Danny Samson

The relationship between total quality management practices and operational performance

Abstract Total quality management (TQM) has been a widely applied process for improving competitiveness around the world, but with mixed success. A review of the literature revealed gaps in research in this area of quality/operations management, particularly in the area of empirical testing of the effectiveness of TQM implementation. The aim of this study was to examine the total quality management practices and operational performance of a large number of manufacturing companies in order to determine the relationships between these practices, individually and collectively, and firm performance. We used a large data base of 1200 Australian and New Zealand manufacturing organisations. The reliability and validity (construct, content, criterion) of the practice and performance measures were evaluated. Our study showed that the relationship between TQM practice and organisational performance is significant in a cross-sectional sense, in that TQM practice intensity explains a significant proportion of variance in performance. Some but not all of the categories of TQM practice were particularly strong predictors of performance. The categories of leadership, management of people and customer focus were the strongest significant predictors of operational performance. This is consistent with literature findings that behavioural factors such as executive commitment, employee empowerment and an open culture can produce competitive advantage more strongly than TQM tools and techniques such as process improvement, benchmarking, and information and analysis.

Effective case research in operations management: a process perspective

Abstract Despite many calls for case-based operations management research, the successful publication rate of such articles in top-tier journals has been less than stellar. A five step case-based research and dissemination process is presented. Guidance is given to future researchers for each step in the process. In addition, areas of weakness are examined and discussed in detail. Future potential research questions in operations management considered to be appropriate for the case-based method are highlighted.

An international study of quality improvement approach and firm performance

Investigates what approaches to quality lead to best quality and financial performance across different regions of the world. Reports a survey of 977 firms in Asia/South Pacific, Europe, and North America. Fifty‐two items that suggest how a firm might improve quality were factor analysed and grouped into 11 factors, each factor a broader approach to quality improvement than any one item. Actual quality was measured eight different ways. Each approach to quality improvement (factor) was correlated to each quality measure, as well as to several financial measures. The results suggest that a company’s approach to quality correlates to actual quality and to a lesser extent to financial performance. The major factors found to influence actual quality were the organization’s knowledge of quality management, its degree of customer focus, and management involvement. When the task was to predict performance outcomes in any region, the specific factors that best predict performance were found to vary from region to region. That is, there were specific models within a region that better predicted performance than the model which predicted performance across all regions.

The link between total quality management practice and organisational performance

Tests the strength of the relationship between TQM practice and organisational performance with and without the covariates, company size, industry type, and ISO 9000 certification status. Analysis is primarily of a large random sample of manufacturing companies in Australia and New Zealand. The central finding of the study is that TQM tends to have mixed results when covaried for company size and industry type. The relationship between TQM and organisational performance is not affected when covaried for ISO 9000 certification status. Concludes that there are significant differences in the relationship between TQM and organisational performance across industry sectors and different size companies, particularly on the effect of defect rates, warranty costs and innovation of new products. The main implication of the findings for managers is that a typical manufacturing organisation is more likely to achieve better performance in employee relations, customer satisfaction, operational performance and business performance, with TQM than without TQM.

Relationship of ISO 9001:2000 quality system certification with operational and businessperformance: A survey in Australia and New Zealand-based manufacturing and service companies

Purpose – This research paper aims to explore the relationship between ISO 9000 certification and organisational performance by developing an ISO 9000 relationship model.Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument was used for quantitative data collection based on a global survey in collaboration with the Anderson School of Business, UCLA. All items were measured on a five point modified Likert scale. The data were analysed statistically by means of Statistical Package for Social Scientists. Factor analysis was performed. Multiple regressions was used to test the hypotheses. Both validity and reliability of the measures were checked in order to reduce measurement error.Findings – The results show a positive and significant relationship between certification practices (implementation, organisational commitment and planning) with operational performance. However, the relationship between these practices with business performance was found to be positive but not significant of the variables we studied,...

BENCHMARKING AS A MIXED METAPHOR: DISENTANGLING ASSUMPTIONS OF COMPETITION AND COLLABORATION*

Examination of the management literature on benchmarking reveals that the concept conveys a mixed metaphor. While collaboration among benchmarking partners is advocated, description of benchmarking practice is dominated by principles and language that convey notions of competition. The ‘competitive’ approach to benchmarking is due to four narrow, constricting assumptions: (1) that the motivation behind benchmarking is to improve and reduce a performance gap relative to some superior comparison other, (2) that benchmarking is a formal, organizationally sanctioned means of competing with others, including partners, (3) that benchmarking involves comparison through measurement or marking, and (4) that benchmarking is an activity initiated (and assessable) by one party. Two opposing concepts of benchmarking (as competition) and benchmarking (as collaboration) are introduced to develop a model for predicting the degree of competition and/or collaboration involved in relationships between benchmarking parties. Key factors within this model include context, activities, partnership and outcomes.

The effect of company size on the relationship between TQM strategy and organisational performance

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of company size on the strength of the relationship between TQM and organisational performance. Based on a cross‐sectional study of manufacturing firms in Australia and New Zealand, the paper tests two hypotheses involving TQM and organisational performance. The central finding of the study is that TQM has a significant and positive relationship with most of the dimensions of organisational performance. The relationship weakened for defect rates and warranty costs when it was co‐varied for company size. We conclude that company size impedes the implementation of TQM. Larger companies tend to gain greater benefits from TQM than smaller firms. These findings are consistent with some of the literature. Overall, the findings show that a typical manufacturing organisation is more likely to achieve high organisational performance with TQM than without TQM. The findings have implications for managers wishing to formulate a business strategy based on TQM.

Impact of technological, organizational and human resource investments on employee and manufacturing performance: Australian and New Zealand evidence

This paper reports on the relationships between facets of integrated manufacturing – consisting of total quality management, just in time and advanced manufacturing technology – various organizational improvement initiatives (such as in leadership, teams, human resource management and benchmarking), and employee and manufacturing performance. Results from a survey of 1024 Australian and New Zealand manufacturing sites indicate that the integrated manufacturing facets of total quality management and just in time are significantly associated with organizational and human resource practices, while advanced manufacturing technology is weakly associated with a narrower range of practices. Organizational and human resource practices also explain significant additional variance in both employee and manufacturing performance, above that explained by integrated manufacturing facets. Further, by partitioning the large data set into three sections using manufacturing performance as a cutting variable, it was found that high-performing firms place considerably more emphasis on ‘soft’ human resource management practices and relied on total quality management principles half as much as low-performing firms. The implications of these findings for managers are then discussed.

Quality management practices in Australian industry

Over the past few years a dramatic shift towards strategic quality management has been witnessed in some of Australias leading companies. This dramatic shift in perspective has elicited senior management interest and involvement; linked quality with profitability and seen the inclusion of quality in strategic planning. This paper presents the results of an investigation on the quality management practices of a number of Australian companies with a known commitment to quality. It addresses general management practices, human resource issues, quality control practices and quality program evaluation.

Just‐in‐Time: The Issue of Implementation

Western manufacturing firms have shown considerable interest in the just‐in‐time (JIT) philosophy in recent years. The most critical issue facing firms in the West is that of JIT implementation. The primary considerations for JIT implementation and the fundamental issues affecting JIT programmes are discussed in detail. It is concluded that in implementing a JIT programme, changes in the attitudes of both the management and the workforce are necessary together with a clear understanding of the implications resulting from the move to a JIT approach.