Determinants of the implementation of the quality management systems in SMEs

The implementation of the quality management systems using quality improvement methods, tools and approaches is considered one of the significant aspects to increase the performance of enterprises in the market environment and growing competition. Most of the authors studied the impact of any of the available quality management tools or philosophies on the performance of enterprises only on a case-by-case basis. The aim of the paper is, however, to examine the effect of implementing a larger scope of tools, approaches or concepts of quality management on the performance of the enterprise more comprehensively from the perspective of their implementation and the assumption of achieving higher enterprise performance. The paper presents the results of the survey, which was carried out from 2020 to 2021. The survey was focused on the implementation of quality management approaches and techniques in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Slovakia. A total of 313 small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises were addressed through questionnaires. The representativeness of the sample was tested using the chi-squared goodness-of-fit test. Pearson’s chi-squared test and analysis of contingency were implemented to test the established research hypotheses. Through the results of the analyses, it can be claimed that there are significant relationships between the use of quality management approaches and techniques and the performance of enterprises measured through return of costs. At the same time, the most common reasons for implementing quality management approaches were analysed, which confirmed the hypothesis about the reasons for improving product quality and increasing customer satisfaction, which were based on theoretical assumptions verified in practice. The results also show the significant differences between the researched industries, which gives an opportunity for increasing the level of quality in individual segments.