Quality Management Systems and Coffee Quality in Small Scale Coffee Sub-sector in Kenya
Abstract
Quality management systems are developed for use as a management technique to communicate
to employees what is required to produce desired quality of products and services and to
influence employees‟ actions to complete tasks according to the quality specifications. The
Kenyan coffee competes on global market on its unique quality. The sector therefore is always
under pressure to produce coffee that will attract a premium price. This research study focused
on the small scale coffee subsector as it accounts for more than a half of the total coffee
production in Kenya. Well managed quality management systems have the potential of
transforming operational performance of an organization. The objectives of the study were to
establish the quality management systems in use by the cooperative societies in the small scale
coffee subsector, to determine extent of quality Management systems adoption by the
cooperative societies in the small scale coffee subsector and to establish the impact of adopted
quality management systems on coffee quality. The study was carried out through a descriptive
study of 20 coffee cooperative societies in Nyeri County. Questionnaires were used to collect
primary data. The collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics while regression
analysis technique was used to establish the relationship between the dependent and independent
variables. The research findings were presented in figures and tables. The findings indicated that
the small scale subsector is majorly using internal quality management systems and
ISO9001:2008 quality management system. However, the extent of adoption of the quality
management systems is very minimal. Further, the findings indicated a strong relationship
between the extent of adoption of the quality management system, various quality management
systems and coffee quality. The main conclusion was that there is no commitment by the
cooperatives to using QMS in achieving coffee quality. The researcher recommends that more
sensitization on the potential impact of QMS on coffee quality should be done in the subsector.
Publisher
University of Nairobi