Factors Influencing Core Quality Management Practice: Evidence from the Selected Colleges of Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture

The main objective of this study was to investigate factors influencing core quality management practice of selected Colleges of Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture namely Ardaita, Alage and Agarfa. To achieve the intended objective, survey and mixed approaches of a research were employed. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used. Questionnaire was distributed to 120 functional managers across the three Colleges using stratified sampling technique. Factor analysis using confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess 35 survey items designed to measure 7 dimensions of Colleges’ quality management practices. The major findings of the study identified that, out of 21 relationships only ten correlation results are statistically significant at (p=0.05) level. Also Structural Equation Modeling was employed to confirm the thirteen hypothesized relationships but only five relationships were significant at (p=0.05) level. It can then be concluded that the crucial role played by top management commitment and clarify the relative importance and the interplay between process management, employee management, suppliers’ quality management, information analysis and core quality management practices. Thus, it is recommended that the managers and/or leaders of these Colleges should focus more on the critical factors which are top management commitment and information technology responsiveness to promote and influence quality improvement. In addition, the quality promoters, particularly government and development partners should give special attention to agricultural Colleges and they have to work more to develop teams of quality consultants among the institutions.