This study is designed to explore the necessity and application of total quality management to farming association corporations on the basis of their actual facts-finding investigation. The purpose of this research is to draw managerial implication from farming quality factors that determine the rationalization of management in farming association corporations.
It first examines main quality factors used in orchard farming through theoretical literatures and practical backgrounds, especially, face-to-face interview with twelve high level of managers and experts with over twenty-five-year practical experiences. It results in five factors which include leadership, administration of association members, management of association corporation, rationalization of management, and customer satisfaction, which are all adopted as acceptable practical factors in order to maximize satisfaction from both producers and customers.
In a formal survey, one hundred ten participants who is on a farming association corporation took part in its investigation, however, only eighty-six responses were analyzed in an empirical testing through the examination of collected data. In the methodology, qualitative and quantitative methods are used in this study. In the statistical analysis, it mainly focuses on the exploration of quality factors of orchard farmings, which include factor analysis, reliability testing, and validity analysis, and descriptive analysis was also conducted to investigate a fact-finding on the five factors.
The results show managerial implications that it first needs to set up vision and value for orchard farming association corporations. Even though each leader has active communication with their members there, it requires to develop and improve obvious instructions for leaders. Second, it is necessary to improve working sites and tasking conditions in order to avoid inefficient working activities. As well, technical guidance and its relevant practical education need to enhance capabilities of members in farming association corporations. Third, the improvement of operation and procedure in the perspective of efficiency needs in order to perform maximizing effect with minimizing cost. Fourth, it requires to seek to increase the rate of customer recommendation.
The limitation of this research is that investigation by the sample of members from farming association corporations may not always show the generalization of farming managers and their leaders. Another limitation of this research is that it cannot find the broad total quality factors in farming association corporations because this research was conducted only within Gyeongbuk province.
Future research should seek to confirm factor findings of farming qualities for another farming association corporation. Also, future research should conduct the broad total quality researches in other farming areas except Gyeongbuk province.