Identification and Ranking of Key Factors in Total Quality Management (TQM) Adoption Using a Hybrid Fuzzy Delphi-SWARA Approach: A Case Study of Shiraz Petrochemical Company

Dehghani Filabadi, Ali; Nahid Titkanlue, Hossein; Jamali, Sarina

doi:10.22034/sep.2025.2071569.1394

Identification and Ranking of Key Factors in Total Quality Management (TQM) Adoption Using a Hybrid Fuzzy Delphi-SWARA Approach: A Case Study of Shiraz Petrochemical Company

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Ali Dehghani Filabadi ¹

Hossein Nahid Titkanlue ²

Sarina Jamali ³

¹ Corresponding author: Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Payame Noor, Tehran, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Payame Noor, Tehran, Iran

³ M.Sc., Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Payame Noor, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/sep.2025.2071569.1394

Abstract

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a critical management philosophy for achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, identifying and prioritizing its key success factors (CSFs) in capital-intensive industries such as petrochemicals is of great importance. The present study aimed to identify and rank the key factors affecting the successful adoption of TQM in Shiraz Petrochemical Company. This study uses a combined Delphi approach and multi-criteria decision-making in a fuzzy environment. In the first step, by extensively reviewing the literature and using the fuzzy Delphi technique, 14 key factors in four main dimensions were identified and finalized. In the second step, the Sequential Priority Based on Importance Assessment (SWARA) method was used to weight and final rank these factors. The results of the analysis showed that the factors related to the human resources dimension are the main axis of TQM success in the studied organization. The factor “Employee participation and empowerment” was recognized as the most critical factor by gaining the highest weight. After that, the factors of "Employee Evaluation" and "Education and Training" ranked second and third. The findings strongly indicate that in the specific context of the petrochemical industry, investing in the soft and human dimensions of the organization has the greatest impact on the success of TQM implementation. This research provides a practical road-map for managers of Shiraz Petrochemical Company to optimally allocate resources and focus on developing a culture of participation, reviewing evaluation systems, and strengthening training programs.

Highlights

Using the Delphi technique and the opinions of an expert panel, 14 key factors were identified in 4 main dimensions.
Using the Sequential Priority Based on Importance Assessment (SWARA) method, the identified factors were prioritized.
Fuzzy set theory was used to deal with the uncertainty of linguistic data.

Keywords

Total quality management (TQM)

Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM)

Sequential Priority Based on Importance Assessment (SWARA) method

success factors (CSFs)

Shiraz Petrochemical Company

Subjects

Quality Management Modeling

Copyright © Ali Dehghani Filabadi, Hossein Nahid Titkanlue, Sarina Jamali

License

This article is released under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone is free to copy, share, translate, and adapt this article for any purpose, whether commercial or non-commercial, as long as proper citation is given to the authors and original publication.

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