The mediating effect of work culture on the relationship between total quality management and employee performance in Malaysia manufacturing industry

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management philosophy and operational style centered on continuous improvement in all processes, goods, and services, with the goal of continually exceeding present and future expectations of all stakeholders. TQM is critical to the organization's ability to compete in the global marketplace. The main objective of this study is to develop a TQM performance model with the work culture as mediator. A total of 350 questionnaires were delivered to ten Malaysian manufacturing enterprises, yielding a useful sample of 294 completed surveys (84.0 percent usable response rate). The questionnaire was subjected to reliability and validity testing. The association was predicted and estimated using statistical analysis and regression. The model was assessed using Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results revealed that TQM methods had a considerable impact on employee performance, with work culture acting as a mediating factor. The findings also reveal that work culture moderated the association between TQM and employee performance to some extent.