مدیریت کیفیت جامع (TQM) __نسخه پیشین برنامه ریزی منابع سازمانی (ERP)

Is total quality management (TQM) a predecessor of enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) implementation? This question draws a lot of interest from business managers. Many firms intend to implement both TQM and ERP systems to match the market competition. The question is: Which system should be implemented first? Using US manufacturing companies that have a focus on TQM and have implemented ERP systems, this study examines the relationship among TQM, ERP implementation, operations performance, customer satisfaction, and a firm's performance and subsequently provides a better understanding about the synergistic relationship between TQM and ERP implementation. Structural equation modeling is applied to analyze the data from 154 manufacturing companies in the US. We argue that TQM is a philosophy that emphasizes process improvement, whereas an ERP system is an IT mechanism that implements enterprise-wide process management. Conceptual development and our findings suggest ERP implementation can be successful if it is preceded by a TQM focus.

Is total quality management (TQM) a predecessor of enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) implementation? This is a question that draws a lot of interest from business managers. Many firms intend to implement both TQM and ERP systems to match market competition (Laframboise and Reyes, 2005). The question is: Which system should be implemented first? So far there is no published research that answers this question. This study investigates this issue using data from 154 US manufacturing firms that have a focus on TQM and have implemented ERP systems. The purpose of the study is to provide a better understanding about the synergistic relationship between TQM and ERP implementation, and the focus is placed on the use of an ERP system. TQM is a philosophy with a system science point of view that focuses on continuous improvement within the organization so as to provide superior value to customers. The current generation of TQM concepts is based on the quality theory and approaches suggested by Deming (1981–1982), Feigenbaum (1983), and Garvin (1988). The central theme of TQM stresses three principles, i.e. customer satisfaction, employee involvement, and process improvement. An Enterprise Resource Planning System is an integrated information technology, which employs the system concept. ERP streamlines business processes to facilitate the flow of data and information among all supply chain processes of a firm and among trading partners (Li et al., 2008; Warfield, 2007; Xu, 2007). A number of empirical studies reported the positive effects of applying the TQM paradigm in manufacturing settings (Kaynak, 2003; Samson and Terziovski, 1999; Sousa, 2003; York and Miree, 2004). Equally, many empirical studies reported the results of ERP implementation (Akkermans et al., 2003; Choi et al., 2007; Ifinedo and Nahar, 2007; Li et al., 2008; Sun et al., 2005; Umble et al., 2003). However, there are only a few studies that directly focus on the linkage between TQM and ERP. Our extensive search reveals two comprehensive studies with a strong emphasis on the relationship between TQM and ERP implementation. One is the study conducted by Schniederjans and Kim (2003). They analyzed the relationship between ERP implementation and TQM implementation using Pearson correlation analysis, and concluded that implementing both ERP and TQM together would achieve predominant success. However, they did not indicate which program should be implemented first to achieve better results. The other study is commissioned by Laframboise and Reyes (2005). They focused on ERP implementation in the aerospace industry and applied a case study method. Their result indicates that ERP implementation positively affects a firm's performance when the enterprise information system implementation directly interacts with other resources such as quality improvement systems. The shortcoming of this study is that it only considers one industry and the result may not be generalized to other industries.

This study examined the relationship among TQM, ERP implementation, operations management, customer satisfaction, and a firm's performance as a result of implementing TQM and ERP. In this study, we have provided three substantive findings to advance the literature on TQM and ERP implementation: (i) ERP implementation can be successful if it is preceded by a TQM focus; (ii) there is a causal relationship between TQM focus and customer satisfaction, as well as between ERP implementation and operations performance; and (iii) ERP implementation positively contributes to operations performance, which has significant effects on customer satisfaction performance. Furthermore, better customer satisfaction performance contributes to better performance. Consequently, manufacturing firms would be well advised to place a focus on TQM before implementing ERP systems to achieve the expected successful results. There are some limitations that should be taken into consideration for future research. One limitation is that the study is based on a 7-point Likert scale survey. Future research may use cases to provide detailed TQM and ERP implementation procedures for the industries to replicate. Second, more and more service organizations are now implementing ERP systems. Our research may serve as a starting point for service providers to analyze their unique environment in implementing ERP systems and consider the causal relationship between TQM and ERP implementation in a service setting. Finally, many empirical studies have noted the weakness of using objective performance data to measure success. This study stands on the same line on this issue. As such, we suggest creating a metric performance factor as a future research direction. Testing the relationship between business process reengineering (BPR) and ERP implementation could also be researched because ERP implementation is process oriented and requires companies to restructure their business activities.