Top management leadership, employee empowerment, job satisfaction, and customer satisfaction in TQM organizations: an empirical study

Abstract

Top management leadership and employee empowerment are considered two of the most important principles of total quality management (TQM) because of their assumed relationship with customer satisfaction. As a result, many top management leadership and employee empowerment strategies and practices have been suggested in the management literature. However, few studies have been done to test this assumed relationship and determine which of these strategies and practices may be most effective in bringing about the intended results. This study surveyed organizations that have adopted TQM to determine the relationship between top management leadership, employees' empowerment, job satisfaction, and customers' satisfaction. The results reveal positive correlation between top management leadership, employee empowerment, job satisfaction, and customer satisfaction. Employee empowerment and improved levels of job satisfaction are facilitated by top management leadership and commitment to the TQM goal of customer satisfaction by creating an organizational climate that emphasizes total quality and customer satisfaction. Effective strategies for achieving employee empowerment and job satisfaction, together with top management leadership roles in a TQM environment, are identified and discussed.