Knowledge Management and Total Quality Management Impact on Employee Effectiveness in Emerging Industries: Case of Tunisian Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract

Employee effectiveness is highly important for all economic activities. Several factors can affect its degree, either positively or negatively. In this vein, this work aims to examine the impact of knowledge management and total quality management on employee effectiveness in the industry of emerging countries. For that, Tunisian small and medium enterprises were taken as an example. The proposed methodology consists first of providing a research model linking the correlation between knowledge management elements, total quality management practices, and employee effectiveness. Then, a survey was designed and broadcast to more than 3000 Tunisian small and medium enterprises. Hence, 206 responses were collected from several industrial fields, and collected data analysis was achieved by SPSS software. For testing research hypotheses, multiple regression analysis, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were employed. The finding points out that total quality management and knowledge management have a positive impact on staff effectiveness. This impact is highlighted through the roles of knowledge management elements and total quality management practices on human resources behavior and their ability enhancement. Consequently, a significant increase in productivity can be seen in the operational processes of the company. This work is one of the first studies to research total quality management and knowledge management impact on staff effectiveness in Tunisian small and medium enterprises. Besides, it reflects the maturity and the awareness of respondent companies’ managers to the practice of these concepts in emerging economies.