Effect of Total Quality Management Practices on Operational Efficiency of Container Depots in Mombasa County

Abstract

Total Quality Management requires that all members of the company to play a part in adding value in processes, products, services and culture in which they work. This can be attained by combining all quality-related functions and processes throughout the organization. TQM focuseson the overall quality aspects employed by an organization including managing quality design and development, quality control and maintenance, quality improvement, and quality assurance. The main objective of this research was to establish the effect of total quality management practices on operational efficiency of container depots in Mombasa County. The study adopted a descriptive design using cross-sectional data. The target population was 36 container depots in Mombasa County and since the population was small, a census survey was carried out on all the container depots in Mombasa County. A questionnaires were distributed to collect primary data. Out of the 40 research instruments distributed, 37 questionnaires were received and analyzed representing 81% response rate which was considered adequate. Data analysis was done using of SPSS which produced both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that three elements of total quality management practices (top management commitment, training, teamwork and employee commitment, customer focus and quality focus) had a significant relationship with operational efficiency (p<0.05). When individual total quality management practices were considered, top management commitment, training, teamwork and employee commitment, customer focus and quality focus also had a strong positive correlation with operational efficiency. The study therefore recommends that the container depots should concentrate on all aspects of total quality management practices since all the practices work in tandem to bring about superior operational efficiency.