Track: Human Factors and Ergonomics

Abstract

In the era of globalization, the relationship between leadership styles and quality management practices is that both appears to be incapable of being clearly distinguished among the manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Thus, the goal of this research is to determine the relationship between leadership styles and quality management practices in manufacturing firms, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. There are three leadership styles which are investigated in this research to know how far it affects the quality of management practices in manufacturing firms. They are transformational leadership, transactional leadership and laissez faire leadership styles. In this study, survey questionnaires were administered to the targeted respondents, which are quality managers of Johor Bahru manufacturing firms. The obtained data are analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The findings indicated that there is a positive significant relationship between transformational and transactional leadership styles and quality management practices in Johor Bahru manufacturing firms. Meanwhile, the laissez faire leadership style has weak correlation with the quality management practices. This quantitative study is important to manufacturing firms not only in Malaysia but also worldwide in order to gain insight into the correlation between the leadership styles and quality management practices in manufacturing firms.