The effects of participation in decision making, individual improvement efforts and training on the quality of the product design process

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of decision making participation, improvement effort and training on quality of product design process. An employee's perceived degree of his/her own participation in organisational decision making has been considered a major factor influencing the employee's improvement efforts. Improvement effort and training are hypothesised to influence quality of product design process. Hypothesised relationships are tested through a survey study of 90 employees in six Turkish business firms which are currently applying total quality management (TQM) practices. A hypothetical model was tested by regression analysis. Findings revealed that training and individual improvement efforts were found to be significantly related to quality of product design process.