Graduate School of Business Administration (GSBA)

German Jordan University

A Qualitative Study Exploring the Effect of Total Quality Management TQM on Employee
Satisfaction and Organizational Performance in the Telecommunication Industry.

Supervisor: Dr. Loay Bani-Ismail

Done by:

Hadil Mosa

Samah Almousa

December 2019
Acknowledgment

This study would not have been done without the support and guidance of the expert professors of
German Jordan University.

We would like to thank all our friends and family for the support and help they have provided us to
complete our project and special thanks to the HR managers in the telecommunication company in Jordan
for sharing their knowledge with us.
 Abstract

This study seeks to examine the effect of total quality management has on employee satisfaction and
organizational performance in telecommunication companies in Jordan. Following a qualitative research
approach with Semi-structured interviews, conducted with a purposively selected sample of expert HR
managers in the telecommunication sector in Jordan. The collected data and information was analyzed
using constant comparison theory (CCT). The study discovered positive relationships TQM factors hold
over Employee satisfaction and organizational performance, both directly and indirectly in the Jordanian
telecommunication company’s context, Additionally, it reveals how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is
being used by HR managers to point out employees needs and levels of satisfaction, and how the efforts
organizations dedicated to employees is perceived.

Keywords: ​TQM, Total Quality Management, Employee Satisfaction, Organizational performance,

Leadership and Management, Employee Involvement, Customer Focus.
Table of Content
Chapter One: Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Objectives 3
1.3 Significance 3
1.4 Contribution 4

Chapter Two: Literature Review 4

2.1 Introduction 4
2.2 Total Quality Management TQM 5
2.2.1 TQM Factors 6
2.2.1.1 Management Leadership and HR 10
2.2.1.2 Employee Involvement 11
2.2.1.3 Customer Focus 11
2.3 Employee Satisfaction 12
2.4 Organizational Performance 12

Chapter Three: Methodology 13

3.1 Research Purpose 13
3.2 Qualitative Research 13
3.3 Population and Sampling 14
3.4 Data Collection Method 15
3.5 Analysis Approach: Constant Comparison Theory (CCT) 16
3.6 Trustworthiness 17
3.6.1 Member check 17
3.6.2 Researcher’s Positionality 17
3.6.3 Thick Description 18

Chapter Four: Finding 18

4.1 Introduction 18
4.2 TQM critical success factors from the HR perspective 18
4.3 Management Leadership and HR as a TQM factor and its effect on employee
satisfaction 19
4.4 Management Leadership and HR as a TQM factor and its effect on organizational
performance 19
4.5 Employee involvement as a TQM factor and its effect on employee satisfaction 20
4.6 Employee involvement as a TQM factor and its effect on Organizational
Performance 21
4.7 Customer focus as a TQM factor and its effect on Employee Satisfaction 21
4.8 Customer focus as a TQM factor and its effect on Organizational Performance 22
Chapter Five: Conclusions and Recommendations 22
5.1 Summary 22
5.2 Limitations of the study 24
5.3 Recommendations for further research 24
Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Introduction

The world is developing day by day, and businesses are having a hard time keeping up with all the
changes, especially when it comes to the firm’s ability to stand out and grab customer attention
(Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014), achieve competitive advantage over others and even harder to sustain it
(Ershadi, et al 2018). And with this briskly change in the environment is characterized by drastic and
strong competition and the stakeholder’s desires and expectations. Therefore, traditional strategies of
management have become ineffective and deficient in creating more value (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017).

Because of that, managers have started to look for ways to increase customer satisfaction, and achieve
competitive advantage at low cost, so managers started to work on improving their operations, create, and
customize new solutions to suit their businesses (Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014), also to find innovative ways to
stand out through the clutter in businesses (Ershadi, et al 2018). Moreover, providing goods with high
quality to the end-user nowadays is more challenging, due to the huge progress in the world (Khurshid, et
al 2017). Here is where TQM “Total Quality Management” has proved its ability to help managers
improve their operations (Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014); Hence, a lot of firms have increased their attention to
TQM. (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017) Managers have been motivated to use TQM and its practices due to
its strategic importance to reach a competitive advantage among other firms and increase organizational
performance (Khurshid, et al 2017).

Customer demand is at an increase and it is the organization’s job and responsibility to respond to it, and
TQM has helped organizations to satisfy their customers and even exceed their expectations (Modgil &
Sharma 2015). Earlier literature pointed to a number of benefits that can be driven by the implementation
of TQM, these benefits include enhanced organizational performance, customer satisfaction, competitive
advantage, market share, increased employee satisfaction, higher revenue, empowered employees, more
frequent prevention of pre-existing problems and finally improving overall quality (Albuhisi & Abdallah,
2017). TQM has shown an essential positive association with the satisfaction of employees and customers
(Aquilani et. al, 2016), and has successfully led to innovative ideas within organizations and helped
increase the productivity of performance (Krajcsak 2019).
TQM is considered an important factor to drive success to a business, especially in times of intense global
competition (Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014), managers tend to depend on TQM processes to satisfy
shareholders by generating profit and on the other hand to fulfill stakeholder’s need and satisfy them,
Consecutively to sustain a business, build an organizational culture, identify key stakeholders and their
aspects, and finally plan organizational practices that enhance performance (Khurshid, et al 2017).

TQM could be defined as a method that emphasizes quality in an organization to enhance the company’s
effectiveness and achieve a higher level of flexibility (Aldakhil, et al 2015). Moreover, it is a thorough
practice used by managers to provide customers with valuable goods to meet their needs and fulfill their
expectations, through ongoing improvement and employee commitment to the practice (Aldakhil, et al
2015). TQM works on having an ongoing process of improving the organization’s quality from all
aspects, starting with management including employees, operations and even suppliers, resulting in
satisfying organizational goals, customer needs, higher market share, and competitive edge (Ershadi, et al
2018), studies have shown how TQM influences and affects job satisfaction in a positive way which is
reflected in better organizational performance, because it gives each employee the chance for
improvement and learning in order to achieve better quality (Aldakhil, et al 2015).

TQM was first found and used in manufacturing industries and has shown huge success, therefore it got
the attention of other industries (Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014), as for the effect of TQM on performance in the
service sector, studies have shown a strong bases to point out that TQM has a great positive effect and
impact on the level of customer satisfaction, enhancing brand image and organization performance
(Bouranta, et al 2015), TQM was adapted in service sectors which ended up with positive outcomes in
achieving success, world-class status and an increase in organizational productivity (Al-Dahaafri, et al
2014), after acknowledging the success of TQM practices in the manufacturing sector, the service sector
applied it to their tangible processes in the backend and in the upfront intangible practices, customer
interaction points, that became the key factor to measure quality of service (Bouranta, et al 2015), with
the shift and expansion that TQM has witnessed over the years from manufacturing only to include
services, the need to define TQM and its factors became a must (Bouranta, et al 2019).

1.2 Objectives

The study seeks to investigate the relationship between TQM and employee satisfaction and
organizational performance in the Jordanian telecommunication sector. The research concentrates on
finding the main soft TQM factors and their dimensions that affect employee satisfaction and
organizational performance as well as the overlooked or ignored dimensions. Consequently, The research
seeks to find the gap between the literature with the theories it holds and the primarily collected data.
Moreover, the research aims to stand as a ground basis to help companies who wish to further improve
their outcomes, increase and ensure employee satisfaction and organizational performance.

1.3 Significance

TQM is a management philosophy used in organizations so they are able to enhance their current position,
by working continuously on improving their practices in all levels of the organization. TQM has helped
organizations stand out in the market with the competitive advantage they gain from implementing such
philosophy, TQM has proven to have great impact on the organization in many ways such as employee
satisfaction and organizational performance, Jordan companies have been adapting TQM in their practices
with high acceptance to the approach.

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to discuss the relationship between TQM and
Employee satisfaction and organizational performance in Jordanian organizations specifically the
telecommunication industry. Additionally, the study was conducted following a qualitative approach to
guarantee the accuracy of the attained insight by following thick description. Moreover, the qualitative
study in hand tends to obtain in-depth insights, to be able to settle on findings that are credible regarding
the knowledge collected. This study can be employed by Managers and HR managers who consider
investing into TQM practices, companies who have a goal to distinguish themselves from others in the
market, or simply anyone who is looking for evidence of the impact TQM has over employee satisfaction
and organizational performance. In particular from Jordanian Telecommunication company’s point of
view.

1.4 Contribution

To the best of our knowledge, this study is deemed as one of the first studies conducted around TQM in
the Jordanian telecommunicating sector, following a qualitative approach with the use of purposive
sampling, concentrating on expert HR managers in the Jordanian Telecommunication Industry. Moreover,
this study seeks to determine the effect of three soft TQM factors namely (Management leadership and
HR, Employee Involvement, and Customer Focus) on employee satisfaction and organizational
performance.
This study will examine the effect of soft TQM factors on Employee satisfaction and organizational
performance, by answering the following questions

Q1: ​Does ​Management Leadership and HR h​ ave a positive effect on Employee Satisfaction?
Q2​: Does ​Management Leadership and HR ​have a positive effect on Organizational Performance?
Q3: ​Does ​Employee Involvement h​ as a positive effect on Employee Satisfaction?
Q4: ​Does ​Employee Involvement h​ as a positive effect on Organizational Performance?
Q5: ​Does ​Customer Focus ​has a positive effect on Employee Satisfaction?
Q6: ​Does ​Customer Focus ​has a positive effect on Organizational Performance?

Chapter Two: Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

Total Quality Management is a model that helps organizations increase their productivity and market
share and help develop the organization’s competitive advantage which contributes in cutting costs and
minimizing waste (Modgil & Sharma 2015), TQM is concentrated on the improvement of the
organizational overall process and the added value in its productivity to get customer satisfaction
(Khurshid et al 2017), also, scholars defined TQM as the philosophy used by managers, focusing and
emphasizing on organizational and human values and how to improve quality (Krajcsak 2019), and a
practice that works on early improvements and enhancements in the organization’s process, the earlier the
fix, the more money, time and effort the organization saves (Bani Ismail 2012).

Managers have faced some difficulties in setting competitive advantage and maintaining it in recent years,
Therefore, TQM was introduced to help companies sustain competitive advantage gain market share,
customer and employee satisfaction, and organizational performance (Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014). TQM has
many dimensions that yet have not been unified. Therefore, the effect of each dimension has not been
determined yet. (Khurshid, et al 2017)

The chapter will start with a brief on TQM definitions and its various factors, and finally, it extends to
discuss employee satisfaction and organizational performance.
2.2 Total Quality Management TQM

There is no universal definition of TQM, so many scholars used their own words to describe and define
what is TQM (Bouranta, et al 2015), some studies have defined it as an approach but under different
aspects such as being a strategic, programmatic, outcome and descriptive approach (Aldakhil, et al 2015),
also classified it as a management philosophy depending on increasing business excellence that strives to
satisfy their customers by their performance (Bouranta, et al 2019). Or a philosophy followed in an
organization where it can produce better outcomes with higher quality and optimize the operation process,
so they can meet customer wants needs and expectations which leads to long term success and business
stability (Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014). A philosophy used by managers where it is built based on
methodologies, practices, principles, and tools or an integrated management philosophy that believes in
continuous improvement and evolving the quality of organization processes to customer satisfaction
(Bouranta, et al 2015). TQM is a management approach and philosophy used to increase customer
satisfaction and customer expectation in the most effective and efficient way by conducting an ongoing
improvement process (Modgil & Sharma 2015). Furthermore, it could be interpreted as a management
practice that is viable to use throughout the organization in all of its levels and departments to guarantee
continuous achievement of customer satisfaction (Bouranta, et al 2015).

When it comes to quality, it mainly means the final product or service provided and how pleased
customers are with it, quality management means that the production processes and the procedures that
achieve quality and reducing the variation of defective products to zero (Bani Ismail 2012). TQM first
started in manufacturing businesses and has expanded its use to reach service businesses in recent years,
as a way to improve the quality of the products and services given to customers, to ensure a greater level
of customer satisfaction (Bouranta, et al 2019). As TQM started to show results in manufacturing
companies; not only was it able to save money, TQM was able to reduce defection levels and increase
customer satisfaction (Bani Ismail 2012). As an extensive and comprehensive dynamic process designed
to encourage continuous improvement efficiently and effectively in all parts of a business, and a
management method that can give deep-term success for an entity by focusing on meeting and surpassing
customer expectations (Albuhisi & Abdallah.2017).

The effect of TQM on the financial factors of the organization is the outcomes of the impact TQM has on
nonfinancial factors (Bani Ismail 2012), studies have shown a significant positive association between
TQM and organizational performance in the manufacturing sector on both external and internal levels
(Bouranta, et al 2015), however, not all TQM practices are able to achieve their goal of improving quality,
in fact, some TQM actions backfire and end up with negative results, studies point out three main reasons
for TQM failure, the lack in planning a quality practice, the lack of knowledge a manager may hold about
TQM or the support they provide and finally failing to keep customers as the main focus (Aldakhil, et al
2015). In some cases, TQM may have a negative or a zero effect on performance, research shows that the
reason that may lead to a TQM failure is mainly top management, motivation, process system within the
company, and the absence of a well TQM plan (Bouranta, et al 2015), This results in having unsatisfied
and unmotivated employees which negatively affects organizational performance (Aldakhil, et al 2015).

2.2.1 TQM Factors

TQM and its implementation have been criticized by academics due to the absence of a theoretical
foundation that elaborates and clarifies success and failure factors (Khurshid, et al 2017), for example;
limiting TQM to processes and practices and not spreading it to include culture and human aspect of the
organization may be the reason for a failed practice (Bani Ismail 2012), or a manager who doesn’t
understand the basics of TQM will be the reason of having TQM implementation fail (Khurshid, et al
2017).
However, to have a successful TQM implementation the firm must manage and demonstrate major factors
(Khurshid, et al 2017), and because there is no clear definition of what is TQM, it is difficult to
implement an effective TQM practice in organizations. (Bouranta, et al 2019), to conduct TQM in
organizations, time, effort and good planning is a must (Bouranta, et al 2015). Many rewards and models
have been introduced to encourage organizations to adopt TQM, from the Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award (MBNQA), European Quality Award (EQA) and The Deming Prize (Khurshid, et al
2017), the ISO-9000 Quality certification, Country Quality Award (Aldakhil, et al 2015), these awards
and models have been used in many research to help researchers identify TQM factors in different
countries and industries (Bouranta, et al 2015).

A TQM process could be implemented in different ways by following different steps, it depends on the
management adaptation of the philosophy within the organization and its variables, some managers
consider organizational variables as functions of TQM whereas others would consider them as factors for
TQM (Krajcsak 2019). Different measurements have been set to evaluate the success of TQM practices
depending on different outcomes (Bouranta, et al 2019). it is built on a number of multidimensional
principles (Bouranta, et al 2015), the heart of TQM lies in the commitment of its managers and everyone
related to the organization to work on continuous improvement (Krajcsak 2019) while doing the right
thing in the right way (Bani Ismail 2012), and when TQM values are being reflected in the organizational
culture, every entity within the organization will get involved and take part in the improvement process
(Krajcsak 2019).

Previous literature supports the idea that a unified set of factors for TQM has not yet been identified and
they are not universal, which makes it hard for organizations to choose which standards to follow and
adopt (Bouranta, et al 2015), TQM has spread among organizations and scholars but yet till today, there is
no consensus on what are TQM dimensions and applications are (Aldakhil, et al 2015), Many scholars
have worked to define TQM factors, ranging between four to seventeen, some scholars have mentioned an
extensive list of TQM factors, others made it short taking into consideration some factors could be
combined in one main factor to make it easier for managers to control and understand them (Bouranta, et
al 2019). Factors of TQM differ from one situation to another depending on the cultural environment and
context of the firm (Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014), and different studies have identified different factors for
TQM (Bouranta, et al 2019), some academics defined TQM factors based on roles within the organization
(Khurshid, et al 2017), in many cases and studies different factors were key elements in enhancing
organizational performance through TQM (Bouranta, et al 2015).

TQM has two types of factors, technical factors, and human factors, technical factors called hard factors
they are the tools used to achieve TQM from the product and its processes including benchmarking,
continuous improvement, evaluation, and feedback (Habtoor 2016), these hard factors are related to the
tools used in quality management that involve effective processes and management strategy-control
techniques that ensure the proper functioning of effective system and process (Albuhisi & Abdallah,
2017), hard factors are about improving quality related to quality management system, the cost of having
such quality, production processes and how they are controlled (Bouranta, et al 2019).

The second type of factors are human factors or soft factors that revolve around leadership, involvement,
training of employees, customer focus at core and reward and recognition (Habtoor 2016), soft factors are
related to people from relationships, leadership, managing HR, supplier relations, shared vision and
customer focus (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017) they are known to be intangible such as employee
empowerment, and culture (Bouranta, et al 2019). many types of research were dedicated to identifying
factors to measure TQM, introducing the hard and soft factors, technical and human factors. (Habtoor
2016).
Many studies have shown that managers focus on the technical side, and did not give much focus on the
human side (Habtoor 2016), another reason to vary in the number of factors in its nature from soft and
hard, and how some academics have given more focus to one of them and not both (Bouranta, et al
2019). Many research papers were made to study and identify the relationship between hard and soft
factors of TQM and how they affect organizational performance, results show strong association between
these factors, and how both positively improve organizational performance, in fact, the studies show that
hard factors are considered as a mediator between the soft factors and organizational performance
(Habtoor 2016). Several academics have argued that soft TQM dimensions have a greater effect on
organizational performance and quality improvement (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017), previous research
suggests that increasing the attention to human factors will help improve the outcomes of TQM and have
a direct positive effect on TQM and its success and it indirectly increases organizational performance by
providing the needed fundamentals for success (Habtoor 2016), other studies believe that hard TQM
factors have been positively affecting innovation (Ershadi, et al 2018).

Many examples show how TQM factors differ from one industry to another, a previous study pointed out
that service sectors use a set of six KPIs to measure TQM namely: goods and services
outcomes,customer-focus, financial and market performance, Human Resources (HR), organizational
effectiveness and outcomes of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Bouranta, et al 2019), (Khurshid,
et al 2017) and in the hotel industry has mentioned seven soft practices that are made of leadership,
Training, employee fulfillment, customer focus, continuous improvement, supplier quality management,
and process management. Moreover, a study classifying key success factors for small-medium enterprises
(SME) as leadership, ongoing improvement, operations and processes, coaching and training, evaluation
and feedback, improvement tools, HR and development, assurance of the quality of supply and teamwork
and organizational culture (Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014).

A study about TQM in the airline industry mentioned up to fourteen factors (Bouranta, et al 2015), a
different study in the Malaysian service sector identified seven factors (Aldakhil, et al 2015),
Furthermore. A research on the hospital sector introduced twenty-one elements and classified them in the
following factors, the involvement of total employee and workforce, continuous ongoing improvement,
ongoing training, teamwork, employee activities, the support and commitment of manager, top-level
management that follows a democratic management style and focus on customer satisfaction and quality
culture (Bouranta, et al 2015) .

TQM differs from definition to definition country to country and even differs between industries and the
level of organization, no formal universal definition and standard has been set, but almost all studies can
agree on the following four points relate to TQM Management Commitment, Employee Empowerment,
Customer Focus, Continuous Improvement (Bani Ismail 2012).

This study will measure three factors of TQM and how they affect employee satisfaction and
Organizational performance, these factors are: ( Management Leadership and HR, Employee Involvement
and Customer Focus).

2.2.1.1 Management Leadership and HR

Leadership is considered to be the most important factor of the TQM factors, it is the extent where a
leader can influence and affect other’s actions (Khurshid, et al 2017), managers are responsible for
ensuring a suitable and inspiring working environment for staff in order to obtain objectives and the goals
of the organization and improve its performance (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017). A successful TQM
manager can successfully transfer and translate the organization’s vision and commitment towards TQM
and is able to build it into employee commitment, motivation and sense of ownership (Krajcsak
2019).

Leader’s responsibility is reflected by supporting and developing staff’s processes and capacities for
continuous improvement (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017), managers should work alongside HRMs to have
employees embrace TQM as a practice and start involving in the quality improvement process (Krajcsak
2019), a successful TQM depends on human resource management (Habtoor 2016).

A good leader has the ability to introduce and implement TQM in a systematic way from the highest level
in the organization to lower levels, adding to that a good HR manager who helps in enhancing employee
capabilities and improve them by providing training, empowerment, team activities, encourage innovation
and the involvement in the TQM process (Khurshid, et al 2017), the key to a successful leader
implementing TQM is to find the correlation between business performance and training (Mohammed, et
al 2017), a well-established workforce will help organizations achieve success through the creativity,
inspiration, and vision they possess (Khurshid, et al 2017).
Studies have proved that a manager with poor commitment is a reason to fail a TQM practice and that a
committed leader helps improve outcomes (Khurshid, et al 2017), once managers start implementing
TQM is does not take long for employees to adopt the idea and add it to the organizational lifestyle
(Krajcsak 2019).

2.2.1.2 Employee Involvement

TQM is a tool to ensure quality in productivity in all levels of the organization, by involving employees in
the improvement program (Mohammed, et al 2017), it relates to any responsibility or related activity that
includes employee participation from decision making or pointing an opinion or suggestion (Albuhisi &
Abdallah, 2017). Having employees involved in the process of improvement increases their sense of
importance, which positively affects their level of satisfaction of performance level (Bouranta, et al 2019).
Moreover, involving employees will help with lower production errors, higher-productivity, reduce
turnover, better communication, increase flexibility, healthier relationships, stimuli of creative ideas,
produce loyal employees who have a sense of ownership and increase customer satisfaction; especially if
the employee was a front-liner (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017) and exceed their expectations due to the
involvement of everyone in the organization from managers, employees, and suppliers (Modgil & Sharma
2015), having a clear strategy that involves the employees helps them undet=stand the shared vision and
goals of the organization (Albuhisi & Abdallah.2017).

2.2.1.3 Customer Focus

The focus of any company should be serving the needs, desires, and expectations of customers. The
survival and success of a company depends on retaining current customers and attracting new ones.
Therefore, it is necessary to fulfill the needs of these customers to build a strong relationship with them
and generate loyal customers. Focusing on customer loyalty helps with business’s improvement process
to achieve a higher performance rate (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017), moreover, community acceptance of
the brand is the key to help organizations grow, a well planned TQM practice will achieve customer
satisfaction and cost-effectiveness.
All TQM practices should be planned to have a continuous improvement plan that is built based on
customer needs and that will result in customer satisfaction (Khurshid, et al 2017). Customer focus means
that managers should determine the targeted segment and market, in order to formulate a customer
viewpoint and plan improvement process based on the customer's viewpoint, by mentioning
measurement metrics in companies strategy and goals from customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention, and
market share (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017).

2.3 Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is defined as “ The pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s
job as achieving or facilitating the achievement of one's job values” (Bouranta, et al 2019), and is the
answer to the question what do you think of your job? Which is constructed of the situations the employee
has experienced in the organization from motivation, leadership, and conflict (Pang & Lu 2018), it
explains the positive association to the experience employees have regarding their job and how it could fit
in their personal values, the satisfaction of an employee is affected by several factors such as pressure,
conflict, the quality of goods handed out to customers, salary wages, nature of the job, career path and
possibility of growth. Which differs from culture to another (Aldakhil, et al 2015).

Job satisfaction is considered as one of the basic elements of a TQM practice, because of the strong
association it has with several organizational outcomes from employee performance, commitment,
customer satisfaction (Bouranta, et al 2019), studies have shown that TQM has an essential positive
association with employee satisfaction (Khurshid, et al 2017), although some studies have discussed how
some employees feel pressured due to the responsibilities they must add to their main responsibilities to
follow TQM, which affects their level of satisfaction (Bouranta, et al 2019).

Job satisfaction has been proven to better enhance employee productivity levels, on both financial and the
operational level, satisfied employees can help increase profit margins (Aldakhil, et al 2015), TQM has a
positive effect on employee and customer satisfaction, which combined could help organizations achieve
higher market share and profitability (Bouranta, et al 2019).

2.4 Organizational Performance

Organizational Performance is how well the organization is achieving its goals, how effectively these
goals are being achieved and how to better improve them. Improvement of the organization has been
proved by far to be the most important factor in the organization (Pang & Lu 2018). many pieces of
literature have been conducted to study the relationship and effect of TQM on performance, the majority
of these studies have supported the idea (Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014).

TQM is looked at as a strategic tool that achieves competitive advantage (Albuhisi & Abdallah, 2017),
while others found opposite results(Al-Dahaafri, et al 2014).

TQM works by revisiting organizational processes of decision making, trying to improve them to reach
better outcomes (Salhieh & Abu-Doleh 2015), performance is based on financial factors (Pang & Lu
2018), and how much TQM has helped to reduce cost and make profit (Salhieh & Abu-Doleh 2015),
operational factors (Pang & Lu 2018) and how TQM was able to improve productivity (Salhieh &
Abu-Doleh 2015), operational effectiveness. (Pang & Lu 2018) and knowledge management and how
adopting TQM can enhance knowledge of the organization and consequently understand the effect of
TQM on performance (Salhieh & Abu-Doleh 2015).

TQM has shown a direct significant association on operational performance (Khurshid, et al 2017).

Chapter Three: Methodology

3.1 Research Purpose

The study seeks to examine how TQM and its practices affect employee satisfaction and organizational
performance. Moreover, the study also explores TQM effects on Jordanian telecommunication
companies, the study explores the significance between TQM and job satisfaction as well as TQM and
organizational performance. Consequently, the study will have a profound reading to TQM concepts,
employee satisfaction and organizational performance from a Jordanian perspective and examine the
relationship between them in the Jordanian Human resource department in the telecommunication sector.
To that end, the study will conclude if TQM has a positive effect on employee satisfaction and
organizational performance.
3.2 Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a research method made in the aim to understand in-depth information about a
phenomenon by getting behind the meaning of such a phenomenon (Kapoulas & Mitic, 2012). Qualitative
research is based on being qualitative all the way from the start, from the research question, what answers
the researcher will try to find. Which is based on a mix of the researcher’s purpose and his personal
objective and theoretical frame, and all the secondary data that has been collected to add in the literature
review of the study (Crescentini & Mainardi, 2009).

The qualitative studies are used in the aim of studying new theories, it is not a fixed process more of a
dynamic approach that changes based on the context of the study and its structure (Kapoulas & Mitic,
2012). Qualitative research is known for the interconnected steps, where each ending of a step introduces
the beginning of the following step, but at the same time, researchers must keep in mind the limited
amount of words they have and make sure that all the needed information is being well mentioned and
Clearfield, that is why researchers use selective pieces of information while including all necessary inputs
(Crescentini & Mainardi, 2009), This what makes the research-rich source to use in future research and
development (Kapoulas & Mitic, 2012).

Furthermore, to be able to process the complex information in this research qualitative method was found
to be the most suitable approach. The concept of TQM in the Jordanianthe telecommunication industry
and how it affects employee satisfaction and organizational performance in this context will need a
comprehensive analysis so the researchers are able to explain outcomes.

3.3 Population and Sampling

Qualitative research could have many objectives and goals to achieve, thus the purposive strategies that
can be used are countless because an ideal strategy was not found, it all depends on the researcher and
how he deals with it. Qualitative research is more concentrated and focused on situational analysis (e.g.,
the reason for people feeling such feelings ) rather than concentrating on the whole large population (e.g.,
what are the majority people in the population think about a specific topic). It is vital in qualitative
research to study and explore and know to which group does this person belong to and what do they do,
unlike the other research approaches, people are considered dynamic and changing. In order for a
researcher to pick the best sampling strategy, researchers must ask the question of what do I seek to find
and know and what will I achieve (Palys, 2008).

Therefore, the population for the study will conclude the HR managers in the telecommunication industry
in Jordan. Telecommunication industry was selected in this study due to the wide use of TQM and its
practices as part of the company’s strategy, Moreover, HR managers were selected as this study’s
population because they were found to be with significant knowledge and influence over conducting
TQM. Because the population selected is small made of three main telecommunication companies, the
whole population will be studied.

Moreover, those HR managers were chosen to find the level of the effect of TQM on employee
satisfaction and organizational performance in the Jordanian telecommunication sector, those HR
managers were able to assist in the detailed elaboration and description in the area that was studies.

Furthermore, purposive sampling is defined as the sampling technique where researchers rely on their
perception when it comes to selecting members who make up the population, also defined as the selective
or subjective sampling (Boddy, 2016). Subsequently, the kind of purposive sampling selected for this
study is expert sampling where it only targets the experts to make up the population, it is useful when it
comes to dealing with new topics, saving time and help find out whether further research on the topic
would be beneficial or not (Etikan, et al, 2016).

However, one problem in purposive sampling is that it has a variation that differs from one case to
another and there is no specific standard, it all depends on the quality of the information in hand
(Palinkas, et al, 2015).

Furthermore, because qualitative research is free of probabilities and is a subjective matter based on
perception, it is hard to defend the researched choice of sampling. Since it may happen where the sample
the researcher has selected may not have the knowledge to achieve the objective of the researcher, and is
still considered credible (Etikan, et al, 2016).

The number of interviews that were conducted with HR managers in the telecommunication industry are
(3) which represents the whole population, it was applicable since the selected population is small.
3.4 Data Collection Method

Qualitative research could be implemented in different ways, such as in-depth interviews and
semi-structured interviews. Semi-structured are interviews where some areas related to the topic are
revealed, each area within the topic has its dedicated time. Furthermore, this approach could uncover new
areas that were not mentioned before (Jarratt, 1996).

This research followed semi-structured interviews so as to obtain suitable and detailed information about
the topic studied. Between structured and unstructured, semi-structured interviews fit in, and is the most
known and used method in qualitative research, so that researchers are able to obtain information and
have rich responses. Semi-structured interviews depends on questions that are set before in a systematic
way, cohesive and based on the question being studied. Furthermore, information collected in the
interview from respondents is gained by directing the conversation towards the subject of the study (Qu &
Dumay, 2011).

In this type precisely, the interviewer has the freedom in selecting which approach he finds suitable to
approach the interviewee. The interviewer has the flexibility to change the questions in terms of sort,
speed, and arrangement in aims to collect the highest level of information from the interviewee.
Moreover, the interviewee can use his own words and expressions in the way they see suitable to answer
the questions, assumptions, and language, and gives the interviewer a chance to observe and note things
they see and notice. (Qu & Dumay, 2011).

The reason to select such a method to conduct the study is that it is flexible, extremely available and clear.
Therefore, its assets in pointing out uncovered areas in various behavior (Qu & Dumay, 2011).
Semi-structured interviews have proved to be the best method that may be used to implement this
research as it the best approach to collect detailed information about TQM in telecommunication sectors
in Jordan.

3.5 Analysis Approach: Constant Comparison Theory (CCT)

The study will employ a Constant Comparison Theory (CCT), to be able to accurately analyze the data
collected from interviews. CCT is defined as a process that analyzes data called constant comparative
model or constant comparative theory, this process relies on shrinking the size of data by categorizing
information into groups, starting with collecting data and information from interviewees, then comparing
their answers together but keeping in mind connections and disparities (Fram, 2013).

After having information grouped into categories, then comes the action of setting margins to each
category, filling each piece of information in the category that fits it, then review and digest the content,
after that the researcher will give the information some meaning. Specialists have confidence that CCT is
the most appropriate method to investigate information for this research. CCT is the heart of investigation
studies that have a high level of subjectivity, as the principal’s objective is to attain and exact discoveries.
CCM states that the researcher picks the information expected to be gathered for the issues that increase
the meeting procedure. The correlation between information is associated with outer legitimacy and the
level of the intense correlation, as this procedure requires principal innovativeness in pointing out
differences in information. CCT is known to expand the quality of finding because of the rich correlations
led (Boeije, 2002).

3.6 Trustworthiness

In order to guarantee the reliability of the study results, the study depends on the following rules:

3.6.1 Member check

Member validation or member check is considered as a step in the research, wherein the interview some
notes are collected from the interview and represented to the interviewee -who has provided the
information- to approve the accuracy of information and that notes collected represent what they intended
to say, in other words, the interviewee approves on the information that is considered to be as their
statement.

The participant is provided with parts of the report that represents his answers and point of view, and they
are asked to agree on its accuracy, they have the right to support fix or remark any parts of the shared
information, they make sure that the information correctly reflects their emotions, opinions, thoughts,
and attitudes (Koelsch, 2013).
3.6.2 Researcher’s Positionality

The researcher must consider the way they will use to present themselves to the participants positionality
wise, or the position the researcher will follow to present themselves, regarding cultural background,
gender, occupation, age and social class. Research personality is selected and identified so that the
researcher finds that right position to present themselves where participants feel comfortable and safe
when sharing information, it helps the researcher to assure the accuracy of the information the participants
are sharing. (Simeon, 2015).

3.6.3 Thick Description

Thick description is a specified tool used in qualitative studies, when using thick description all data
collected is important, it requires the researcher to describe every single detail to its fullest, this cannot be
done without linking between researcher thick interpretation and thick description (Pointerotto, 2006).

Chapter Four: Finding

4.1 Introduction

The research discusses the eloquent role of implementing TQM practices in organizations and the factors,
in terms of its impact on employee satisfaction and organizational performance, in the Jordanian
telecommunication industry,

To that end, the study followed an in-depth interview approach with HR managers in the
telecommunication industry, known for their expertise in Total quality management and Jordanian
employees and their culture. Conducted qualitatively to ensure a deep understanding of the phenomena,
because TQM and its complex nature, the data collected were analyzed using constant comparison theory.
4.2 TQM critical success factors from the HR perspective

According to the literature review, Evaluating the success of TQM practices depends on different
factors, and factors differ from structure to another depending on multidimensional principles.

All interviewees agreed that there is no such thing called a critical success factor, all factors are important.
HR “X” has mentioned that “TQM is an interconnected process that works together to achieve TQM
goals, as for factors they defer from one to another; some managers may combine two factors into one.
But mainly the factors are Processes, Leadership, Customer experience,& Employee experience”. And
when HR “Y” was asked about the topic they have described TQM factors as a puzzle saying “yon need
all the pieces to be able to get the final picture”.

HR ”Z” has explained their point which aligns with the part of the literature that explains leadership and
how it is considered one of the significant factors of TQM, because of the huge influence leaders have in
the organization, HR mentioned that “All TQM factors are important but one significant factor to ensure
success is management and how they plan and instructor a TQM process.

4.3 Management Leadership and HR as a TQM factor and its effect on employee satisfaction

HR “Y” was excited to explain leadership’s role in achieving employee satisfaction in “The ability of the
leader to understand culture, personality, and motivation will help increase job satisfaction” they added
that being exposed to different industries as a leader will help find best practices to TQM that will
increase employee esteem levels; hence increasing their satisfaction.”

HR “X” Explained the effect of leadership on employee satisfaction with the following, “ A skilled leader
is able to positively set a good brand image and internal culture, by communicating effectively with
employees transparently and being able to motivate them by simple incentives such as trainings, setting
road maps and employee journey, reflecting the brand personality in the company so if our brand image is
a beautiful word, our internal vibes should reflect that. and the most important role a leader should be able
to do is build trust within the organizational culture.”

HR “Z” has specified that management is a significant factor of TQM and elaborated “ A manager should
be flexible “not rigid” to be fun and remove the feeling that this is work, try to find exciting ways to
improve by activities and events for employees, in other words, employee satisfaction is highly affected
by the manager and his approach”

4.4 Management Leadership and HR as a TQM factor and its effect on organizational performance

All Interviewees agreed that leadership has a great impact on organizational performance, each HRs “Y &
Z” had the same perspective regarding how leaders affect organizational performance by linking it to
employee satisfaction, Similar to what was mentioned in the literature, employee satisfaction is a basic
element in any TQM implementation, and just as the literature has pointed, a strong association employee
satisfaction has on organizational outcomes due to enhanced performance.

HR “Z” they explained leadership role in achieving better performance by mentioning the following “If I
as manager am able to satisfy my employees by motivating them effectively, it will increase the
performance in a drastic way.” interviewee focused on using the word drastic to emphasize on how much
impact a leader has in the organization. HR “Y” used other words to describe the same point “ leaders
practice to achieve employee esteem satisfaction that will draw into organizational goals by default”.

HR “X” focused more on the leader’s role in communicating strategies effectively “ As a leader linking
between strategy to individual performance will end up with better outcomes of an individual which pours
into organizational performance”. In line with the literature, A leader who is successfully implementing
TQM is able to discover the correlation and connection between business performance and employee
training and tasks.

4.5 Employee involvement as a TQM factor and its effect on employee satisfaction

In reference to the literature, employees who are involved in the organization's processes especially
improvement processes build a sense of belonging, which positively influences their level of satisfaction.

Unanimously, Interviewees have associated their answers to Maslow's theory of needs, referring to
different stages that employee involvement may fulfill. HR “Y” stated that “ Self-Actualization from
Maslow's hierarchy helps in satisfaction, as for an employee it is important to be a part of everyday
practices and participate and it will help achieve self-Actualization”.
HR “X” & “Z” have considered employee involvement as a way to fulfill the “love and belonging” step
from the hierarchy, As HR “Z” has clarified “ When employees feel that they are important to the
company, and their opinions, concerns, and values are taken into consideration and are appreciated
especially when decisions are made, they get a sense of achievement and belonging, personally my beliefs
are not only will they be satisfied, you get them to higher levels, just like Maslow’s theory when one step
is fulfilled you aim higher, they are at the point of love and belonging they are loyal to the entity”.

HR “Z” raised a point where involvement may backfire and not achieve satisfaction it will raise
dissatisfaction, mentioning “when involving employees you must be careful when it comes to how it is
distributed, if it is not distributed fairly it will backfire”.

4.6 Employee involvement as a TQM factor and its effect on Organizational Performance

The literature has emphasized how the involvement of employees affects their performance and the
organization's performance, all respondents have agreed with the literature, as they explained how when
employees feel appreciated and are engaged their level of willingness increase and get the urge to provide
more, HR “X” explained it accurately in their interview, “ employee will be willing to go the extra mile,
which helps reach and attain goals, only when it is cascaded in the right way”.

4.7 Customer focus as a TQM factor and its effect on Employee Satisfaction

In the literature, customer focus has been mentioned several times as an important factor to implement
TQM, though the association it has on employee satisfaction was not specified directly, And all
respondents agree on such a statement. Moreover, the literature has discussed how TQM could frustrate
and put employees under pressure by participating in improvement tasks and programs alongside their
assigned tasks.

Respondents have explained how customer focus may increase employee satisfaction, and how the added
practices of TQM and the pressure it may hold its acceptable, HR “X” stated, “ One of the pillars we use
to evaluate an employee is answering the following question (What has the employee done to serve a
customer and what have they done to have customers as their main focus?) regardlessly of their position,
anything an employee does to serve a customer is considered as a plus to their evaluation statement,
which encourages them to keep customer focus as a main point, and if that is well-achieved employees
get higher evaluations, which means higher level of satisfaction”. Explaining their point of view by an
example, if a salesperson has visited a site to do sales work, and noticed that signal or the service they
provide is not well functioning they must report it and raise it to the people who are responsible for such
problem.

HR “Y” mentioned, “ when we have customer as a focus means we get loyal customers, which means
goals of retaining and gaining customers is achieved, that means employees may get rewarded and receive
incentives resulting in an increased level of satisfaction”.

Customer focus effect on employee satisfaction is indirect, it in the form of the incentives rewards and
gains an employee receives due to having customers as their focus.

4.8 Customer focus as a TQM factor and its effect on Organizational Performance

According to the literature, making decisions and plans that are based on customer needs and desires
result in more profit, enhanced image, high levels of retention and loyalty. Respondents are aligned with
the literature and have the same opinion.

HR “Z” stated, “ By default when you understand your customers and provide them with they want,
desire or need exceed their expectations, you gain them on your side, they will come back, they will pick
you as a preference and maybe they reach a level they don't settle for another substitute, WOM, and more
customers, which is every company's goal, make money grow and sustain it, Customer focus is the key to
all that”.

Chapter Five: Conclusions and Recommendations

5.1 Summary

TQM is a management philosophy, built on the bases of having an on-going process of improvements
including all parts of the organization, And it has resulted in many great outcomes on the organization.
Therefore, this study investigates TQM as a practice and how it affects employee satisfaction and
organizational performance.
Respondents showed acceptance to the idea that TQM and its factors namely, management leadership
HR, employee involvement, and customer focus and how they affect both employee satisfaction and
organizational performance. Moreover, respondents have clarified how all factors have a direct effect
positive effect on organizational performance, on the other hand, management leadership and HR and
employee involvement directly affects employee satisfaction while customer focus has an indirectly
affects on employee satisfaction. Also highlighted how employee satisfaction has a great effect on
organizational performance.

In line with the literature, Jordanian HR managers in telecommuting companies considered that TQM
factors work together in an interconnected way to be able to achieve positive outcomes, respondent gave
importance was given to the management factor in influencing and directing the TQM process.

Moreover, a new contribution emerged regarding the way managers and leaders affect and influence
employee satisfaction, the respondents see that leaders affect employee satisfaction by reflecting brand
image with the employees, the culture of the organization, and the role leaders have by understanding
employees to motivate them.

In line with the literature, respondents see the positive effect managers and leaders have over
organizational performance, correlating employee satisfaction to organizational performance and how
managers should achieve employee satisfaction to be able to get higher organizational performance.

According to the literature, having involved employees will help in increasing employee satisfaction,
respondents agree with the literature and highlighting concerns that should be taken into consideration to
avoid backfire from involving employees. In Jordanian HR managers in the telecommunicating context,
Maslow’s theory of needs is used as a scale to be able to measure the level of success an employee has
reached, and they have referred to it to elaborate how employee involvement aids satisfaction from
fulfilling a step in the hierarchy.

In line with the literature, respondents agreed that involving employees in decision making and other
practices, raising their sense of importance and belonging, which encourages them to go the extra mile,
hence increase organizational performance.
A contribution emerged regarding the relationship between customer focus and employee satisfaction,
respondents have clarified how customer focus indirectly affects employee satisfaction through the
incentives and rewards employees receive because they successfully managed to keep customer at focus.

Finally agreeing with the mentioned literature, explaining how customer focus has a great impact on
organizational performance, from loyal customers, new customers, WOM, high retention rates, and
enhanced brand image, respondents highlighted how the organization’s goal is based on satisfying
customers to be able to make profit and sustain the business.

5.2 Limitations of the study

While the research process, researchers have encountered certain weaknesses and obstacles. Conducting
qualitative research using semi-structured interviews has many limits and requirements, as the data
collected all across the study seemed to be static and difficult to obtain, interpret and present. In addition,
gathering data and information qualitatively could be time-consuming (Kapoulas & Mitic, 2012).
Moreover, the purposive sampling has constrained the researchers as it is perceived to be a subjective
matter that depends on the knowledge richness of the sample, and there is no consensus on a specific
standard (Etikan, et al, 2016).

Furthermore, TQM is a philosophy that has no unified form for its factors or structure to follow or to
implement it. Moreover, due to specific occasions and the holiday season, some managers were on
holiday, and some of them did not give importance to the meeting and they had delayed it and kept the
researchers on hold.

5.3 Recommendations for further research

Future researchers who want to go in-depth and gain more insight with this study (The effect of TQM on
Employee Satisfaction and Organizational performance), is recommended or suggested, in order to obtain
further information and a broader perspective on Jordanian firms in different departments rather than HR
managers, to better understand Jordanian culture and their perspective of such.moreover to make it in
different industries.
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