1 Examining The Association Between Benchmarking In TQM And Performance: An Empirical Research For Change

This paper presents the findings from an empirical study examining the relationship between benchmarking, product quality performance and business performance in Malaysian electronics and electrical industry. It is said that benchmarking has the potential to not only enhance production efficiency and effectiveness but also improves bottom-line results. Few have attempted to investigate the relationship between benchmarking and performance and the link of benchmarking to performance in the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia has not been fully addressed in empirical studies. Thus this paper investigates the impact of benchmarking on performance in the Malaysian electronics and electrical industry using correlation, Friedman’s rank test and structural equation modeling. The result of the study reveals that benchmarking in particular appears to be of primary importance and exhibit significant impact on product quality performance and business performance. Findings of the study provide a striking demonstration of the importance of implementing effective benchmarking for Malaysian electronics and electrical industry in enhancing its performance