Abstract

This study examines the influence of four selected soft factors (management commitment, employee involvement, training and education, and reward and recognition) on quality improvement within 255 Malaysian electrical & electronics (E&E) firms. Despite extensive research on quality management and quality improvement, very little empirical research has examined this area of study specifically in the E&E sector. The results of this study revealed that management commitment, employee involvement, training and education, and reward and recognition are significantly positively associated with firms’ quality improvement practice. Also, employee involvement was perceived as a dominant soft factor for quality improvement; it was associated with significant improvements in firms’ quality improvement. This study contributes to a better understanding of the influence of soft factors on organizational quality improvement among firms within the context of the Malaysian E&E sector. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

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