“…As such, MQP at the plant level will not only achieve and sustain a competitive advantage (Flynn, Schroeder, and Sakakibara, 1994), but will also signal the firm's commitment to high management quality and continuous improvement. This, in turn, reduces the firm's financing frictions and results in better access to external financing (e.g., Rahaman and Al Zaman, 2013). This, in turn, reduces the firm's financing frictions and results in better access to external financing (e.g., Rahaman and Al Zaman, 2013).…”