Infrastructure and core quality management practices: how do they affect quality?

Abstract

Purpose -This empirical study seeks to resolve the conflicting findings in the quality management (QM) literature about how different QM practices, specifically, infrastructure QM practices and core QM practices, affect quality performance. Design/methodology/approach -Based on the Socio-Technical Systems theory and research related to QM implementation and performance, the study proposes a research model of the relationship between infrastructure and core QM practices and their direct and indirect effects on quality performance. The empirical data were drawn from 226 manufacturing plants in the USA. The research model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. Findings -In the structural model, two integrated factors were used to represent the two types of QM practices: the infrastructure QM includes top management support, customer relationship, and supplier relationship, and workforce management; and the core QM consists of quality information, product/service design, and process management. The analysis of the structure model shows that the core QM directly leads to improved quality performance, and the infrastructure QM contributes to quality performance by supporting the core QM.Research limitations/implications -The study examines the roles of infrastructure QM practices and core QM practices in improving quality performance. It confirms that QM should be implemented as an integrated approach of different practices. Practical implications -The major implication of the study is that both core and infrastructure QM practices are important in improving quality. It is important that companies allocate resources to establish both types of QM practices in order to achieve the effectiveness of the whole QM system. Originality/value -The study utilized the SEM technique to empirically investigate the direct and indirect effects of infrastructure QM practices and core QM practices on quality performance. The SEM results help to clarify the mixed findings in the literature regarding the pattern of the QM practices-performance relationships.

Does quality management drive labour flexibility?

“…A further interesting contribution concerns the way we deal with the concept of QM, which is examined from a holistic perspective and, as a consequence, the introduction of QM is evaluated according to the introduction of a whole set of different practices. Thus, in line with other studies such as those of Yong and Wilkinson (2001);Rahman (2004); Bou et al (2009);Zu (2009) or Zairi and Alsughayir (2011) we conclude that organisations take a holistic approach to introduce QM by considering hard and soft dimensions of QM. As our modified structural model shows, QM is a broad framework in which different practices coexist in order to influence labour flexibility.…”

“…Following Bollen (1989), by inspecting modification indices scholars can determine whether the data suggests alternative theoretical models. Taking into account the information reported by the LMTEST, and based on theoretical arguments, we re-specify the initial model by classifying the QM practices into two dimensions: social, soft or instrumental QM; and technical, hard or core QM (Yong & Wilkinson, 2001;Rahman, 2004;Lewis, Pun, & Lalla, 2006;Bou, Escrig, Roca, & Beltrán, 2009;Fotopoulos & Psomas, 2009;Gadenne & Sharma, 2009;Zu, 2009;Psychogios, 2010;Zairi & Alsughayir, 2011). In this final model QM was conceived as a latent construct that accounts for the correlation between the hard and soft dimensions (Figure 2), a correlation that captures a widespread idea in QM literature: that soft or hard QM issues cannot be managed in isolation because both dimensions are needed for successful QM implementation (Hackman & Wageman, 1995;Sun, 1999;Zu, 2009).…”

Contribution of Quality Management Practices to Sustainability Performance of Vietnamese Firms

“…In addition, design for producibility and simplification would better standardize components, make it easier to produce, and lead to higher process efficiency [12,23,73]. The positive contribution of product design was demonstrated in [30,55].…”

“…Regarding economic aspect, there are empirical studies investigating the linkage between quality management practices and financial performance [23,28,32,49], organizational performance [50], and business performance [24]. Some studied examined QM and antecedent of economic performance such as operational performance [12,28,38,39,[51][52][53][54], production performance [34], and quality performance [22,23,26,33,55,56]. Regarding environmental performance, some studies found the contribution of quality management system to environmental performance [4,[57][58][59][60].…”

Identifying the role of human resource management in increasing performance and implementation of six sigma projects using fuzzy cognitive maps

“…Zu (2009) named some of HRM indices in Six Sigma implementation projects under the name of 'infrastructure QM', such as 'top management support', 'workforce management' and 'customer relationship' these notions have been adapted from HRM practices.…”