Evaluation of Employee Perception on the Readiness Level for Total Quality Management (TQM) Implementation in Seaports
Abstract
Importance of quality in seaports is rising due to the global competition process pushing seaports to ensure high service quality of various operations for the achievement of high business performance. With increasing standards of seaport infrastructures, a major factor affecting the service quality of operations is the human element such as employee perception of quality and commitment. Existing studies do not consider employee perception for quality management in seaports. The purpose of this research is to present an overall service quality assessment model in seaports for assessing the readiness level for TQM implementation. The study was conducted for the ABC seaport in India. This study followed an empirical case based research technique with the following stages: (1) Determining the feasibility of incorporating a total quality management philosophy in ABC seaport, (2) Performing gap analysis based on the TQM implementation survey, and (3) Recommending solutions for improvement. This research identifies a need for quality management in the ABC seaport and selects the Total Quality Management (TQM) approach. For performing gap analysis and to assess the readiness level, a surveying technique was used. The employee perception of critical success factors of TQM in ABC port was understood from the survey. Based on the results obtained from the survey, practical and strategic adjustments are suggested as recommendations to the ABC port. The employee focused approach presented in this thesis may also be extended to ports, other than those in the ABC family of ports.
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Laux, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Industrial engineering
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