The Relationship Between Strategic Purchasing and Customer Satisfaction Within a Total Quality Management Environment

A review of the literature suggests that strategic purchasing and total quality management (TQM) play a pivotal role in contributing to improved organisational performance and customer satisfaction. Despite a considerable amount of literature on the impact of strategic purchasing and TQM on organisational performance, empirical evidence of the dynamic link is not easy to find. Examination of current literature identifies confusing definitions of strategic purchasing and TQM processes and the relationship to customer satisfaction. Analysis of a large random sample of manufacturing companies in Australia tests the strength of the relationship between strategic purchasing and customer satisfaction. Considering the literature a conceptual, wider theoretical framework together with a strategic purchasing construct and strategic purchasing framework are presented. This paper reports an empirical investigation on the effect of strategic purchasing variables on customer satisfaction using the statistical analysis package SPSS. The analysis is based on a data base generated by the Australian Manufacturing Council study "Leading the Way: A study of Best Manufacturing Practices in Australia and New Zealand." This paper reports initial results that suggest strategic purchasing may play a role in customer satisfaction and makes recommendations for future research.