Abstract

Service organizations are faced with intense pressure of global competition, and there is a need for these organizations to consider incorporating the idea of sustainability in Total Quality Management (TQM) in order to sustain their competitive advantage and continuous improvement. Sustainable TQM has emerged as a potential solution to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of services by supporting and accommodating the changes in the environment where the organization operates. Therefore this paper explores the concept of sustainability and its link to sustainable TQM. The paper highlights some of the key issues of sustainable TQM, and describes how various critical factors can create a sustainable competitive advantage in service organizations. A successful TQM implementation requires employees’ participation in TQM activities. Data are collected from employees from service organizations in Mauritius. The results reveal that leadership, customer focus, and training have significant and positive association with satisfaction as perceived by Mauritian service sector’s employees.