The Impact of Organisational Culture on the Implementation of TQM: Empirical Study in the Iranian Oil Company

Abstract

Purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between four construct of organizational culture and two type of TQM as soft and hard in the Iranian oil industry. The method of confirmatory factor analysis was applied to refine culture and TQM scales for empirical analysis in Iranian Oil Industry. The structural equation modeling method was applied to test the theoretical models. This study confirms the results of previous studies that considered culture as a set of practices. It confirms that not all types of culture—considered as a set of practices—has a positive impact on the TQM implementation. Only two components of culture—hierarchal and developmental showed a negative impact on the soft and hard TQM. The findings are useful for business managers in developing countries such as Iran, who want to enhance business performance through implementing TQM practices in different culture. The study has contributed to develop a measurement system of TQM practices that facilitates more quality management research in developing countries. It has contributed to clarifying the disputed relationship between different culture and TQM practices, and shows empirical evidence in Iran industry to confirm that the culture set deployed by a firm has an impact on Soft and Hard TQM.