Quality Management Practices in the Zambian Manufacturing Industry: Drivers, Dimensions, and the Strategic Role of Local Conglomerates

This paper investigates the quality management practices (QMPs) adopted by manufacturing companies in Zambia, synthesizing evidence from existing empirical studies and practitioner reports. The analysis describes commonly used practices, adoption drivers, and implementation gaps, while also examining the key dimensions and strategic emphasis in response to a competitive and challenging business environment. Since 2018, the emergence of successful local conglomerates like TradeKings and Savenda has significantly influenced the industry's quality landscape, pushing the adoption of global best practices in a local context. Key QMPs that significantly impact performance include benchmarking, people management, and top leadership commitment. Crucially, the paper identifies that financial and capability constraints create a significant adoption barrier through a self-reinforcing causal cycle, a challenge severely exacerbated by macro-level contextual issues in Zambia's unreliable infrastructure and limited institutional support. The findings, which are supported by a hypothetical performance model to quantify impact, lead to practical recommendations for a phased roadmap, SME certification support, and supplier development, explicitly linking firm-level quality behaviour to broader industrial policy.

Quality Management Practices, Total Quality Management

1. Quality Management Practices in Zambian Manufacturing Industry: Drivers, Dimensions, and the Strategic Role of Local Conglomerates. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Taylor & Francis Online. (2024). Kaizen practices and performance improvement in Zambian manufacturing companies. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. International Growth Centre. (2024). Does quality management matter for productivity and profitability in manufacturing? [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. International Growth Centre. (2024). Management Quality, Productivity and Profitability in Manufacturing Firms in Zambia. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Saili, M. (2017). Quality Management Practices, Focusing on the Manufacturing Industry Based in Lusaka, Zambia. [Conference Paper]. In Proceedings of the Engineering Institution of Zambia 2017 Symposium. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. MDPI. (2024). Quality Management Practices of Food Manufacturers: A Comparative Study between Small, Medium and Large Companies in Malaysia. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Afromagazine. (2025, October 20). Trade Kings Zambia: From a small dream to a regional powerhouse. [https://www.tradekings.co.zm/investors]. Retrieved October 29, 2025 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Savenda Group. (2024). About Us. [https://savenda.com/about-us]. Retrieved October 29, 2025 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Savenda Group. (2024). IRCA SAVENDA. [https://savenda.com/irca-savenda]. Retrieved October 29, 2025 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. [TradeKings Group. (2024). Investors. [https://www.tradekings.co.zm/investors]. Retrieved October 29, 2025 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. African Leadership Magazine. (2017, May 12). Trade Kings Group: Blazing the trail in Africa's manufacturing sector. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. [Antony, J., Fan, X., & Gijo, E. V. (2017). Lean Six Sigma for small and medium-sized enterprises: A practical guide. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 34(7), 1056–1079. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Deming, W. E. (2018). Out of the crisis (Revised ed.). MIT Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. FAO & WHO. (2017). Food safety and quality: Standards and systems for developing countries. Food and Agriculture Organization; World Health Organization. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. George, M. L. (2014). Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma with lean speed. McGraw-Hill Education. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Humphreys, P., Lai, M., & Pang, J. (2016). Supplier development and quality improvement in emerging markets. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 52(2), 33–47. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. ISO. (2015). ISO 9001:2015 Quality management systems — Requirements. International Organization for Standardization. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Oakland, J. S. (2014). Total Quality Management and Operational Excellence (4th ed.). Routledge. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Pande, P. S., Neuman, R. P., & Cavanagh, R. R. (2014). The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies are Honing Their Performance. McGraw-Hill. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Prajogo, D. (2016). The strategic fit between innovation strategies and quality management systems: A firm-level perspective. International Journal of Production Research, 54(5), 1369–1383. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Prajogo, D., & Sohal, A. S. (2013). The integration of quality management and innovation management: A literature review and future research directions. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 30(3), 232–245. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Sailim, M. (2018). Thesis Corrections and empirical study on Zambian manufacturing quality practices. Unpublished thesis, Lusaka cohort #5. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. World Bank. (2019). Enabling SME competitiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa: Quality, standards, and regional integration. World Bank Policy Report. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• The Indirect Effect of Liquidity and Activity on Company Value with Profitability as an Intervening Variable
• Effect of Financial Skills, Knowledge, and Attitude on The Financial Behaviour of Clergy
• A Decade of Review: Trends in Budget Execution and Financial Performance of Development Projects in Tanzania (2014/15-2023/24)
• The Influence of Pre-Project Planning on the Budget Absorption Rate of Public Funded Infrastructure Projects in Kenya a Comparative Case Study of Narok, Migori, and Kisii County Government Projects
• Assessment of Factors Influencing Digital Transformation in Hotels’ Facility Management in Abuja Metropolis, Nigeria