A regional study of quality management infrastructure practices in USA and Mexico

Abstract

Presents the results of a study on quality management infrastructure practices and quality performance in manufacturing companies located in the North and Central regions of Mexico and the US Midwest region. Seven quality management infrastructure practices – top management support, strategic quality planning, quality information availability, employee training, supplier quality, customer focus, and quality citizenship – were assessed and compared. The research covered 372 manufacturing companies in both countries. Our findings show significant differences between the three regions. Companies located in the North region of Mexico exhibit significantly better levels of quality management infrastructure practices than companies located in the US Midwest and Central Mexico regions. Implications for decision‐makers for location, outsourcing, and joint ventures are discussed.

The relationship between quality management practices and their effects on quality outcomes

“…These similar findings could be used for TQM adoption across different cultures. However, minor differences were detected, and therefore the implementation of certain TQM practices vary, as suggested by several scholars (Solis et al, 2000;Rungtusanatham et al, 2005). Nevertheless, it may also happen that certain TQM practices can follow indistinguishable patterns in country-to-country comparisons; for instance, between Japan and the USA (Rungtusanatham et al, 2005).…”

Measuring critical success factors of TQM implementation successfully – a systematic literature review

“…Consequently, organisations may not identify target fields for improvement activities and fail to allocate resources to the required areas (Rao, Solis, and Raghunathan 1999). Solis, Raghu-Nathan, and Rao (2000) confirm the crucial relation between strategic quality planning and quality performance empirically. The instrument by Tari, Molina, and Castejon (2007) provides a valuable tool for measuring the implementation of strategic planning.…”

“…Solis, Raghu-Nathan, and Rao (2000) prove a strong correlation between quality performance and employee training. Rahman and Bullock (2005) demonstrate a direct effect of personnel training on delivery in full.…”

“…Companies have to integrate quality in the organisational strategy to achieve consistent and lasting excellence (Lee, Rho, and Lee 2003). The quality plan determines the vision for the company's future and keeps employees on track (Solis, Raghu-Nathan, and Rao 2000). Without strategic quality plans, organisations cannot establish clear objectives and priorities regarding customer and market orientation.…”

Environment-quality management coalignment across industrial contexts: An empirical investigation of performance implications

“…In fact, the adoption of a contingent focus for QM is increasingly assumed in the literature, as it enables to justify that the performance obtained depends on variables in the internal and external context (e.g., Adam & Foster, 2000;Das, Handfield, Calantone, & Ghosh, 2000;Douglas & Judge, 2001;Melan, 1998;Reed, Lemak, & Montgomery, 1996;Sitkin, Sutcliffe, & Schroeder, 1994;Roca-Puig, Escrig-Tena, Bou-Llusar, & Beltrán-Martín, 2006;Sila, 2007;Sousa, 2003;Sousa & Voss, 2001). The contextual factors most frequently considered have been the size of the organization, the kind of activity it performs (manufacturing or services), the number of years of implementation, ISO 9000 registration and the country of origin (e.g., Martínez-Lorente, Gallego-Rodríguez, & Dale, 1998;Roca-Puig et al, 2006;Rungtusanatham, Forza, Koka, Salvador, & Nie, 2005;Sharma, 2006;Sila, 2007;Solis, Raghunathan, & Rao, 2000). Notably, very little research has been devoted to understanding quality practices in different industrial contexts and linking them to implementation efforts and quality outcomes (Chong & Rundus, 2004;Das et al, 2000;Rungtusanatham et al, 2005).…”