ISSN 1753-9439 Paper 1 Vol 1 No 1 Pages 1 – 44
Measuring the reliability and validity of two scales for Quality Performance in SMEs: an empirical study
Paper type: Survey/Research paper
There has been an increasing need for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to assess their performance maturity levels in attaining continual quality improvement. This paper describes two objective scales for quality performance improvement in SMEs. They are firstly, the Quality Management Principles Scale (QMPS) using a set of self-assessment questions of the ISO 9004: 2000 Standard to assess the adoption status of these principles, and secondly, the Employee Perception Scale (EPS) using identifiable constructs to measure employees' perception towards the continual development in SMEs. This paper investigates the inter-item reliability and the content and construct validity of both scales in an integrated improvement process in SMEs. An empirical study was conducted. Data was collected from one hundred and ten (110) SMEs in two selected manufacturing sectors: the oil/gas and non-oil/gas in Trinidad and Tobago. With the aid of the SPSS and LISREL software, a comprehensive data analysis was made and the reliability and validity of both scales were determined. Results showed that both QMPS and EPS were statistically reliable and valid while measuring the levels of performance maturity and employees' perception on performance improvement. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge in addressing people management issues in quality management and developing tools which empirically measure quality performance improvements and employees' perceptions in SMEs. It is anticipated that the findings would provide practical insights for SMEs to adopt the scales and align organisational culture and implementation plans for continual quality improvement.
Keywords: ISO 9004, ISO 9001, QMPS, EPS, SMEs, validity, reliability, culture.