Abstract

The present study was conducted to bring the attention to the importance of applying total quality management (TQM) and their effects on organizational effectiveness, and particularly the hospital effectiveness. The main objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of applying TQM on the overall hospital effectiveness in the accredited governmental hospitals in Jordan that accredited from Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC). The study population represented all health care professionals working in the five HCAC accredited governmental hospitals who were working for more than three years in the same hospitals. Study sample included 1290 employees. The response rate was 83.6 % of the total questionnaires distributed. TQM principles were: Leadership commitment to quality, Customer focus, Continuous improvement, Teamwork, Employee involvement, education and training. Study findings showed a significant impact of all TQM principles on the overall hospital effectiveness (p< 0.05). Using multiple linear regression analysis showed that TQM is a strong predictor of hospital performance (Beta =0.818, t=46.613, R2= 0.669, and p value = 0.000). Taken together, applying the principles of TQM increases the overall hospital effectiveness in the HCAC accredited governmental hospitals in Jordan.

Introduction

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach of an organization centered on quality based on the participation of all of its members aiming at long term success through customer satisfaction and benefits to all members of the organization and to the society (ISO 8402,2009). Accordingly, TQM is an approach to continuously improving the quality of all the organizations, processes, products and services (Kotler,2000).

TQM is based on a set of principles that seek to increase stakeholders' satisfaction through best use of organizational resources. But the impact of each of quality management principles on organizational effectiveness is still debated. Several studies have investigated the impact of applying TQM principles on overall organizational effectiveness and performance. Many studies has found a strong and positive relationship with performance, There is a general agreement that a successful TQM implementation is leading to improve organization effectiveness (Hendricks and Singhal, 2001; Hansson and Eriksson, 2002; Brah et al., 2002; and Kaynak, 2003).

The success implementation of TQM in industry has encouraged healthcare leaders to study whether it can be implemented in the healthcare sector. Studies indicate that the TQM activites leads to improve patient satisfaction, increased productivity, increase profitability, and improved health care organization performance. (Alexander et al., 2006; Macinati., 2008).

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