Impact of Total Quality Management and Environmental Management System on Sustainable Performance of Selected Industries in Pakistan

The concept of sustainability has gained due attention and recognition over the years, which has fundamentally broadened the scale of organizational mission in three dimensions of sustainability. To attain sustainable performance, organizations have been using various strategies, among which is Total Quality Management (TQM) that is recognized as the most famous. The ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) standard can also be beneficial to address sustainability concerns among organizations. This study identifies both TQM and ISO 14001 as important strategies to examine influence on sustainable performance including economic, social and environmental sustainability. Through a survey of 92 organizations, it was found out that high-TQM organizations were better in performance and sustainability. On the other hand, EMS standard implementation does not significantly influence economical and social sustainability but significantly influences environmental sustainability and overall sustainability performance. The study brought clarity to the matter that TQM can outperform within each sustainability dimension, and that EMS is more influential to environmental performance.