The complex influences of quality management leadership and workforce involvement on manufacturing firm success

Abstract

Purpose Quality management constructs related to management leadership and workforce involvement have consistently shown strong correlation with firm success for years. However, there is an increasing body of research based on complexity theory (CT) suggesting that constructs such as these should be viewed as variables in a complex system with inter-dependencies, interactions, and potentially nonlinear relationships. Despite the significant body of conceptual research related to CT, there is a lack of methodological research into these potentially nonlinear effects. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the theoretical and practical importance of non-linear terms in a multivariate polynomial model as they become more significant predictors of firm success in collaborative environments and less significant in more rigidly controlled work environments. Design/methodology/approach Multivariate polynomial regression methods are used to examine the significance and effect sizes of interaction and quadratic terms in operations scenarios expected to have varying degrees of complex and complex adaptive behaviors. Findings The results find that in highly collaborative work environments, non-linear and interaction effects become more significant predictors of success than the linear terms in the model. In more rigid, less collaborative work environments, these effects are not present or significantly reduced in effect size. Research limitations/implications This study shows that analytical methods sensitive to detecting and measuring nonlinearities in relationships such as multivariate polynomial regression models enhance our theoretical understanding of the relationships between constructs when the theory predicts that complex and complex adaptive behaviors are present and important. Originality/value This study demonstrates that complex adaptive behaviors between management and the workforce exist in certain environments and provide greater understanding of factor relationships relating to firm success than more traditional linear analytical methods.

Does transformational leadership influence TQM practices? A comparison analysis between manufacturing and service firms

“…These leadership attributes are compatible with a TQM environment; as such, it has been suggested that TFL is the type of leadership that is more suitable for effective TQM implication (Dean and Bowen, 1994; Idris and Mohd Ali, 2008; Waldman, 1994; Rui et al , 2010). The literature also supports that TFL increases employee engagement (Popli and Rizvi, 2017) or involvement (Liu et al , 2011; Welty et al , 2014), which is vital for the effective and universal implementation of TQM philosophy (Formby et al , 2018).…”

Decentralization of information and supply chain self-organization: the resulting effect on network performance in the transitive service triads

“…Although the alignment of actors in relation to the overall network objectives is required, the self-organized behavior within the network can yield value by synchronizing purpose and actions (Silva and Guerrini, 2018). Similarly, Bergquist et al (2019) maintain that self-organization contributes to maximizing benefits in the long run, while Formby et al (2018) empirically corroborate that self-organization is a significant predictor of business success. Therefore, we postulate that: H4.…”

“…purchasing, logistics, inventory management) contributes to operational efficiency and enhances responsiveness. On the other hand, Formby et al (2018) underscore that management is often non-reliant in formal authority, and thus, it may impede performance as self-organization emerges. As mentioned by Adobor and McMullen (2018), although self-organized firms with a high level of freedom to act independently seek to achieve individual goals, SCSO still benefits from a collective outcome.…”

The effects of industry 4.0 technologies on relational performance: the mediating role of supply chain emergence in the transitive logistics service triads

“…The conceptual model, depicted in Figure 1, attempts at linking the CAS theory with the SCPV. In particular, we argue that relational performance at the triadic level leads to a success that lies beyond simple linear structures (Formby et al , 2018) and thus can be attributed to the CASs. Similarly, Harkema (2003) underscores that CASs manifest nonlinear and dynamic behavior.…”