Abstract
The service sector is a highly sensitive market segment in terms of quality management and certification, as its activities are essentially intangible. All companies require well-structured business process management, and in the service sector this concern is directly reflected in organizational survival and growth. Accordingly, this study aims to analyze the relationship and effects of the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) practices on quality certification in service companies, as well as to examine the impact of TQM and quality certification (ISO 9000) on organizational performance.
To this end, a structural equation modeling approach was employed to assess the relationships among the different dimensions. In order to measure the correlation between continuous variables and the dichotomous ISO 9000 variable, the ETA coefficient was used.
The results show that TQM practices in Portuguese service companies lead to improvements in operational and market performance; however, TQM does not demonstrate an improvement in financial performance. With regard to ISO certification, the findings indicate that certified companies do not exhibit improvements in their performance, whether financial, operational, or market-related.
This study contributes to the literature by addressing gaps arising from divergences identified in previous studies, not only with respect to the ambiguity of the results obtained, but also regarding differing interpretations of the concepts analyzed.
Keywords: Total Quality Management; Organizational Performance; Quality Certification; ISO 9000.