TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND QUALITY CERTIFICATION ON SERVICES CORPORATIONS.

This research aims to analyze the relationship and the effects of the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) practices on quality certification in services corporations and to analyze the impact of TQM and quality certification (ISO 9000) on the organizational performance. A model of structural equations was used to evaluate the relationship between the different dimensions. With the aim to measure the correlation between the continuous variables' and the dichotomous variable ISO 9000, Eta coefficient was used. The results showed that TQM practices in Portuguese service companies provide an improvement in their operational and market performance, however, TQM does not show an improvement in financial performance. Regarding ISO certification, the results indicate that certified companies do not show an improvement in their performance, whether financial, operational or market. Also, our research confirms that the implementation of TQM practices provides the conditions for quality certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]