The Impact of Critical Success Factors for Implementing Total Quality Management in Promoting Strategic Innovation: An Exploratory Study at the Iraqi Trade Bank – Holy Karbala))

Abstract

The research seeks to demonstrate the impact of critical success factors for the application of total quality management in promoting strategic innovation. In light of the tremendous changes in the business world over the past two decades, it has become imperative for companies seeking continuous improvement to maintain their competitive and economic position. This can only be achieved by adopting a strategy that will realise and enhance the strategic orientations of industrial companies, namely total quality management. The main objective of this research is to identify the impact of critical success factors for the implementation of TQM (senior management commitment to quality, employee participation and empowerment, education and training, continuous improvement, strategic planning) on the promotion of strategic innovation. To achieve this objective, the researcher relied on descriptive and analytical methods to analyse the research model and hypotheses and identify the logical relationships between the study variables. The research considered the critical success factors for TQM as an independent variable that influences the promotion of strategic innovation as a dependent variable. The Southern Cement Manufacturing Company/Karbala Cement Factory was selected as the research community, and a sample of 37 administrative leaders from various departments was selected. Their opinions were surveyed using a questionnaire prepared by the researcher as one of the data collection tools.

The most important conclusion is that there is a statistically significant correlation and a meaningful causal relationship between the critical success factors for the implementation of total quality management (senior management commitment to quality, employee participation and empowerment, education and training, continuous improvement, strategic planning) and the dimensions of strategic innovation in banking institutions (leadership tendency, exploration

The research recommends the adoption and integration of critical success factors for total quality management as a strategic institutional approach at the Iraqi Trade Bank – Karbala Branch, and linking them directly to strategic planning, implementation and follow-up processes, thereby contributing to strategic renewal, improving the quality of banking services, and achieving competitive sustainability in a banking environment characterised by change and increasing competition