Assessment of TQM Application Using MBNQA Model The Case of Palestinian Pharmaceutical Industry رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

The issue of quality in the pharmaceutical industry is of critical importance since this industry is among the most regulated ones. Hence, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly concerned with applying TQM principles. In this context, many studies confirm that this application affects many corporate variables including, among others, innovation and performance. Therefore, this study aims to assess the level of TQM application in Palestinian pharmaceutical companies and investigate its effect on their organizational performance, considering the mediating role of organizational innovation. The quantitative hypotheses-testing research approach was adopted. The primary data are collected, through a personally administered questionnaire, from a purposive sample comprising 104 middle and top-level managers working in the five pharmaceutical companies in Palestine. The questionnaire, which is built on the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award (MBNQA) framework, consists of five main parts: (1) respondents’ characteristics, (2) companies’ characteristics, (3) TQM application, (4) organizational innovation, as well as (5) organizational performance. Data are analyzed using descriptive statistics, including means and standard deviations, and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. The measurement model of the study reveals that the MBNQA framework proves to be a valid and reliable tool to investigate the effect of TQM application on the organizational performance in the Palestinian pharmaceutical companies via organizational innovation. The results also indicate that these companies have high perceived levels of TQM, organizational innovation, and organizational performance. In addition, the path analysis v confirms that TQM has a significant direct positive effect on organizational innovation and organizational performance. Organizational innovation also has a significant direct positive effect on organizational performance. Finally, it is found that the relationship between TQM and organizational performance is partially mediated by organizational innovation. Last but not least, three main limitations to the study are worth discussing. First of all, this study is confined only to pharmaceutical companies, and hence its conclusions can not be generalized to other manufacturing companies. Second, this study is applied only to the five pharmaceutical companies operating in the West Bank and does not include the companies operating in Gaza Strip. Finally, the time sequence of the relationships between TQM, organizational innovation, and organizational performance is not determined because cross-sectional data are used instead of longitudinal.