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The application of total quality management within small and medium enterprises

Thesis (MTech (Quality)) -- Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / Since 1996, the South African clothing and textile industries have been under
tremendous pressure to improve the competitiveness of the industry. Various
attempts to save the industry have been considered by both industry and
Government. The attempts included the introduction of quotas with the aim to
limit imports, the formulation of clusters, and improving the value chain between
the clothing manufacture textile companies and the clothing retail companies.
More specific, focus was leveled at the improvement of the industry’s
productivity and quality management systems. In spite of these efforts, sectors of
the South African clothing and textile industries are closing down.

Although the clothing and textile industries are experiencing a decline in large
companies, there has been a steady increase in the number of emerging Small
Medium Enterprises (SME’s) commonly referred to as CMT’s (Cut Make and
Trims) within the context of the clothing industry. The research question which
was researched within the ambit of this dissertation read as follows: What actions
are required for Total Quality Management (TQM) to be successful implemented
within South African clothing manufacturing SME’s?” The objective of this
research was to determine what challenges are facing South African clothing
manufacturing SME’s, and the reasons for the lack of successful implementation
of TQM systems within the South African clothing manufacturing SME’s.
Furthermore, to determine if there is a relationship between the planning behavior
of SME’s and lack of TQM implementation and to what extent the accreditation
process impact upon TQM implementations within SME’s.

The survey conducted within SME’s provided positive feedback with respect to
quality processes being followed. In spite of this the following challenges were
identified: The lack of employee involvement in decision-making,
miscommunication between management and employees, and the dissatisfaction
of employees.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/1212
Date January 2010
CreatorsNonxuba, Adminicar Ntombekaya
PublisherCape Peninsula University of Technology
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Rightshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/

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