The impact of middle management commitment on improvement initiatives in public organisations

Abstract

Top management commitment is considered a significant factor in improvement programmes, and many papers have been written about the role of top management commitment in implementing a quality management system. However, not considering other management levels' commitment, such as middle management, may lead to issues in achieving organisational development. Public organisations that work through vertical structures may face a lack of middle management commitment, which might have a negative impact on lower and non-management staff commitment to improvement programmes. In this regard, this study seeks to examine the impact of middle management's commitment towards improvement initiatives in public organisations. Methodology: Empirical research with a mixed-method design used semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire to explore the current practices of continuous improvement (CI) and examine employees' views from different management levels of the implications of current improvements in a Saudi public service organisation. Findings: The analysis indicated that the lower managers and non-management staff agree that, after the implementation of the quality management system, the organisation's middle management showed a lack of commitment to that system. Moreover, this lack of commitment is recognised in the analysis of participants' views of CI practices recorded in the questionnaire and interviews. This lack of commitment has caused poor employee commitment and thus a lack of problem solving in organisational departments. It is also responsible for a lack of employee involvement, the centralisation of decisions, deficiencies in terms of determining and applying training, inequality between employees and a lack of trust between employees and their managers. These issues could be managed and resolved through middle management and their commitment. Practical implications: Increasing middle managers' awareness of the importance of their commitment to improvement initiatives can have an impact on employees' commitment towards improvement initiatives, especially in those public organisations that have vertical/hierarchical structures. The level of commitment towards the implementation of improvement programmes needs further in-depth analyses to identify which factors influence public organisation leaders' commitment to improvement programmes. Value: The results of this study could motivate middle managers in public organisations to review their policies and to facilitate CI initiatives.

Effects of total quality management in local authorities

“…Worldwide competitiveness, increased complexity of the globalized economy and citizens’ and businesses’ pressing demands force public organizations to reengineer their operational functions and improve their provided services (Eakin et al , 2011; Chatzoglou et al , 2013; Enquist et al , 2015). Therefore, over the past 35 years, practices from private manufacturing and service sector have been replicated to the public sector of most developed countries (Alhaqbani et al , 2016; Chatzoglou et al , 2013). These practices refer to customer-oriented approaches and quality measurement, performance-related pay, continuous process improvement, quality of information (Suarez-Barraza et al , 2009; Walker et al , 2011; Pietro et al , 2013; Vakalopoulou et al , 2013).…”

The Economic Aspect in Improving the Production Process

“…Of course, in order to achieve the real benefits of continuous improvement of processes, a number of studies have been developed which point to factors to be considered when implementing changes (e.g. : Kaye & Anderson, 1999;Alhaqbani et al, 2016;Fryer et al, 2007;Sila, 2007, itd.). However, although there are few studies on the impact of process improvement on production costs, they have the character of models (Li et al 2018;Sarkar 2019;Ahire & Dreyfus 2000) and not specific examples of savings along with an indication of the quality management methods used, as in the case of this study.…”

Role of network capability, structural flexibility and management commitment in defining strategic performance in hospitality industry

“…Walter et al (2006) suggest that NC brings some opportunities and techniques to utilize organizational resources more beneficially to enhance organizational performance. However, attainment of SP through NC may remain doubtful until the management is highly committed to achieving organizational objectives and SP (Alhaqbani et al , 2016). MCSP is an important cornerstone for the organization’s success by representing an emotional commitment, confidence, intention and a zealous attitude toward chasing organizational goals.…”

“…This paper also examines the moderating role of top management commitment to strategic performance (MCSP) on the NC-SP relationship. Top management commitment (MC) to strategic goals achievement is a key to successful implementation of strategic policies (Alhaqbani et al , 2016).…”