Track: Total Quality Management (TQM)

Abstract

For over three decades, Total Quality Management (TQM) has been widely acknowledged as a crucial strategy for organizations. The present article aims to delineate how Albanian Companies utilize Quality Management Practices. To this end, a survey comprising 800 respondents was conducted to investigate the current status of Quality Management Practices utilization in Albania The analysis of QM practices unveiled that companies tend to favor the usage and accord greater importance to soft practices such as teamwork and customer focus. Contrarily, companies tend to attach less significance to and abstain from using hard practices such as Analysis of Variance and Six Sigma. According to the respondents, Albanian companies are positioned at a mid-level stage of QM maturity level, with more than 50% attesting that their companies are at the "inspection" age and less than 30% stating that their companies have accomplished strategic quality management. This unsatisfactory level of QM maturity may imply that Albanian companies prioritize quality management with more focus on inspection and control rather than quality assurance and strategic management. As such, "improvement" in this context may signify bringing the operation back to the standard rather than improving the standard. Ultimately, future research endeavors stemming from these findings could explore how QM practices could be effectively employed to help companies achieve higher QM maturity levels and strategic quality management.