Current status of Total Quality Management implementation in the Turkish Cement Industry

Total Quality Management (TQM) is considered by many researchers as an important quality and business performance improvement tool. The popularity of the concept has led to an explosion of TQM-related literature but there is a dearth of research and literature dealing with TQM implementation in the Turkish Cement Industry (TCI). In this study, the level of implementation of TQM philosophy in TCI is investigated. The paper describes the main findings through the critical factors of TQM, knowledge of TQM and perception of quality, data acquisition methods ( operations, customer, employee, suppliers/vendors), and training. A questionnaire was sent to member firms of the Turkish Cement Manufacturers' Association (TCMA). This paper presents a prescription for solving problems in the implementation of TQM to TCI.