Influence of total quality management (TQM) practices on competitive advantage of five star hotels in Nairobi county, Kenya.

Abstract

The study evaluated the influence of Total Quality Management (TQM) practices on competitive advantage of five-star hotels in the Nairobi County. The study was conducted during the during the COVID-19 pandemic era. The first specific objective sought to determine the influence of product improvement practices on competitive advantage of five-star hotels in the Nairobi County. The second one sought to ascertain the influence of service improvement practices on competitive advantage of five-star hotels in Nairobi County. The third one sought to examine the influence of employer-employee relationship practices on competitive advantage of five-star hotels in the Nairobi Countywhereas the fourth one sought to evaluate the influence of consumer-business relation practices on competitive advantage of five-star hotels based in the Nairobi. The correlational research design was utilized to conduct the study among 197 employees working in five-star hotels based in the Nairobi County. Random sampling method was utilized to select the participants whereas questionnaires were utilized to collect data from the participants. The SPSS program was utilized to analyze the data. The study established that TQM practices namely product development practices, service improvement practices, employer-employee relationships and consumer-business relation jointly had an influence of 79% on the hotels’ competitive advantage. However, product improvement practices alone did not significantly influence the competitive advantage of five-star hotels based in the Nairobi. Service improvement practices were found to have the highest influence on hotels’ competitive advantage implying that the level of personalization of services, efficiency in service delivery and levels of courtesy were critical at enhancing the hotels’ competitive advantages. The study concluded that the five-star hotels based in the Nairobi County should improve the quality of their services, employer-employee relationships and consumer-business relation to enhance their competitiveness over competitors. The study recommends further research should be conducted in this area since the current study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic era, which affected data collection process.