Some empirical evidence from a developing country

Purpose – The main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices and service quality as well as the relationship between TQM practices and market orientation. Design/methodology/approach – Structured questionnaires were distributed to managers of 175 service organisations in the northern region of Malaysia; 101 were returned. Findings – The results show that employee empowerment, information and communication, customer focus, and continuous improvement had a significant effect on service quality whereas only employee empowerment and customer focus had a significant effect on market orientation. Research limitations/implications – Awider sample can be used for any future study, which can be generalized to the service industry with multiple responses from different individuals and management levels. The same study can also be completed by including more TQM practices as well as other mediating variables like environment, culture, and control within the organization. Practical implications – This study contributes significant knowledge to the service industry since there is still a lack of studies that have been done in relation to TQM in service organizations due to its origin, which is more related to manufacturing organizations. It helps towards understanding the improvement in quality efforts in service organizations in the context of Malaysian practitioners. Originality/value – This study adds to the literature by bridging the gap and showing the importance of TQM practices in service organizations. It also provides some theoretical contributions to the TQM development, in relation to market orientation.