Table of Contents1. INTRODUCTION 2-32. LITERATURE REVIEW 33. RESEARCH PROBLEM 3-44. RESEARCH SUB-QUESTIONS 4-65. DELIMITATION, HYPOTHESES AND SIGNIFICANCE 76. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 7 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY………………………………… 7-8 RESEARCH DESIGN………………………………… ………………8POPULATION AND SAMPLING………………………………………8DATA COLLECTION TOOLS…………………………………………..8-9PROCEDURES OF DATA COLLECTION… ………………………9DATA ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………..97. PROPOSED SCHEDULE………………………………………………..9-108. REFERENCE…………………………………………………………………….11-121. INTRODUCTIONTotal quality management is the emphasis on quality that encompasses the entire organization, from customers to suppliers. It emphasizes management's commitment to a continuous, company-wide drive toward excellence in all aspects of products and services that are important to the customer. In such a competitive environment resulting from global globalization and liberalization, companies survive with great difficulty unless they create a competitive advantage over their competitors Adam et al, 2001; Samson and Terziovski, 1999; Terziovski and Samson, 1999). With increasing competition and changing customer needs and expectations, total quality management has become an important aspect of customer satisfaction, as a focus on total quality management can help organizations meet meet customer expectations and compete as a leader in the global market. Leading innovators in the field of quality, such as Deming (1986) and Juran (1993), have argued that competitive advantage can be achieved by providing quality products or services. Quality can be considered the key to competitiveness today...... middle of paper ...... linked to the quality of data and reporting (Ahire and Dryfus, 200; Ho et al, 1999 ) Het al. (2001) Question 4 and 5 A variety of answers on how to improve the system. Hypothesis 4: operational performance is positively related to customer satisfaction and financial performance (Kaynak, 2003), (Handfield et al, 1998; Hendricks and Singhal, 1997) Question 6 Closed question Hypothesis 5: data quality and reporting is positively related to process management. Question 7 Open question, answers vary but many similar suggestions. Hypothesis 6: Supplier management is positively related to operational performance (Flynn et al, 1995; Kannan & Tah, 2005). Hypothesis 7a: Design management is positively related to process management Hypothesis 7b: Production management design is positively related to operational performanceAhire & Dryfus (2000)