Identification of obstacles in implementation of total quality management (TQM) in building construction industry in india –an empirical study

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the findings on obstacles associated with TQM implementation in building construction industry in India. The construction industry is the lifeline for a nation and building structures reflect the health of economy of a country. Building construction is a component of human endeavour towards improvement of the quality of life. Construction of dwelling units provides one of the basic needs of the citizens of the country and construction of buildings/structures strengthens the infrastructure for development. The quality management issues are becoming a necessity in the Indian context. The quality movement in India has undergone healthy changes from time to time. Though the performance of building construction industry is improving steadily, but it is still long way to go. There are not many research studies available on implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in building construction that could find out the reason for the poor performance of Indian building construction industry. This study is exploratory in nature and perhaps one of the few studies which has identified major obstacles for successful implementation of TQM and improving the performance of the construction industry in India. A questionnaire survey was conducted among the building construction firms to determine the major obstacles in the implementation of TQM in building construction industry. These obstacles were ranked by using SPSS software package. A higher mean rating implies a more significant barrier to TQM implementation in the building construction industry. If construction companies are aware of these obstacles in the implementation of TQM, they may accordingly prepare themselves to meet and address these challenges thus making the process of implementation of TQM smoother and faster for improving the quality of construction.