Process Control as a Total Quality Management System and Performance of Selected Tea Processing Firms in Meru and Tharaka Nithi Counties of Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70619/vol5iss1pp43-58Keywords:
Total Quality Management System, Process Control, Organizational Performance, Tea Processing FirmsAbstract
The tea sector is considered a key pillar of the national economy accounting for 25 percent of total export earnings. However, the general performance of the sector as reflected in the incomes attributable to farmers, cost of production, conversion factors, and total yields has been declining. Informed by the deteriorating performance indicators, tea processing firms have been pursuing quality initiatives to enhance performance as represented in theory. The investigation wanted to prove the effect of process control as a total quality management system on the performance of tea processing firms. The investigation chose a descriptive research design and the target population comprised eight tea processing firms managed by Kenya Tea Development Agency. Descriptive and inferential statistics were adopted in the analysis of data. The Pearson correlation analysis output showed that process control as a total quality management system has a positive and statistically notable relationship with performance of tea processing firms. Despite the findings that general performance of the tea processing firms was fairly good, it was established that the tea processing firms was operating with a significantly high average cost of production occasioning need to pursue containment measures. It is recommended that the tea processing firms should explore further cost containment initiatives to check escalation which dilutes the ultimate returns attributable to shareholders. To improve on process control as a total quality dimension, the study recommends heightened pursuit of this dimension of the total quality management system as results indicated great benefits towards enhancement of organizational performance. The study recommends enhanced appreciation and acknowledgment of the quality management system as a process that requires enhanced empowerment of stakeholders to positively contribute to improvement.
References
Agriculture and Food Authority. (2021). Kenya Tea Performance Highlights for 2021 (12–2021; pp. 12–18). AFA.
Androniceanu, A. (2017). The three-dimensional approach of Total Quality Management is an essential strategic option for business excellence. Amfiteatru Economic, 19(44), 61–78.
Androwis, N., Sweis, R. J., Tarhini, A., Moarefi, A., & Hosseini, A. M. (2018). Total quality management practices and organizational performance in the construction chemicals companies in Jordan. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 25(8), 3180–3205.
Ansoff, H. I., Kipley, D., Lewis, A. O., Helm-Stevens, R., & Ansoff, R. (2019). Implanting strategic management. Springer.
Antony, J., & Preece, D. (2002). Understanding, managing and implementing quality: Frameworks, techniques and cases. Routledge. https://books.google.com
Balkenhol, B. (2007). Microfinance and public policy: Outreach, performance, and efficiency. Springer.
Beckford, J. (2016). Quality: A critical introduction. Routledge.
Boaden, R., Harvey, G., Moxham, C., & Proudlove, N. (2008). Quality improvement: Theory and practice. NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au
Buckingham, M., & Goodall, A. (2015). Reinventing performance management. Harvard Business Review, 93(4), 40–50.
Bulmberg, B., Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2011). Business research methods. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, Boston.
Chang, J. F. (2016). Business process management systems: Strategy and implementation. Auerbach Publications.
Chatzoglou, P., Chatzoudes, D., & Kipraios, N. (2015). The impact of ISO 9000 certification on firms’ financial performance. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 35(1), 145–174.
Chvala, R. J., & Johnson, W. C. (2017). Management System. In Total Quality in Marketing (pp. 105–131). Routledge.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
Crosby, P. B. (1984). Quality without tears: The art of hassle-free management. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Dahlgaard, J. J., Khanji, G. K., & Kristensen, K. (2008). Fundamentals of total quality management. Routledge. https://books.google.com
Dale, B. (2015). Total quality management. Wiley Online Library. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118785317.weom100042/full
De Feo, J. A. (2014). Juran’s quality essentials: For leaders. McGraw-Hill Education.
Deming, W. E. (1986). Out of Crisis, Centre for Advanced Engineering Study. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. (2006). Quality management: Introduction to total quality management for production, processing, and services. Prentice Hall.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Pearson Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Gupta, S. K., Starr, M. K., & Robertson, P. W. (2017). Quality Management. In The Routledge Companion to Production and Operations Management (pp. 125–146). Routledge.
Harrington, H. J. (2016). Plan–Do–Check–Act (Shewhart Cycle). The Innovation Tools Handbook, Volume 2: Evolutionary and Improvement Tools That Every Innovator Must Know.
ISO, E. (2015). 9001: 2015 Quality management systems. Requirements (ISO 9001: 2015), European Committee for Standardization, Brussels.
Jackson, S. L. (2015). Research methods and statistics: A critical thinking approach. Cengage Learning.
José, T., Juan. (2005). Components of successful total quality management. The TQM Magazine, 17(2), 182–194.
Juran, J. M. (1964). Managerial breakthrough: A new concept of the manager’s job. McGraw-Hill Companies.
Juran, J. M. (1986). The quality trilogy: A universal approach to managing for quality. ASQC 40th Annual Quality Congress in Anaheim, California.
Juran, J. M., Gryna, F. M., & Bingham, R. S. (1951). Quality control handbook (Vol. 3). McGraw-Hill New York.
Kaplan, R. S., & Atkinson, A. A. (2015). Advanced management accounting. PHI Learning. http://202.74.245.22:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/494
Karani, S. R., & Bichanga, W. O. (2012). Effects of Total Quality Management Implementation on business performance in service institutions: A case of Kenya Wildlife Services. International Journal of Research Studies in Management, 1(1), 59–76.
Kenyon, G. N., & Sen, K. C. (2015). The philosophy of quality. In The Perception of Quality (pp. 29–40). Springer.
Kimanthi, K. (2020). Small-scale farmers in Meru boycott tea picking citing low prices. https://nation.africa/kenya/counties/meru/small-scale-farmers-in-meru-boycott-tea-picking-citing-low-prices-1020774
Kiran, D. R. (2016). Total quality management: Key concepts and case studies. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Kulak, D., & Li, H. (2017). How Teams Keep Learning and Improving. In The Journey to Enterprise Agility (pp. 183–196). Springer.
Kutner, M. H., Nachtsheim, C., & Neter, J. (2004). Applied linear regression models. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Langabeer, J. (2018). Quality and Quality Management. In Performance Improvement in Hospitals and Health Systems (pp. 23–38). Productivity Press.
Logan, T. K., Padgett, D. K., Thyer, B. A., & Royse, D. (2006). Program evaluation: An introduction. Thomson Brooks/Cole, Belmont Google Scholar.
McGrath, J., & Bates, B. (2017). The Little Book of Big Management Theories: ... And how to use them. Pearson UK.
Mugenda, O. M., & Mugenda, A. G. (2003). Research methods. Nairobi: ACTS.
Neyestani, B. (2017). Principles and Contributions of Total Quality Management (TQM) Gurus on Business Quality Improvement.
Ngambi, M. T., & Nkemkiafu, A. G. (2015). The impact of total quality management on a firm’s organizational performance. American Journal of Management, 15(4), 69.
Oso, W. Y., & Onen, D. (2005). A Guide to Writing Research Proposals and Reports. Kisumu: Option Press.
Ott, R. L., & Longnecker, M. (2015). An introduction to statistical methods and data analysis. Nelson Education.
Pattanayak, D., & Punyatoya, P. (2015). Impact of total quality management on customer satisfaction in the Indian banking sector. International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 16(2), 127–147.
Ross, J. E. (2017). Total quality management: Text, cases, and readings. Routledge.
Shahdadnejad, R., & Alroaia, Y. (2013). The effect of TQM on customer satisfaction in higher education. Management Science Letters, 3(3), 891–896.
Singh, S., Darwish, T. K., & Potočnik, K. (2016). Measuring organizational performance: A case for subjective measures. British Journal of Management, 27(1), 214–224.
Smith, A. (2015). Pioneers of management. Dostępny w Internecie: Http://Www. Referenceforbusiness. Com/Management/Or-Pr/Pioneers-of-Management. Html.
Soltani, E., & Lai, P.-C. (2007). Process Control and Total Quality Management: A Qualitative Study of Three Manufacturing Organisations.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mwiti Mbae, Dr. Jedidah Muli
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
