Abstract:
TQM has metamorphosed from been a theoretical philosophy to what now provides real time evidence for assessing different performance measures for firms. However, this study investigated the relationship between TQM practices and performance of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria in 2019. A sample of seventeen (17) listed manufacturing firms out of twenty-seven (27) listed on Nigeria stock exchange as at 31st December 2019 was used for this study. The rationale for selecting these firm was benchmarked on their domestic quality award recipient and other international repository certifications. A sample of five (5) randomly selected TQM practices encompassing (human resource management, internal audit of quality, leadership engagement, kaizen management and technology utilization) adopted in this study were premised on Nigeria National Quality Awards; issued by Quality Award National Committee (QANC) in line with ECOWAS Regional Quality Awards. These quality indicators were rated between 50-100% on overall grading scale of 150% and are within level 1 to 4 requirements for manufacturing firms. Dataset for the survey was analyzed with the aid of SPSS statistical software, and analysis of correlation and regression, mean and standard deviation values are also determined to unravel the nexus between TQM and business performance of the sampled manufacturing firms. The regression result revealed that all TQM practices have positive effect on firm performance. It is further stressed that the linkages between firm performance and TQM practices is explained by the degree of responsiveness to variations on emphasis resulting from significance of one independent variable to the dependent variable.
