According to the Ministry of MSMEs (India), 95% of industries are working in
small-scale sector with 40% value addition in the manufacturing sector and 8%
contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP). After agriculture sector, micro
small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector is the second largest employer as it
provides employment to an estimated 117 million people spread over 51 million
enterprises (Reserve Bank of India, 2017) report. The MSMEs produce more than
8000 different products ranging from the conventional products to complicated products (in terms of high-technology intensive products). It is estimated that in terms
of value, the sector accounts for 45% of the manufacturing output and 40% of the
total export (Ministry of MSME’s, 2017). From the current economic forecast, it is
inferred that Indian economy is growing at an average of 7% per annum and is likely
to become a $5 trillion economy by the year 2025. Hence, the growth of the MSMEs
sector becomes indispensable as it is regarded as the backbone of India. India has
all resources and possesses the necessary skills, but it still lags far behind developed nations. The foremost challenge for MSMEs is to offer novel and custom-made
products using the best technology.
Over the last three decades, MSME sector has emerged as a highly vibrant and
dynamic sector of the Indian economy. This sector accounts for a significant proportion of industrial enterprises, employment, national income and export in developed
as well as in developing countries. Quality has been widely recognized as one of
the most important discipline/strategies or competitive priority for an organizational
development by the business houses. Quality Management (QM) practices have been
widely used by large business houses such as Hero, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki,
Motorola, Ford and Honda, IOCL etc, for competitive positioning but their adoption
and practices in MSME’s sector are not adequate, which calls for necessary attention
by the researchers in this field. There is no doubt that Indian MSMEs are passing
through a transitional period of high-market competition with escalating demands
of consumers for getting better product and service. For the survival of MSMEs in
this ever-expanding marketplace and to achieve customer satisfaction and improvement in productivity, the emergence of quality plays a vital role. Taking note of
this, some MSMEs have begun to adopt QM practices as an approach to fulfill these
objectives. However, there is a strong need to understand the importance of these
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