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Introduction
In today's highly competitive market with escalating demands of consumers for getting better products and services ([104] Thiagaragan et al. , 2001), survival of companies in the ever-expanding marketplace ([116] Zakuan et al. , 2010), economic success of companies ([23] Curkovic et al. , 2000), improvement in productivity, customer satisfaction, profitability, and innovativeness ([83] Sadikoglu and Zehir, 2010), changing organizational culture ([74] Prajogo and McDermott, 2005), and globalization of world trade ([31] Fotopoulos and Psomas, 2010), the emergence of quality plays a vital role and have become a top priority for many companies worldwide in order to achieve the above stated objectives and gain competitive edge. The importance of quality for company's performance in several terms and success in marketplace is widely accepted in business literature and practice ([53] Kumar et al. , 2009b). In an attempt to improve quality, numerous approaches to management of quality and continuous improvement have been pursued, most notably and a recommended approach is the concept of total quality management (TQM). Many companies claimed substantial benefits of implementing TQM in terms of financial results, operating performance, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction ([12] Brah et al. , 2002; [110] Yang, 2006; [53] Kumar et al. , 2009b; [32] Fuentes et al. , 2006; [91] Sila, 2007). It is a holistic management approach ([35] Hafeez et al. , 2006) that seeks managing quality, it requires development of quality strategy ([46] Kanji and Wallace, 2000) and a framework for its implementation ([17] Chin and Pun, 2002). It focuses on meeting customer needs and company's objectives ([52] Kumar et al. , 2009a).
TQM principles and practices have been embraced by many quality managers and practitioners from different sectors and have earned the attention of many researchers from diverse areas. They come out with many success stories related to TQM practices ([91] Sila, 2007; [48] Karia and Asaari, 2006; [55] Lagrosen, 2003; [74] Prajogo and McDermott, 2005; [112] Yoo et al. , 2006). While many studies have shown that almost two-third of the TQM implementation program failed to achieve any result ([25] David and Strang, 2006; [58] Miller et al. , 2009; [82] Rich, 2008), and others find mixed results of TQM success ([49] Kaynak, 2003; [113] York and Miree, 2004; [75] Prajogo...