Does the soft aspects of TQM influence job satisfaction and commitment? An empirical analysis

PurposePrevious studies that have attempted to link TQM and employees’ satisfaction are either theoretical without empirical evidence or had limited outcome in scope as they link only few elements of TQM with employees’ job satisfaction and commitment. This study is warranted due to the paucity of insights into the impact of soft strategies on determining job satisfaction and commitment. Despite the considerable body of TQM literature that has evolved to examine the relationship between TQM and employees’ job satisfaction in various countries as well as industries there is no existing literature that recognizes the soft aspects of TQM within the context of the Indian manufacturing industry. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of the proposed hypotheses a conceptual model was proposed and tested. A questionnaire survey was employed for data collection. The participants were 450 shop floor employees of three Indian manufacturing organizations.FindingsThe results have shown that six out of the nine soft aspects of TQM played a role in determining job satisfaction and commitment. The results have also shown that the predictors of both job satisfaction and commitment were the same except for the strength of prediction. The proposed model showed an acceptable fit.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the impact of soft aspects of TQM in determining job satisfaction and commitment in the Indian manufacturing organizations.