The Effect of Knowledge Management Uses on Total Quality Management Practices: A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

Previous studies have showed that selecting the influential factors related to knowledge management (KM) uses and total quality management (TQM) practices has been always a critical task for researchers. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are few papers that review the concept of knowledge management uses on total quality management practices. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this study aims to highlight the important factors related to knowledge management uses on total quality management practices. This study identified knowledge acquisition, knowledge storage, knowledge transfer and knowledge application as the most important knowledge management uses. While customer satisfaction, training and employees education, commitment of top management, team work and continuous improvement were considered to be the most important TQM practices. This study provides a holistic picture for future researchers in selecting the popular related KM uses and TQM practices. This will help them build a strong knowledge in this area in order to develop theoretical basis for their future research.