An Investigation of Total Quality Management Implementation
Status For The Libyan Cement Industry: A Case Study
Rajab Abdullah HOKOMA, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department, Al-
Fateh University, Libya,
e-mail: rhokoma@alfateh.edu.ly
Abstract
Libyan industries have struggled with many
difficulties during the past decades due to
many problems. These have created a
strongly negative impact on the productivity
and utilization levels of many industries
within the country. This paper investigates
the current implementation status of Total
Quality Management (TQM) within the
Libyan cement industry. A survey
methodology has been applied using an
intensive survey questionnaire to the
targeted cement companies working within
Libya. Based on the analysis of this survey
responses, the results showed that the
management body within the surveyed
companies has a modest strategy towards
most of the areas that are considered as
being very crucial in the successful
implementation of TQM. The paper has also
identified limitations within the investigated
area and has pointed to areas where senior
managers within the Libyan cement industry
should take serious actions in order to
achieve effective implementation of TQM
throughout the entire operations within their
companies.
Keywords: Cement, Investigation,
Implementation, Libya, Questionnaire
Introduction
Quality management in Libya was
established during the last twenty years,
where traditional quality control methods
were widely adopted as a basic management
tenet in managing old-fashioned
manufacturing industries. In the 1990s
quality systems such as ISO 9000 started to
emerge, and were implemented for the first
time in a number of major companies within
the country. During that time,
comprehensive sets of technical standards
were maintained and institutionalized to
develop the standardization of products,
services, and any type of products from the
Libyan industries. Despite the spread of
quality management techniques that has
taken place in many other countries, quality
management and its effective
implementation is just beginning in Libya in
the recent years (Hendricks & Singhal 1996;
Hokoma et al., 2008a; Hokoma & El-Buzidi,
2009). TQM should play an increasingly
important role as companies operating in
Libya compete in both the domestic and
global markets (Oakland, 2000; Hokoma et
al., 2006a; Hokoma et al., 2006b; Hokoma
et al., 2008a; Hokoma et al., 2008b). The
emphasis on TQM as a management
philosophy and a new way of managing
companies to improve their overall
effectiveness and the performance towards
achieving World Class
Manufacturing(WCM) status has increased
considerably over the past few decades
(Hokoma et al., 2006b; Hokoma et al.,
2008c).
The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the
extent of TQM implementation levels within
the Libyan cement industry in order to
provide an insight to the senior managers
within this industry to take actions towards
immediate improvements within their
companies. Furthermore, comparison of
these findings with a previous study
conducted by the author strengthens the
conclusion of this study. Also, this research
attempts to investigate and identify key areas
of research to see how effectively and
efficiently the surveyed industry being run
and to provide an insight for future
improvements.
An Overview of TQM
TQM was developed in the early 1980's, and
has played a significant role in the
companies success worldwide, stressing the
mutual co-operation of everyone and
everything within the company and
associated business processes, aiming to
produce products that meet the needs and
expectations of customers as it allows
companies to obtain a high degree of
differentiation and to reduce costs (Hokoma
et al., 2008b). In spite of its advantages,
problems have also been detected in its
implementation, which should encourage the
companies to develop a number of
components in an integrated way for
successful implementation of TQM (Dale,
(1999).
TQM is one of several quality-based
practical approaches that many companies
use, and has been promoted as an approach
to management that enables companies to
become customer and quality focused.
Commonly quoted core values for TQM are
“customer focus”, “continuous
improvement”, “focus on processes”, “focus
on facts”, “participation of all the employees
within the company”, and “committed
leadership” (Dale, 1999; Hokoma et al.,
2007a). It is a team approach strategy that
integrates and encompasses the goals of the
company with its human, capital, and
financial resources. It must be a corporate
strategy that integrates planning, operations,
and the needs of customers and employees
(Hokoma et al., 2006b; Hokoma et al.,
2008c).
Various studies (Hendricks & Singhal 1996;
Mobbs, 2001; World Report International,
2004; Abdussalam et al., 2004; Hokoma et
al., 2007b; Hokoma & El-Buzidi, 2007;
Hokoma et al., 2008d), have been carried
out for the identification of those elements of
successful quality management systems,
from three different areas: commitment from
quality leaders, formal evaluation models
and empirical research. Researchers have
identified a number of tools and techniques
for quality improvement that are necessary
for TQM success. Managers need to know
which aspects they must consider to
successfully develop the TQM systems
within their companies .
The Current Status Of The Libyan
Cement Industry
As the cement production field is considered
to be a high level competitive industry,
Libya has paid a strong attention on this
industry as all the raw materials required to
produce the cement are locally available.
The importance of the cement in the
construction sector as well as for the
infrastructure buildings is paramount and
extensively used in most of the projects
within the country borders. This makes the
cement industry an extremely important
entity requiring further development and
better organisation. (Hokoma et al., 2006c;
Hokoma et al., 2007a).
The cement industry in Libya is the sole
domain of three main companies, producing
about 7 Million Tonnes of cement annually
from 9 plants around the country. This
production satisfies most of domestic needs.
However, as evident, the average utilisation
capacity of the cement plants is about 50%
(World Report International, 2004; Hokoma
et al., 2007a). After the suspension of the
United Nations economic sanctions against
Libya in 2001, there was a general
expectation that a significant increase in
investment would occur in the mineral
industry in the country. Libya proposed
more investment in cement manufacturing
and also is promoting the development of a
number of mineral deposits, which include
clay, gypsum, and other materials. This
expansion includes investment to upgrade
almost all the cement plants in the country.
Libya is also committed to promoting the
development of a number of mineral
deposits, which include all the cement raw
materials, iron, salt, sodium carbonate, and
stone (Hokoma et al., 2007a; Hokoma et al.,
2008b).
The cement industry in Libya has been made
a high rank of priority to be upgraded with
high manufacturing techniques and
technologies, as well as to be managed
effectively, requiring application of the most
recent advances in manufacturing
technologies and managerial techniques as
Libya is planning to build large projects in
the area of construction including upgrading
the infrastructure, which needs millions of
tons of cement. Also, Libya is starting a new
era of urban development nowadays and in
the near future that would be the largest
consumer of the cement within the country
(Tughar et al., 2007; Hokoma et al., 2006a;
Hokoma et al., 2010).
Research Methodology
Considering the importance of the cement
industry in construction developments
around the globe, and more over for Libya is
planning to develop mega construction
projects during this recent years. This
industry is considered for this research in
order to provide and suggest improvements
and updating the current managerial
activities and manufacturing operations. A
survey questionnaire was developed to
collect the needed data. It was designed to
investigate the current implementation status
of TQM within this industry. The developed
questionnaire was structured into two main
sections; the first section investigates the
demographic information of the targeted
companies. However, in some questions the
respondents were given a choice not to
answer the question due to confidentiality
reasons. The targeted people for this survey
were the top and senior mangers who were
working within the targeted companies and
involved within their key decision making
processes.
In its second part, the questionnaire included
questions concerning the TQM
implementation status along with the applied
strategy towards this implementation as well
as the current implementation of each of the
TQM key elements. Each question was
given a multiple-choice answer and the
respondents were asked to state on a
Yes/No/Do Not Know scale to tick on the
most appropriate answer based on their
detailed knowledge.
The questionnaire was distributed to the
targeted participants, a response rate of
about 65% from the overall distributed
questionnaires was achieved.
Complementary to the questionnaire survey,
three meetings were carried out between the
author and senior managers working within
the surveyed companies. During these
meetings, information related to the cement
industry was provided, and site visits to two
plants were additionally carried out in order
to collect more knowledge and information
about the working environment within this
industry.
Data Analysis and Discussion with the used sample. According to Pallant
(2005), a value of 0.70 or above is
The analysis process started with a reliability considered adequate for the reliability of the
test for the entire survey questionnaire, using entire questionnaire.
the Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient. The
calculated Cronbach’s Alpha value was The managerial level of the respondents was
found to be 0.91, implying that the investigated and the findings are summarised
questionnaires can be considered as reliable as shown in
management. This modest participation from
Figure 1. The findings show that the top
the top managers could be a result of their
managers responses was only with 9% of the
heavy workload as this situation was clearly
total response rate. The highest response rate
realised throughout the one-to-one
was from the lower management level
interviews, carried out during this survey.
(48.3%) followed by 42.7% from the middle
Figure 1, the managerial position levels of the respondents

50.0%

40.0%
Percent rate of the respondents

30.0%

20.0%

10.0%

0.0%
Top management Middle Management Lower Manaagement

Q3-The position level of the respondents

implementing TQM within the surveyed

TQM Implementation Status
industry with a response rate of 15.8%.
The current implementation levels of TQM Surprisingly, the complexity of
within the Libyan cement industry has been implementing TQM has not been mentioned
investigated in order to ascertain its current as an obstacle by any of the respondents.
status, the findings shows that the TQM
implementation status is found to be within The Implementation Status of TQM Key
the range of 39.4% of the total respondents. Elements
The reasons being pointed as obstacles for Further investigation was applied to indicate
not implementing TQM within the the implementation levels of the TQM key
companies that indicated themselves as non- elements within all the surveyed companies.
implementers of TQM (60.6%) are the lack The findings obtained from the analysed
of familiarity with TQM practices (51.6%) data are presented in Table I, which shows
and The lack of top management support that about 80% of the respondents indicate
which found to be within a rang of 32.6% of that their companies are focussing on
the total respondents of non-implementers of implementing internal and external
TQM. The need for formal approval is communication networks. The finding also
pointed as an important obstacle of not
shows that ISO practices are found to be
implemented within a range of about 87%.,
whereas the category of implementing
Statistical Process Control practices was
found the third highest with a percentage
rate of about 53.3%, followed by
implementing cost analysis methodology
which found to be implemented with a range
of 46.7. The implementation of QFD,
FMEA, Experimental and Taguchui
Methods and Benchmarking, were all found
to be implemented at very poor levels,
fluctuating between 0% to about 20% of the
respondents.
In summarizing these findings, the extent of
the implementation levels of the TQM key
elements within the surveyed industry is
found to be modest and in most cases
indicates to poor situation even within those
companies who have partially implemented
these key elements. This reflects the
previous results that the TQM
implementation levels within the
investigated industry stands at the modest
levels, even within the companies that stated
themselves as TQM implementers.

Table I, The implementation level of the TQM key elements

Implementation (%)
TQM Key Element
Y N D
Implementing any ISO Practices or their Equivalent 86.7 13.3 00.0
Implementing Quality Function Deployment (QFD) 6.7 46.7 46.6
Implementing Failure Modes & Effect Analysis (FMEA) 00.0 66.7 33.3
Implementing any Experimental or Taguchui Methods 00.0 86.7 13.3
Implementing Statistical Process Control (SPC) practices 53.3 33.3 13.3
Implementing any Benchmarking 20.0 66.7 13.3
Implementing Cost Analysis Methodology 46.7 20.0 33.3
Implementing internal and external communication 80.0 13.3 6.7
networks
Key: Y= Yes; N=No; D= Do Not Know
the relationship between the current
The Relationship Between The TQM implementation status of TQM and the level
Implementation Status and The Level of of practicing the investigated TQM key-
Top Management Commitment levels elements. The direction and the magnitude
of the linear correlation can be quantified
The relationship between TQM with the Correlation Coefficient (r), which
implementation status and the level of may range from -1.00 to +1.00. According to
practicing the TQM key elements within the Cohen (1988) and Pallant (2005), the
surveyed industry was assessed using the Correlation Coefficient (r) with a negative
Spearman Correlation Test, which measures value represents a negative correlation,
indicating that as one variable increases, the
other variable decreases, while a positive other one also increases. The value of 0.00
value represents a positive correlation, represents no correlation.
indicating that as one variable increases, the
Table II, The relationship between TQM implementation status and the top management
commitment levels

Category (r)
Commitment to implementing TQM 0.62
Hold clear visionary goals for TQM 0.68

Share the vision of fulfilling TQM implementation with all the employees 0.88

Develop a detailed implementation plan for TQM 0.29

Identify the necessary Champions for the implementation 0.15
Ensure the necessary resources to implement TQM 0.16
Ensure a clear definition of TQM to all the employees 0.28
Commit to increase the customer satisfaction 0.41

This study is the most recent to investigate

The findings from this correlation test are
shown in Table II, showing that all the
investigated categories are within positive
Correlation Coefficient values, which
indicate to a fact that practicing these
categories increases, the implementation
level of TQM within these companies
increases too. The Table also shows that the
highest Correlation Coefficient values are
with sharing the vision of fulfilling the total
TQM implementation with all the related
employees; holding clear visionary goals for
TQM; and the commitment to implementing
TQM. Whereas, ensuring the necessary
resources for the implantation and
identifying the necessary Champions for the
implementing TQM are the only two
categories that falls within very poor levels.
Conclusions
the TQM implementation status within the
Libyan cement industry. It makes a
contribution by providing an insight into
what extent the TQM practices are being
implemented within this industry. It pointed
that if TQM is to be succeed in Libyan
companies, the organisational cultures have
to change towards a more flexible and
customer-oriented one. There is a need to
have dynamism in the business where the
environment is safe to take risks. People
have to feel that they belong, and the levels
of morale, trust and participation should be
high. Building teamwork, opportunities for
growth, and development and decentralised
decisions are important factors for the
effective TQM implementation. However,
this survey also indicates that managers
within the Libyan cement industry express a
clear desire to move towards the
management styles that are required for
effective TQM implementation.
Comparing these results with previous
findings obtained from research conducted
by the author two years ago (Hokoma et al.,
2008b), it can be seen that both studies
focused on the same problem within the
same industry through different aspects, both
obtained similar results, arising the lack of
familiarity with new techniques and
technologies within the surveyed companies
and the lack of top management support
towards adapting the most recent advances
in the Libyan manufacturing industries, are
the main obstacles that the cement industry
is facing during the recent years. This
situation needs to be considered with a high
level of priority and importance, leading to
more serious attention that should be made
for developing the manufacturing industry
within Libya.
The senior management body should pay
more attention through applying a clear
strategy towards most of the areas that are
considered as being crucial in any successful
implementation of TQM. To successfully
implement TQM, the first and most
important task would be for the leaders in
the cement industry to make TQM an
interior part of the business vision and
philosophy, followed by the good setting for
senior mangers for its implementation. Only
then should other implementation tasks be
considered. Furthermore, an increased
attention should be paid towards generating
improved management commitments in the
TQM implementation process. Furthermore,
the senior managers within the cement
companies within Libya should take the full
responsibility to encourage and motivate all
the involved teams and individuals to take
part in the task, which will lead to a
complete implementation of TQM as a
continuous improvement programme,
thereby moving the Libyan cement industry
towards WCM status.
Acknowledgment
The author is very grateful to Eng.
Abdussalam Amnider, Director of Housing
Department, Housing and Infrastructure
Board (HIB), Libya, and Eng. Mansor
ESBIGA, General Commercial Manager,
Ahlia Cement Company, Libya, for their
assistance during this survey.
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Author’s Biography

Dr. Rajab Abdullah HOKOMA began his

career in Industrial Engineering in 1990,
after his graduation from Industrial
Engineering, University of Garyounis,
Libya, he received his Master’s Degree in
Enterprise Management at Warsaw
University of Technology, Poland. Mr.
Hokoma was awarded his PhD and Post-
Doc. in the area of Manufacturing and
Quality Planning & Control from The
University of Bradford, England (UK) in
2007 and 2008 respectively. Presently, his
duties and research at Al-Fateh University
and The Academy of Post-Graduate Studies
(Libya) are in the area of Manufacturing and
Quality Planning & Control, JIT, MRPII,
TQM, SCM, Operations Management,
Industrial Engineering, Maintenance