International Conference On Quality, Productivity And Performance Measurement (ICQPPM’09)

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TQM: IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP WITH INNOVATION

PERFORMANCE?

Voon-Hsien Leea, *Keng-Boon Ooia, Boon-In Tana and Alain Yee-Loong Chong

ABSTRACT

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between TQM practices
and innovation performance as perceived by managers in Malaysia’s Electrical and
Electronics (E&E) organizations. This study based on empirical data collected from a survey
of 125 managers of Malaysia’s E&E firms. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were
performed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the multiple
regression analysis was used to examine the research framework. The results revealed that
customer focus, human resource management and process management showed positive
associations with innovation performance. It was also found that process management was
perceived as a dominant TQM practice in improving firms’ innovation performance. This
analysis is especially vital for senior managers of E&E companies that want to establish an
innovation capability. Senior managers can focus their efforts on TQM practices that show
the most promise for building competitive innovation competencies.

Keywords: TQM, Innovation Performance, Malaysia, Electrical and Electronics

Article Type: Research Paper

INTRODUCTION

Total quality management, also known as TQM, is a business management strategy that seeks
to improve the quality of organizational management, and hence improving competitiveness
and the value provided to customers. It is a well-known fact that TQM provides a competitive
edge for companies that adopt and execute it successfully (Projogo and Sohal, 2004) as TQM
engages all divisions, departments and different levels of an organization. When management
processes are well-coordinated, this would result in a lower cost of production, enhance the
efficiency and effectiveness of output production, leading to an improvement in the overall
business performance. As one of the main determinants of companies’ success and survival,
TQM is extensively used by various types of organizations, ranging from manufacturing
industry to service industry (Su et al., 2001; Demirbag et al., 2006).
Even though the current relationship between TQM in innovation performance (e.g.
Prajogo and Sohal, 2003; Hoang et al., 2006; Singh and Smith, 2004) and company’s
performance have been earlier established, the research on the relationship between TQM
practices and innovation performance have not been conducted in great detailed, particularly
in Malaysia’s Electrical and Electronics (E&E) organizations. With the recent economic
crisis worldwide originated from USA, Malaysia’s economy has not been spared. The
Business Condition Index has plunged to historical low of 53.8, way below 100 level and
Consumer Condition Index also fell to 71.4, second lowest in record for the fourth quarter
2008 (Quah, 2009). This scenario is further reflected in the total exports from Malaysia with
a drop of 22.2% to RM77.9 billion (RM3.65=USD1.00) for the first two months of 2009.
More specifically, the export revenue from the E&E sector has dropped by RM10.2 billion or
-26.4% from a year ago at RM28.4b (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2009) Amidst these

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International Conference On Quality, Productivity And Performance Measurement (ICQPPM’09)

challenges, the manufacturing and service divisions should look into creating and generating
goods and services which are of superior quality (Abdullah et al., 2008; Beckford, 1998). In
order to stay competitive, the firms in Malaysia should devote their resources in innovation
activities. By doing so, quality performance will be better attained by firms to appear as
forerunners during times of recession (Abdullah et al., 2008). However, the E&E sectors in
Malaysia are still below the expectation level to produce high quality innovations that can
assist the nations in terms of economic growth and towards realization of becoming a high
tech industrialized nation by year 2020 (Abdullah et al., 2008). Since the E&E sector in
Malaysia contributes a great deal to the country’s economy, it is believed that to stay
competitive, firms are encouraged to innovate and improve quality performance. In order to
examine the multidimensionality of TQM practices and its relationship with innovation
performance, this paper is aimed towards examining whether the application of TQM
practices allows organizations to build their competence and competitiveness in innovation
performance specifically in the context of the ISO 9001:2000 certified E&E organizations
within Malaysia’s industry. This paper aimed at reporting the TQM impacts on any
innovation improvement particularly during the economic recession.
This paper thus provides an empirical study supporting the main objective in our
study: to examine the relationship between TQM practices and innovation performance as
perceived by managers in Malaysia’s ISO 9001:2000 electrical and electronics organizations.
This paper is structured as follows: Firstly we review the literature relevant to the key
practices of TQM, followed by the link between TQM and innovation performance. This
leads to the development of the research questions and conceptual research framework for
this research. Finally, the paper ends with several conclusions, limitations and suggestion for
future research, implications and recommendation for future research.

LITERATURE REVIEW TQM PRACTICES

In the earlier period, various attempts have been done to validate the dimensions of TQM
(Saraph et al., 1989; Flynn et al., 1994; Ahire et al., 1996). Even though several TQM
constructs have been known, resemblance among them can be identified. A score of
researchers have used the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award (MBNQA) framework
as a basis model for TQM (Jung and Wang, 2006; Choi and Eboch, 1998). Apart from that, a
yearly USA MBNQA, which encompasses a list of criteria related with TQM was also set up
by the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Improvement Act of 1987. The six criteria are
also known as leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, information and analysis,
people management, and process management (Prajogo and Hong, 2008; Miranda, 2003;
Prajogo and Sohal, 2003). These six constructs of MBNQA have been established to signify
TQM practices by numerous researchers such as Ahire et al., (1996); Dean and Bowen
(1994). A large amount of the manufacturing firms in Europe, the USA, Japan and Australia
have also adopted these six constructs (Samson and Terziovski, 1999) and it is believed that
these six practices of MBNQA can be used to assess the improvement in quality of any kind
or dimension of any companies (Hart and Schlesinger, 1991). Effective application of
MBNQA criteria can improve the economic performance of firms (Hendricks and Singhal
(1997); Hendricks and Singhal (2001))
Based on the in-depth review of earlier studies done (e.g., Prajogo and Hong, 2008;
Prajogo and Sohal, 2003; Wilson and Collier, 2000; Samson and Terziovski, 1999; Choi and
Eboch, 1998), the six dimensions of TQM practices are leadership, strategic planning,
customer focus, information and analysis, people management, and process management
have been selected to be examined in this current study.

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RELATIONSHIP OF TQM AND INNOVATION PERFORMANCE

In the past two decades, several scholars such as Dean and Evans, (1994); Kanji, (1996);
Tang, (1998); Roffe, (1999); Lorente et al., , (1999); Hoang et. al., (2006), argued that there
is a positive relationship between TQM and innovation and that the dimensions of TQM can
assist an organization to create a more innovative culture, hence TQM is not a hindrance
towards innovation in providing new products, services and processes because new and
improved methods can be identified for businesses to be more efficient and effective. As
customers are becoming increasingly demanding, Lorente et al., (1999) argued that by
applying TQM practices can help firms to focus on existing and potential customers’ needs
and wants. Companies that are more inclined to innovate and invent the latest products and
services are able to exceed customers’ expectations (Prajogo and Sohal, 2004). Therefore it is
safely said that customer focused is strongly linked to innovation since there are always new
needs and demand to be fulfilled.
By incorporating TQM practices in a company, employees are more receptive to a
rapid technological innovations changes in new systems and operations as their basic skills
and knowledge are being brushed up and developed through various training programs
(Lorente et al., 1999), hence it is positively associated with innovation. To add on further,
training improves employee loyalty, whereby it helps to create a sense of empowerment
among employees. As quoted by Lorente et al., (1999) of Metins et al., (1997), empowered
employees who take part in the change process are more willing to involve themselves in
making continuous improvement to their accountable processes. By implementing TQM
practices in a firm, employees are more adaptable to change, which will determine the
success of organizational innovation (Prajogo and Sohal, 2001). The arguments’ supporting
the positive relationship between TQM and innovation is also substantiated by several studies
done. Hoang et al., (2006) identified the findings of studies done by Flynn, 1994, and
Terziovski and Samson, 1999, and establish that a positive relationship exists between TQM
and innovation in terms of the speed to market. In addition to that, Hoang et al., (2006) also
found a positive relationship with both product quality and product innovation performance
on the study done by Projogo and Sohal (2003) in which 194 managers working in both
manufacturing and non-manufacturing companies in Australia were surveyed. Later, Hoang
et al., (2006) did a review of the companies in Vietnam, and found that an organization that
applies TQM practices had a positive relationship on the innovation performance with the
level of newness, especially on the number of new products and services commercialized.
Hence, in innovative organizations, as TQM is practiced, the leaders in an organization are
believed to be able to build the self-belief of their people and it is this self-belief that unlocks
the door to successful innovation.
On the other hand, some scholars disagree with the arguments above, proposing that
there is a negative relationship between TQM and innovation. Hoang et al (2006) mentioned
scholars such as Wind and Mahajan (1997) and Kim and Marbougne (1999), who argued that
TQM can obstruct innovation. Hoang et al (2006) further referenced Atuahene-Gima (1996)’s
argument, stating that customer focus is more concerned towards product quality as
compared to innovation. The relationship between TQM and innovation was also being
explored by Singh and Smith (2004), whereby a survey was conducted on 417 Australian
manufacturing firms. However, the results showed insufficient statistical evidence that
innovation is casually related to TQM and suggested that there could be more complex
relationship between these concepts.

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Projogo and Sohal (2001) made an in-depth analysis on the negative relationships between
TQM and innovation. Firstly, they found that TQM prevents organizations from searching
out new innovations. Scholars such as Wind and Mahajan (1997), and Harari (1993) were
being quoted as stating that TQM centers on incremental improvements, resulting in product
conformance rather than radical innovation. The second proposition by Projogo and Sohal
(2001) was that TQM prevents companies from being broad-minded. Quoting from the
findings of scholars such as Kim and Marbougne (1999) and Wind and Mahajan (1997),
being customer focus, maintaining long-term relationship with existing customers and
satisfying their needs, coupled with uncertainties of the future could lead companies to be
reactive and short term focus, constraining the firm’s ability to innovate, thus preventing
firms to become industry leaders.

RESEARCH FRAMEWORK AND QUESTIONS

Based on the above literature review, a research model was developed to examine the
relationship between TQM practices and innovation in Malaysia’s E&E firms as shown in
Figure 1.

Figure 1: The Research Model

TQM Practices

o Leadership
Innovation
o Strategic Planning
o Customer Focus Performance
o Human Resource Focus
o Information Analysis
o Process Management

The following two research questions of this study can be articulated as follows:

RQ1: Is there any significant relationship between TQM practices and innovation
performance in Malaysia’s E&E firms?

RQ2: If yes, on which TQM practice has greater association with innovation performance in
Malaysia’s E&E firms?

The research methodology employed in the study is discussed in the next section.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this section we discuss sample and data collection procedures and operational measures of
variables used in the study as well as the statistical tests used to evaluate the relationship
between TQM practices and innovation performance.

Sample and procedures

The target population of this study was managers from the electrical and electronics
organizations had registered to the ISO 9000 quality system series. These TQM
implementation firms were drawn from the list of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers
(FMM) Directory (2007). From this directory, manufacturing and service firms that had
implemented ISO9000 were determined. The level of analysis for this study was the
managers who possessed adequate knowledge of their organizational practices pertaining to
quality management while had great understanding about the level of innovation performance
in their organizations. The empirical data was collected using a questionnaire survey. A
random sample of 620 managers was selected from Malaysia’s organizations which have
been ISO 9001:2000 certified. Only one registered site per organization was included in the
sample. Of this 620 questionnaires originally distributed, 206 were returned with complete
answers. This constituted an overall response rate of 33.23%. Since the focus of this study
was on the electrical and electronics sector, all surveys from non-electrical and electronics
organizations were discounted. This reduced the sample size by a further 40.0%, leaving an
actual total sample size of 125.

ANALYSES OF DATA

Factor analysis was initially undertaken for the study variables. Reliability coefficients and
inter-correlations were computed to understand the variability and interdependence of the
subscales derived from the factor analyses. The multiple regression analysis was used to
examine the link between TQM practices and innovation performance.

THE RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

The tools used in this research study comprises of two major segments. The initial segment
comprises of the six dimensions assessing TQM and the next segment consists of nine items
evaluating the innovation performance on the whole.

VARIABLE MEASUREMENT

TQM Measures
We analyzed TQM measures based on the six dimensions developed by Prajogo and Sohal
(2003). These six dimensions are leadership, customer focus, strategic planning, information
analysis, process management and human resource focus. A total 43 statements were
developed to further breakdown the attributes of these six dimensions. These items were
selected because they have been widely accepted and referred to in the TQM literatures.
Respondents to these items were on 5-point Likert format, ranged from 1= strongly disagree
to 5 = strongly agree, was used to measure all the statements.

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Innovation Performance

From many of the literature we reviewed (Prajogo and Sohal, 2003; Hoang et al., 2006; Singh
and Smith, 2004), we measured innovation performance using nine statements developed
under this construct. Respondents (i.e. managers) were asked to indicate their opinions about
the innovation performance level in their organizations based on five-point Likert scale (1 =
strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = neutral; 4 = agree; 5 = strongly agree).

Results of the Survey

Factor Analysis and Scale Reliabilities

A varimax rotated principal component factor analysis was applied on the six dimensions of
TQM practices (leadership, customer focus, strategic planning, information sharing, process
management and human resource focus) comprising 43 items; innovation performance
consists of 9 items respectively. The item loading range for each factor was rather high with a
minimum loading of 0.520 (leadership). According to Rollins (1992), a loading of 0.4 or
higher is generally considered good in statistical terms. Therefore, the survey instrument had
been validated to have construct validity. The reliability coefficient of the independent
variables (TQM practices and the dependent variable (i.e. innovation performance) were
above 0.70, which concurs with the suggestion made by Nunnally and Bernstein (1994). The
results of factor analysis and reliability analysis are summarised in Table I.

Table I: Instrument reliability and validity

Construct Items Standardiz Cronbach
e Loading ’s α
Independent variables
Leadership (LD) 7 0.520-0.806 0.838
Strategic Planning (SP) 7 0.634-0.788 0.881
Customer Focus (CF) 7 0.664-0.763 0.886
Human Resource Management (HRM) 7 0.688-0.843 0.917
Process Management (PM) 8 0.599-0.834 0.892
Information & Analysis (IA) 7 0.707-0.825 0.909

Dependent Variable
Innovation Performance (IP) 9 0.691-0.861 0.926

Correlation Analysis: Relationships between the variables

A Pearson’s correlation analysis was carried out to examine the bivariate relationships
between the independent variables and dependent variable respectively. Table II displayed
the results of the correlation analysis of the study variables.

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International Conference On Quality, Productivity And Performance Measurement (ICQPPM’09)

Table II: Correlation Analysis

LS SP CF HR PM IA INNOV
LS 1.000
SP 0.797* 1.000
*
CF 0.735* 0.734* 1.000
* *
HR 0.746* 0.776* 0.845* 1.000
* * *
PM 0.713* 0.764* 0.858* 0.768** 1.000
* *
IA 0.704* 0.820* 0.717* 0.788** 0.860** 1.000
* * *
INNOV 0.676* 0.733* 0.835* 0.703** 0.927** 0.824** 1.000
* * *
Note: ** p-value < 0.01; LS = Leadership; SP = Strategic Planning; CF = Customer Focus;
HR = Human Resource management; PM = Process Management; IA = Information &
Analysis; INNOV = Innovation

The correlation matrix in Table II indicated that all six TQM practices (six independent
variables) were significantly positive with the dependent variable (i.e. innovation
performance). These results revealed that the six TQM practices had a positive correlation
with innovation performance. There is a strong positive relationship between process
management and innovation performance (r = 0.927, p < 0.01). On the other hand, there is a
weak correlation between leadership and innovation performance (r = 0.676, p < 0.01). The
results of the correlation analysis indicates that process management perceived as a dominant
for TQM practices to enhance the level of innovation performance as they have a high
correlation between them. Hence, the practices of TQM may impact on innovation
performance. In Table II, the highest value of coefficient is 0.860 (process management with
information analysis) which is smaller than 0.90. Therefore, it is assumed that there was no
multicollinearity problem in this research (Hair et al., 1998).

Multiple Regression Analysis

Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the link between TQM practices and
innovation performance. According to Hair et al., (1998), this constructive statistical
technique can be used to analyze the associations between a set of independent variables and
a single dependent variable.
If the estimated parameter ratio is between 15:1 to 20:1 it is reasonable to conclude
that the sample size was meaningful (Hair et al., 1998). In this study, the sample size to the
estimated parameter ratio was 20.83:1. Thus, it can be assumed that the sample size is
adequate (Hair et al., 1998).

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Table III: Regression analysis of TQM practices on innovation performance

B S. E. β p
(Constant) 0.137 0.141 0.333
Leadership -0.006 0.065 -0.006 0.926
Strategic Planning 0.060 0.070 0.060 0.392
Customer Focus 0.187 0.072 0.196 0.011*
Human Resource Management 0.129 0.059 0.142 0.032*
Process Management 0.764 0.077 0.760 0.000**
Information Analysis 0.076 0.077 0.076 0.328

R 0.933
R2 0.871
F-statistic 132.665
p < 0.001
Adj. R2 0.864
N 125
Note: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01

From Table III, it can be observed that the coefficient of determination (R²) was 0.871,
representing that 87.1% of innovation performance can be explained by the six independent
variables (TQM practices). The proposed model was adequate as the F-statistic = 132.665 (p-
value = 0.000) was significant at the 1% level (p < 0.01). This indicates that the overall
model was reasonable fit and there was a statistically significant relationship between TQM
practices and innovation performance. The individual model variables revealed that customer
focus (β = 0.196, p < 0.05), human resource management (β = 0.142, p < 0.05) and process
management (β = 0.760, p < 0.01) were found to have a significant and positive relationship
with innovation performance. Meanwhile leadership (β = -0.006, p > 0.05), strategic planning
(β = 0.060, p > 0.05) and information analysis (β = 0.076, p > 0.05) had no significant
relationship with innovation performance. However, these dimensions have provided long-
term, infrastructural benefits necessary for the continued improvement over time, but with an
indirect relationship towards innovation performance.

Discussion

On the whole, the main aim of this research paper was to study the relationship between
TQM practices (i.e. leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, process management,
customer focus, information and analysis, and human resource focus) and innovation
performance as perceived by managers in Malaysia working in the electrical and electronics
area. The results obtained from the multiple regression analysis shows that TQM has a
significantly positive relationship with innovation performance. Findings from this research
demonstrated that for the E&E companies being surveyed in Malaysia, only three out of the
six constructs of TQM, have to a certain degree a positive impact on innovation performance.
On the other hand, the other three TQM practices, namely leadership, strategic planning and
information and analysis are insignificantly related with innovation performance. Hence, our
results strongly support the findings by Prajogo and Sohal (2003) that not all TQM
dimensions are positively related with innovation level of firms.
The findings from this research study shows that process management is significantly
related to the innovation performance of the E&E companies being surveyed in Malaysia.
This result supported the earlier findings by Prajogo and Sohal (2003), whereby they did a

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study on a large manufacturing firm in Australia on the relationship between process

management and innovation performance and found that as the stricter the company applies
quality systems and standard into its production process, the higher the quality performance.
We found that leadership was not positively associated with innovation performance. This
result implies that the downside of lacking in commitment among the top management team
can impact negatively on firms’ innovation performance within the E&E context. This result
contradicts with the result given by Hoang et al., (2006) in which they concluded that
leadership had portrayed a positive impact on Vietnamese firms’ innovation performance in
terms of the level of newness by providing the reason that a supportive management ensures
the success of TQM implementation.
Similarly, strategic planning was found to be insignificantly related to the innovation
performance. This implies that strategic planning could not successfully encourage
innovation performance within the E&E companies in Malaysia. This result contradicts the
findings of Zhang (2000) in which he established that a company’s vision and mission
statement (i.e. part of the process of strategic planning) is positively related to its
performance. Thus, a proper strategic quality planning should be adopted by the
organizations’ management team in order to come out with specific targets to be pursued by
the employees while fostering a culture that supports quality management. This in return, will
lead to an improved performance in innovation level.
We also found that customer focus has a positive relationship and contributes to the
innovation performance within Malaysia’s E&E sector. This is a contradictory finding
compared to Projogo and Sohal (2001) whereby they established that being customer-
oriented prevents companies from being broad-minded, restraining the firm’s ability to
innovate, thus preventing firms to become industry leaders. Furthermore, based on past
research findings done, they came up with a proposition that as TQM emphasizes more on
satisfying the existing customers’ needs, firms would be prevented from adopting new
technology to improve on their current processes, as well as introducing drastic innovation.
Hence, Projogo and Sohal (2001) concluded that firms that are being too customer focus is
unlikely to innovate due to high costs and perceived risk.
Apart from that, information and analysis were found to be insignificantly related to
innovation. This result is consistent with the findings of Hoang et al., (2006), in which it also
confirms the earlier findings of Gustafson and Hundt, 1995; and McAdam et al., 1998
whereby such TQM practice decreases the discrepancy as it mainly deals with formalizing
and controlling. In this respect, TQM in a manufacturing based organizations may set
production efficiency as the primary objective where using information and analysis to
control and conform to the standard were at higher priority rather than using it as a tool for
innovation.
Besides that, the statistical result acquired from this study also shows that human
resource management was found to be positively related with the level of innovation
performance and product quality of a firm. This result was consistent with the comments
made by Lorente et al., (1999) in that well-trained employees are more open to accept
changes in new systems and operations. Therefore, as and when training is provided,
employees’ morale and confidence are elevated; and when employee morale is up, the work
environment becomes more conducive to work in, thus encouraging employees to be more
open and susceptible to change, which will in turn determine the success of organizational
innovation (Prajogo and Sohal, 2001). In a study carried out by Abrunhosa and Moura (2007)
in Portugal, they found that there is positive association between TQM and technological
innovation in the footwear industry. Communication, teamwork and supportive people
management practices positively impact on innovation performance in the organizations,
although the relationship is not to be very significant. Hence, to ensure the success of TQM

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practices in contributing to the fortification of innovation performance, effective and

appropriate human resources within the organization should not be overlooked.

Research Implications

This study reorients contemporary research in TQM area and the implications in both
theoretical and managerial perspectives were obtained. These inferences will be further
discussed as follows.

Theoretical Implications

From the theoretical implications’ standpoint, this study provides a better perception of TQM
in its involvement towards innovation performance within the E&E sector in Malaysia. The
link between TQM practices and innovation performance in the E&E industry fills the current
discrepancy and consequent gap in knowledge. The proposed theoretical model used in this
study focus on those TQM constructs that are predominantly important in ascertaining a high
level of innovation performance towards the E&E sector. In addition, the examination
towards the multidimensionality of TQM elements, which assist the innovation performance
level inside the E&E sector are inadequate, particularly for a developing country such as
Malaysia. Hence, with its relatively new concept, this research seeks to attract the attention of
other researchers as it tries to discover the circumstances that can contribute to the
establishment of innovation performance, especially in the area of TQM.

Managerial Implications

On the whole, this study has revealed the importance of TQM implementation in which it
reinforces the general belief that some of the TQM practices such as customer focus, human
resource management, and process management are positively related to innovation
performance. Hence, organizations should give more attention to these three constructs of
TQM when comes to managing their organizations. Furthermore, the result from this research
also offers imperative procedures and benchmarks for the management team when comes to
revising their TQM practices, making sure that the TQM programs implemented are able to
aid the innovation performance within their organizations. Lastly, it is vital to have the
constant support and commitment of the top management towards TQM programs as the
withdrawal of such programs may lead to the dissatisfaction of many customers, which may
ultimately cause the firm’s innovative performance to deteriorate.

Research Limitations and Future Research

The limitations in this study should be noted and taken into consideration when it comes to
conducting further research. First, cross-sectional data were employed in this study and it is
difficult to determine the time series of the link between variables. Hence, the result obtained
from this study should not be concluded as evidence of the causal relationships. Therefore, it
is proposed that longitudinal research designs are to be carried out in the future to present a
more conclusive proof of the causation. Second, even though questionnaire survey is
considered a fairly cost-effective and reliable research method, questionnaire survey may still
suffer response bias and lack of respondent awareness. This analysis should therefore be
followed by field observations and interviews of full-time managers from the sample. Finally,
the sample size used in this research is rather small. It is recommended that a larger sample
size be employed for future research. By doing so, it is strongly believed that it can improve

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on the implication and the reliability of the results obtained. Moreover, given a larger and
more sufficient sample size, researchers might be able to implement the structural equation
modeling (SEM) technique to better explore the link between TQM practices and innovation
performance.

Conclusion

In summary, the objective of this research paper is to examine the link between TQM
practices and innovation performance as perceived by the managers of the E&E companies in
Malaysia. In responses to RQ1 & RQ2, the findings obtained shows that TQM practices are
significantly and positively linked with the innovation performance of the firms. It was
further discovered that the constructs of process management, customer focus and human
resource focus were strongly linked to innovation performance, primarily the construct of
process management, as it was found to be the leading TQM element that is associated
strongly with innovation performance within the Malaysia E&E sector.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Ms Y-S Ang for helping to collect data for this research
paper.

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a
Faculty of Business & Finance, University Tunku Abdul Rahman
b
Faculty of Computing and IT, INTI University College

*Corresponding author: Keng-Boon Ooi, aFaculty of Business & Finance, University Tunku
Abdul Rahman, email: ooikb@utar.edu.my

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