Excellence in service: an empirical study of the UAE banking sector

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the critical success factors of total quality management (TQM) implementation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banking sector. Design/methodology/approach - Empirical case studies were collected from 250 banks in UAE that have embarked on TQM successfully. Findings - Sixteen factors were found to be critical to TQM implementation success. The factors are top management support, strategy, continuous improvement, benchmarking, customer focus, quality department, quality system, human resource management, recognition and reward, problem analysis, quality service technologies, service design, employees, services capes, service culture and social responsibility. Research limitations/implications - The paper provides a framework for future research to explore organisational excellence in making TQM happen successfully. Originality/value - This research contributes to studies of TQM and service quality in the banking sector context by considering soft issues in its implementation.