K. J. Somaiya

The formalized system of ISO 9000 series enable to develop an environment to adopt advanced quality management system like TQM in order to meet the increase in quality demand from customers and competitiveness between SMEs. This study examines the barriers in the development of TQM among ISO 9001 certified SMEs in India. The empirical data was obtained from 200 certified companies of four regions of India. The perspective barriers were analyzed using SPSS software. The barriers in the adoption of TQM practices are resistance to change, lack of reward and recognition and lack of training while the favourable barriers are top management commitment and customer focus.