Int. J. Business Excellence, Vol. 20, No. 4, 2020 471 Copyright © 2020 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Quality management and business excellence studies from an Islamic-culture perspective: a literature review Souraj Salah* Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, Dubai Academic City, P.O. Box 71400, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Email: s.salah@hbmsu.ac.ae *Corresponding author Abdussalam A. Alhabeeb Brunel University, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH, London, UK Fax: +44 (0)1895-232806 Email: Abdussalam.Alhabeeb@brunel.ac.uk Abstract: The foundation of quality management (QM) and business excellence (BE) was mainly advocated by Western scholars criticised for their focus on tangible aspects of performance. The Japanese added non-tangible aspects by emphasising a quality culture of loyalty and social responsibility. Spiritual and religious teachings are among top influential values in various societies. There is limited research done on their relation to the concepts of QM and BE. This paper provides an insight into what has been realised so far in QM and BE studies related to Islamic-culture through a comprehensive review of literature to identify the main concentration areas and contributions. Two thirds of the relevant articles were published recently in the field of Islamic worldview and practice. Studying Islamic worldview concepts is significant to understand their implication on individual and organisational performance. In the future, it is recommended to conduct studies on the proposal of new Islamic frameworks or quality culture and their impact on contemporary quality studies, in comparison to other frameworks. Keywords: business excellence; quality culture; quality management; Islamic worldview; Islamic perspective. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Salah, S. and Alhabeeb, A.A. (2020) ‘Quality management and business excellence studies from an Islamic-culture perspective: a literature review’, Int. J. Business Excellence, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp.471–499. Biographical notes: Souraj Salah is currently a part time Adjunct Professor at the Hamdan Bin Muhammad Smart University He has about 20 years of experience in process improvement working in the contracting, services, manufacturing and logistics sectors. He earned his PhD from the University of New Brunswick in Canada. He has published one book and more than 20 papers in various international journals. He is also certified as a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and the Lean Leader trained by the Juran Institute, Lead