMP factors with R = (0.50-0.81) and R-squared values ranged between 0.23-0.66 representing the variation in 35 items. The study contributes to QMP literature, by bestowing empirical data on QMP factors which are more appropriate for manufacturing SMEs. Though the study was conducted in Indian SMEs context, the research outcomes may be applicable for general manufacturing firms with slight modifications.

Keywords: small and medium enterprises; SMEs; scale development; confirmatory factor analysis; CFA; quality management practices; QMP; structural equation modelling; SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJQET.2019.104886

International Journal of Quality Engineering and Technology, 2019 Vol.7 No.3, pp.256 - 297

Received: 29 Dec 2018
Accepted: 03 Jul 2019
Published online: 05 Feb 2020 *

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