Chinese cultural values and total quality climate

In view of the scarcity of studies on the relationship between national culture and total quality management (TQM), this paper examines the impact of Chinese cultural values on the total quality climate. Using a sample of 189 ISO 9000 certified companies in Taiwan, results from structural equation modeling indicate that Chinese cultural values do have a positive and statistically significant influence on these organizations’ quality climate. Given the results from a quantitative viewpoint, some congruencies among Chinese values and quality climate elements are suggested. Although using the case of Chinese culture, the theoretical proposition raised should gain generalizability in other national cultures towards a culturalist approach to the theorization of TQM.