Reification and representation in the implementation of quality improvement programmes

Baxter, Lynne; Hirschhauser, Constanze

doi:10.1108/01443570410514894

Cited by 26 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, some critics of improvement programmes point to a superficial, insubstantial and fake adoption of practices that often takes place (Oliver, 1991;Baxter and Hirschhauser, 2004), and others refer to them as 'fads and fashions' (Dale et al, 2001;Abrahamson and Eisenman, 2008). Practices regarded as superior by the parent company are not always easily institutionalised in subsidiaries due to institutional duality (Kostova and Roth, 2002), which means that subsidiaries have to cope with partly competing institutional pressures from both the mother company and the local culture and environment.…”

Section: Superficial Versus Profound Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This category includes three significant contributions. Baxter and Hirschhauser (2004) performed a longitudinal study of an improvement programme in a multi-plant network of an automobile supplier. They found a hollow management exercise of sustaining and communicating on-going improvement programmes that were fully detached from actual operations on the shop floor: 'The dominant community of practice was not that of performance improvement but creating the impression of doing so' (p. 207).…”

Section: The Phenomenon Of Acting In Subsidiariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Multi-plant improvement programmes: a literature review and research agenda

Netland

Aspelund

2014

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: To advance the productivity of all plants in the network, multinational corporations develop and deploy multi-plant improvement programmes. In this paper, we systematically review and synthesise the emerging literature on multi-plant improvement programmes.Methodology: Through a systematic manual search, we examine fifteen top journals from operations management, general management and international business literature in the time span between 1998 and 2011. Findings:We found 30 papers that specifically deal with operational improvement programmes in a multi-plant international setting, of which only nine take a headquarter perspective. This low number contrasts sharply with the magnitude and importance of such programmes in industry. We discuss key dimensions that explain how multi-plant improvement programmes result in the adopting, adapting, acting or avoiding of programme practices in subsidiaries and propose a related research agenda. Research implications:We affirm that a new field is in the making, with IJOPM as the leading professional journal. Further empirical research is called for, but particular methodological caution must be paid to the phenomenon of acting in subsidiaries. Originality:No coherent stream of research has addressed multi-plant improvement programmes. This paper represents a focused review that supports the field's development.Keywords: improvement program; production system; process improvement; global operations management; knowledge transfer; literature review Theoretical Background and Definition of ScopeWe are investigating the union of multi-plant coordination literature and process improvement literature. In order to define our scope, these two topics are now introduced. Multi-plant coordinationResearch on international business distinguishes between configuration and coordination (Porter, 1986). Configuration is about the global set-up of the corporation; with what resources to innovate, source, produce and sell what for which markets where and when.Coordination is about the management of the network; how to most effectively and efficiently share resources and knowledge between the dispersed plants. Seminal research in the field of international business even suggests that the ability to share knowledge in the intra-firm network efficiently is the prime reason for the existence of MNCs in the first place (Kogut and Zander, 1993;Buckley and Casson, 1998).With more units to manage and more complexity to handle, a tempting strategy for MNCs has been to rely more on standardised best practices when deciding how to operate production (Jensen and Szulanski, 2004). Consequently, they seek to continuously develop and share best practices in the intra-firm network (Kostova, 1999). For this purpose, many manufacturing MNCs are developing firm-wide process improvement programmes (Netland, 2013). This paper deals with this specific type of multi-plant coordination. Process improvement programmesAs for the content of the practice programmes, MNCs turn to proven production philosoph...

show abstract

Section: Superficial Versus Profound Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Phenomenon Of Acting In Subsidiariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-plant improvement programmes: a literature review and research agenda

Netland

Aspelund

2014

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Such changes may reflect an organisation changing or learning about their environment in order to improve performance by better meeting the needs of their customers. Baxter and Hirschhauser (2004) even state that 'quality improvement initiatives can be construed as a form of organizational learning' (p. 222), with Freiesleben and Schwarz (2006) stating learning as a core pillar of QI. Improvements made to policies and procedures may then result in greater customer focus and strategic alignment, which can provide firms with a competitive advantage (De Mast, 2006;Schroeder, Linderman, Liedtke, & Choo, 2008).…”

Section: Quality Improvementmentioning

confidence: 97%

Continuous, quality and process improvement: disintegrating and reintegrating operational improvement?

Matthews

Marzec

2015

Total Quality Management & Business Excellence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent interest in strategic initiatives, in particular Six Sigma, appear to relate to three forms of improvement: continuous improvement, quality improvements and process improvement. The similarities between these approaches have led to some confusion within the literature and raise the question whether these approaches are tautological. This paper argues against this by firstly exploring the nuances of these three areas. Based upon a systematic literature review of operations management journals, insight is developed by exploring the three terms individually and then in combination, resulting in the presentation of a number of research propositions to guide further research. To extend our understanding of operational improvement, organisational learning is identified as a common theoretical perspective employed within each of the three forms of improvements. Organisational learning is subsequently utilised to underpin the relationship between the three terms, highlighting the need for both operational and strategic improvement, drawing upon strategic management literature. These are presented in the form of a conceptual model, in addition to further research propositions. The paper concludes by presenting future research opportunities identified by the work in the form of construct development, exploratory case study research and survey work to test the presented model and propositions.

show abstract

“…Many organisations are not willing to undertake the total cultural transformation that TQM requires. For the managers themselves, the superficiality assisted in their progression in the organisation and convinced some outsiders of the organisation's competence in TQM, even though performance improvement was not achieved (Baxter and Hirschhauser, 2004). One example of this was explained in a study by Baxter and Hirschhauser (2004) that explored the superficiality in implementing TQM, which created only limited success.…”

Section: Root Causes Of Barriers To Successful Tqm Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers to the successful implementation of TQM in Iranian manufacturing organisations

Abdolshah

2011

IJPQM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

TQM is a set of management practices throughout the organisation, geared to ensure the organisation consistently meets or exceeds customer requirements. This research tries to investigate the most important barriers to successful TQM implementation in Iranian manufacturing organisations. The authors have studied samples of manufacturing organisations, comprising those that have invested on TQM after the end of March 2009 and were located in Iran. This descriptive and cross-sectional research is carried out via two questionnaires -general questionnaire for success of TQM principles and specific questionnaire for barriers to successful TQM implementation. The statistical population of this research consists of all managers of manufacturing organisations who implemented TQM in their organisations. Results showed that the main root causes of unsuccessful implementation of TQM were the lack of management commitment, resource problem and failure to use the right framework for TQM. In addition, there is a significant coincidence between the results of two questionnaires. Finally, regarding the findings of this research, we offer a relation between TQM principles and barriers to successful TQM implementation. Therefore, in order to reduce the barriers to successful TQM implementation, some suggestions were proposed.

show abstract

Reification and representation in the implementation of quality improvement programmes

Cited by 26 publications

References 15 publications

Multi-plant improvement programmes: a literature review and research agenda

Multi-plant improvement programmes: a literature review and research agenda

Continuous, quality and process improvement: disintegrating and reintegrating operational improvement?

Barriers to the successful implementation of TQM in Iranian manufacturing organisations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About