Assessment of TQM implementation

Much has been written about the importance of assessing total quality management (TQM) practices in organisations. Several studies on TQM assessment are found in the literature. However, there are none on a national TQM programme using a quality award‐based instrument. This paper assesses the TQM implementation level of Singapore’s productivity leaders, which comprised the pioneer batch of 240 organisations in the Singapore Quality Award programme. The data were obtained from an instrument based on the TQM model underlying the Award. The organisations are found to have a medium level of TQM implementation. The high correlations among the TQM constructs underline a holistic approach to TQM implementation. The findings provide decision‐makers with benchmarks on TQM implementation in Singapore and suggest how they compare against organisations in some other countries. They also allow researchers to test hypotheses related to national TQM programmes and to undertake inter‐country studies.