This study has four main goals: (1) diagnosing the organizational culture of Tehran’s pharmaceutical companies; (2) investigating the implementation of different categories of TQM in these companies; (3) comparing two models explaining the relationships among culture, TQM and performance; (4) determining the effect of culture and TQM on performance, according to the preferential structural equation model. A total of 209 valid responses were obtained from CEOs and senior managers of quality, operations, R&D and sales departments in the surveyed industry. The results specify the hierarchy and market cultures as the dominant types of culture and the leadership category as the most developed aspect of TQM. The findings of this study suggest that Tehran’s pharmaceutical companies emphasize on stability more than flexibility. The analysis shows the positive direct effects of culture and TQM on performance and also the positive indirect effect of culture through its positive effect on TQM. By analyzing the culture profile, development degrees of TQM categories and performance indicators, some appropriate theories of effectiveness and quality strategies are suggested. While the relationships among culture, TQM and overall performance has been examined separately just one to one in prior studies, this is the first look at all of them in one unique model.
