Enhancing Firm Competitiveness through Concurrent Implementation of TQM, JIT and TPM

摘要

This article provides empirical evidence for the impact of concurrent implementation of TQM, JIT and TPM in enhancing company performance, and hence its competitiveness. In doing this, ingredients of World Class Manufacturing are reviewed, measurement of company performance is elaborated, hypotheses and research methodology are developed, and data are analysed to verify the hypotheses. It is confirmed that plants implementing TQM, JIT and TPM concurrently outperform those, which implement only one or two of the methods, and there is no difference in performance among plants using either one or two of the methods. Further investigation on the causes of difference in performance reveals that, in addition to simultaneous implementation of the three methods, the establishment of performance targets leads to better performance. However, there is insufficient evidence to claim that involving employees in target setting has an effect on performance.