Total quality management principles and innovation in South African consulting engineering firms

Abstract

Total quality management (TQM) has been adopted by firms as a management practice and in the past decade, there has been an increase in adoption particularly in the service industry. However, to compete in the current and future economy, firms may have to look beyond total quality and be willing to adopt new technologies and refined management practices. On the other hand, innovation has been and continues to be an important topic of study in various disciplines. The narrow description that innovation has to do with science and technology, that is, research and development (R&D) efforts, is being discarded and instead of a much broader system approach that brings about capability building, learning, and new technologies, are being embraced. Governments are amongst those who recognise the value brought by innovation from a socio-economic perspective, however, a deeper understanding and systematic approach to innovation is needed together with the ability to use that knowledge to fully exploit its (innovation) effects. The acquisition of knowledge cannot take place in isolation, there has to be an understanding of how innovation is managed at a firm level first and then progress to identifying ways in which a broader society can benefit from it. Innovation at the firm level is brought about by the need to stay ahead of the competition, to contribute to a firms’ growth strategy, and to respond to the external environment and/or customer demands. Regardless of intent, more insights into how to successfully manage innovation need to be explored in detail. This research study investigated the possible impact of total quality management principles on innovation and reviewed how this relates to consulting engineering firms’ competitive advantage in the South African market. Consulting engineering firms (in this instance, the focus is on infrastructure projects) in South Africa compete amongst others, on a basis of quality work and service, price and on the firms’ empowerment make-up. Within this context, it is relevant to investigate the impact that TQM has on innovation to enable managers to use the strengths of TQM to manage and deliver innovative solutions, and to improve their organisations and/or society as a whole.