The rationale for conducting this research is the
need to examine the relationships between these
three groups of variables because there are inconsistencies,
even controversies, in identifying these
relationships as have been indicated in the literature
in this area. More importantly, TQM scholars
[3–5] have recently called for the study of TQM in
the broader organizational context by incorporating
such factors as business environment, organizational
culture, and, particularly, organization
strategy. While a number of researchers have examined
the relationship between TQM and organizational
performance [6–11], none has addressed the
relationship between TQM and any specific strategy.
In particular, the need to investigate the role
of TQM, as part of a strategy implementation, in
affecting the relationship between the strategy and
the organizational performance is important because,
when proposing his generic models of a competitive
strategy, Porter [12] has emphasized that
each strategy requires different resources and
organizational arrangements to be successful in
achieving the primary goal of the strategy.