Assessment on Application of Total Quality Management Philosophy in Parastatals in Zambia: A Case of ZESCO Limited and Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company

Total quality management (TQM) is a firm-wide management philosophy of continuously improving the quality of the products/services/processes by focusing on the customers’ needs and expectations to enhance customer satisfaction and firm performance. Total quality management (TQM) has been proposed to improve business performance and received considerable attention in recent researches. Despite the recent research efforts on effects on total quality management, little work has been done on effects of total quality management implementation in performance of public sector institutions in Zambia, particularly the parastatal utility companies. This study sought to investigate the application of total quality management principles parastatals corporations in Zambia. The scope of the study targeted parastatals utility companies in Zambia with particular focus on ZESCO and LWSC. The specific objectives were to investigate to what extent the principles of Total quality management (TQM) are implemented at ZESCO and LWSC; To examine the impact of Total quality management (TQM) implementation on organizational performance; establish the extent of focus on customers and involvement of staff in decision making; and to find out the extent to which quality culture is embedded in the organization. This study adopted descriptive, qualitative and quantitative data design. The main instruments in data collection used were semi-structured questionnaires targeting subordinate staff and an interview template for senior level management and. The data was finally coded, analysed, and presented by means of frequencies tables and graphs, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient with assistance of statistical packages for social science (SPSS). The study shown that as much most of the employees in parastatals companies (ZESCO and LWSC) are aware of total quality management. The findings from the study revealed that the two companies do not provide quality services that satisfy their clients. It was found that majority of the respondent represented by 40% rated the service delivery at ZESCO to be poor, followed by 28% fair, whereas 23% rated the service delivery by ZESCO to be good, and 10% indicated it was excellent. This entails that 68% of the customers were unsatisfied and not happy with the quality of services provided by ZESCO. On the contrary results from LWSC showed that most of the respondents that 78% of the respondents positively rated LWSC while only 23% rated it poor. The reasons customers advanced behind poor services from ZESCO according to the order of ranking included too much load shedding, lack timely responses, poor customer service, and delay in connecting power. On the other hand, whereas it was found that customers also experienced poor customer service, poor water supply especially both during the day and night, delayed responses, and others attributed to abnormal water bills provided by LWSC all contributed to poor service delivery. Furthermore, the study showed that TQM was implemented to a lesser extent at ZESCO and LWSC. The companies did not fully engage the employees in decision making. In addition, the study indicated that customers were not engaged in the service provision items of decision making. There is need for ZESCO and LWSC to invest in other sources of energy like solar and water energy supply. The study further ascertained that there was need to invest for ZESCO and LWSC in TQM just like other countries has done for example South African and Pakistan. The study indicated that ZESCO and LWSC had been providing poor services and delay in responses to its customer hence they need a competitor. KeywordsTotal Quality Management, Total Quality Control, Parastatal, Zambia Electricity Supply, Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company, Implementation. The International Journal of Multi-Disciplinary Research ISSN: 3471-7102, ISBN: 978-9982-70-318-5 2 Paper-ID: CFP/2204/2020 www.ijmdr. net CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION