A different subset of small enterprise and their owners was examined in doctorial
research in Malaysia. As the research points out with documented evidence from
Malaysia, SMEs form the backbone of the Malaysian manufacturing sector in terms of
number of establishments as well as number of employees. The study examined a
problem in Malaysia whereby manufacturing SMEs could be seen as meeting the
demands of a local consumer group as well as the needs of larger manufacturing
enterprises in the country however, as the researcher points out, frequently large
Malaysian manufacturers gain supplies from overseas because of the low quality
achievement of local SMEs. The study therefore looked at the mindset of small
enterprise owners who could meet quality standards and also examined the actual
practices that successful SMEs possessed and implemented in meeting the quality
demands of large manufacturers. The research problem was therefore to examine
the most appropriate quality model that could be used by SMEs in Malaysia in the
manufacturing sector in order to meet the quality demands of large manufacturing
customers and large manufacturers on a global basis. The study therefore looked at
attitudes of owners, approaches taken by SME owners to change current practices to
meet quality demands, the role of government in this exercise, and attempted to
measure the level of quality practices of successful SMEs. In chapter 2, the
researcher examined SMEs in Malaysia with comments on attitudes, initiatives and
structures and then when on to relate the development of quality management
models to the needs of SMEs attempting to meet the requirements of customers. A
conceptual theoretical framework was developed meeting acceptable global
standards of quality management and these were modified to meet the needs of
SMEs. The outcome of the research was to provide answers to four research
questions listed, to produce specific recommendations on the development of quality
standards and the researcher also suggested further research to extend the research
in particular to major Malaysian ethnic groups