Delving into the soft side of TQM: An analysis of people involvement’s implications on management practices

Purpose: Effective soft Total Quality Management has been argued to be a requisite for hard Total Quality Management. However, limited empirical evidence is available on the implications of adopting soft Total Quality Management approaches. In particular, little is known about the consequences of involving employees in making management decisions. To fill in this gap, the article investigates the effects triggered by employees’ involvement on their commitment to organizational excellence. Methodology: Secondary data were collected from the European Company Survey. A large sample of 15,958 companies established across Europe was included in the analysis. Both direct and indirect implications of employees’ involvement on commitment to organizational excellence were investigated. More specifically, attention was paid to the effects of employees’ involvement on commitment to organizational excellence through the mediating role of personnel training and motivation. A parallel mediation model was arranged to shed light on these relationships. Findings: Employees’ involvement in management decision making slightly contributed to establishing a commitment to organizational excellence. Conversely, personnel training and motivation had a relevant mediating role, boosting the implications of employees’ involvement on the organizational commitment to organizational excellence. Practical Implications: Employees’ involvement is critical to establish a positive organizational climate which is conducive to the implementation of Total Quality Management practices. However, its implications on organizational excellence should be contextualized in light of the mediating role of personnel training and personnel motivation. On the one hand, training is expected to determine a greater participation of employees to the enhancement of organizational excellence. On the other hand, motivation fosters the engagement of employees to the improvement of organizational dynamics. Originality: The article originally investigates the implications of employees’ involvement on commitment to organizational excellence in a large sample of European companies, providing some food for thought to scholars and practitioners.