THE JAPANESE STYLE OF PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT AFFECTING TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: A CASE STDUY ON THE BEST PRACTICE ORGANIZATION

Abstract

          The objectives of this study were: 1) to study Japanese style of production management which affected the management concerning quality, price, delivery and service and 2) to compare employees’ and customers’ satisfaction with management concerning quality, price, delivery, and services. Data were collected from 370 Thailand Lean Award recipients from 62 organizations using questionnaire as a tool. The statistics used were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression.          The results showed that the 5S (X1), JIT (X4) and TPM (X6) variables affected quality management and they had a 68% predictive power quality. The predicted equation was written as Y1 = 1.181 + 0.327 (X1) + 0.239. (X4) + 0.187 (X6) and the variables of 5S (X1), KAIZEN (X5), JIT (X4) and TPM (X6) affected quality management concerning cost reduction, and they had 75 % predictive power quality. The equation was written as Y2 = 0.650 + 0.369 (X1) + 0.175 (X5) + 0.198 (X4) + 0.129 (X6). The variables of 5S (X1), JIT (X4) and KAIZEN (X5) affected on time delivery, and the predictive power was 56%. The equation was written as Y3 = 1.567 + 0.314 (X1) + 0.219 (X4) + 0.179 (X5) and the variables of TPM (X6), 5S (X1) and JIT (X4) affected service quality. The predictive power was 60 percent. The equation was written as Y4 = 1.181 + 0.327 (X6) + 0.239 (X1) + 0.187 (X4).          In addition, the results of the comparison between employees and customers in terms of the satisfaction with the quality management showed that customers were satisfied with the overall quality management at a high level. When being compared, customers were found 10.55 % more positively satisfied than company employees were. In fact, customers were 6.50% more satisfied with service quality management than employees were. Customers were 5.69 % more satisfied with delivery quality management than employees were. Customers were 0.97% more satisfied with cost quality management than employees.