Title: TQM implementation in Indian airline industry: a digraph approach

Authors: Waqas Niazi; Jamal A. Farooquie

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Studies and Research, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, India ' Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Studies and Research, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, India

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to identify TQM practices pertinent to airlines as well as evaluate and compare the TQM implementation in private and public airlines. The evaluation and comparison of TQM implementation in airlines are made using the digraph theory. A digraph is used in the graph-theoretical model to represent abstract system information using directed edges, which are useful for visual analysis. The digraph-developed matrix model is useful for computer processing. The permanent value of multinomial developed from the matrix represents a single number/index that is useful for comparison, ranking, and optimal selection. In our study, seven different TQM practices pertinent to airlines were identified. Also, by calculating the TQM index, it was found that the level of TQM implementation is better in the case of private airlines compared to public airlines.

Keywords: total quality management; TQM; digraph theory; performance measurement; service industry; airline industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2025.148829

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2025 Vol.52 No.1, pp.82 - 105

Received: 24 Jun 2023
Accepted: 20 Jul 2023
Published online: 29 Sep 2025 *

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