Danuta de Grosbois

Impact of TQM on company's performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of total quality management (TQM) implementation on different dimensions of company performance.Design/methodology/approach – The study investigates Canadian finalists (winners and certificates of merit) in the Total Quality category of the Canada Awards for Business Excellence. The data were collected either through in‐depth personal interviews or by mail/telephone using the questionnaire and then analyzed.Findings – The data analysis confirmed the hypothesized positive impact of TQM on all investigated dimensions of company performance, i.e. employee relations (improved employee participation and morale), operating procedures (improved products and services quality, process and productivity, and reduced errors/defects), customer satisfaction (reduced number of customer complaints), and financial results (increased profitability).Research limitations/implications – Small sample size limited the scope of statistical analysis. Also, the resul...

The adoption of corporate social responsibility practices in the airline industry

This paper identifies initiatives related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the airline industry and evaluates the overall state of their adoption as reported by members of the three largest airline alliances. Of 41 airlines, only 14 had annual CSR reports publically available in January 2009. Reports were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis approach. Results showed a stronger focus on environmental issues than on the social or economic dimensions of CSR. Of the seven major environmental themes examined, emission reduction programs predominate. Other environmental issues receive much less attention, with no single other initiative implemented by all airlines. Four social and environmental themes were found, including employee wellbeing and engagement, diversity and social equity, community wellbeing and economic prosperity. The data analysis supported the arguments made in the literature that the airlines report CSR initiatives using differing or inconsistent measurements, making evaluation and comparison of their performance and effectiveness difficult. Although a large number of airlines publishing CSR reports discussed their achievement of major goals (reduction of emissions, increasing community involvement or increasing workforce diversity), a much smaller number provided detailed information relating to specific initiatives implemented in order to contribute to these goals. Further, important issues for CSR research are posed in the paper.

Carbon Footprint of the Global Hotel Companies: Comparison of Methodologies and Results

Abstract Carbon footprint is becoming a widely used measure of an organizations contribution to climate change. However, despite a growing number of international standards and guidelines, there is still no consistent and widely agreed-upon methodology for assessment. The current practice of carbon footprint reporting in many industries is not well known and very ambiguous. This paper reports on a study of 150 of the largest hotel groups in the world to see how they assess and report their carbon footprints. The paper concludes that carbon footprint reporting in the hotel industry is scarce, and even for large companies calculations are unclear, not assured and not comparable.

Environmental Initiatives in Bed and Breakfast Establishments in Canada: Scope and Major Challenges with Implementation

The objective of this paper is to investigate the implementation of environmental practices in small firms in the hospitality industry, namely bed and breakfast establishments. The issues addressed include motivations, scope of environmental initiatives and challenges faced during their implementation. The study is based on interviews with eight bed and breakfast owners in the Niagara Region in Canada. The research indicated a limited scope of environmental initiatives at bed and breakfast establishments. The majority of the initiatives had a cost savings nature and include different actions aimed at energy conservation, water conservation and waste management. Further analysis indicated three major types of barriers to adoption of environmental practices by tourism micro businesses: budgetary constraints, lack of knowledge and conflict with customer attitudes and expectations. The study specifically highlights significant lack of understanding of the sustainability terminology and very low awareness of the impacts of the business activity on the environment by the owners of bed and breakfast establishments and calls for additional education and training on sustainability for small business owners.The objective of this paper is to investigate the implementation of environmental practices in small firms in the hospitality industry, namely bed and breakfast establishments. The issues addressed include motivations, scope of environmental initiatives and challenges faced during their implementation. The study is based on interviews with eight bed and breakfast owners in the Niagara Region in Canada. The research indicated a limited scope of environmental initiatives at bed and breakfast establishments. The majority of the initiatives had a cost savings nature and include different actions aimed at energy conservation, water conservation and waste management. Further analysis indicated three major types of barriers to adoption of environmental practices by tourism micro businesses: budgetary constraints, lack of knowledge and conflict with customer attitudes and expectations. The study specifically highlights significant lack of understanding of the sustainability terminology and very low awareness of t...

INTERNET-BASED TECHNOLOGY USE AND NEW PRODUCT TIME-TO-MARKET: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF PRODUCT INNOVATIVENESS

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of Internet-based technology (IBT) use during a new product development (NPD) project on new product time-to-market. It is hypothesized that (1) IBT use has a positive impact on new product time-to-market (2) this impact is both direct and indirect (3) the indirect impact of IBT use on product time-to-market is achieved through improvement of communication quality, effectiveness of team learning and level of team integration (4) the strength of these relationships is moderated by the product innovativeness. In order to test the hypotheses, data from 278 NPD projects conducted by Canadian and American manufacturing companies were collected and analyzed. IBT use was found to be a significant contributor to communication quality, effectiveness of team learning, level of team integration and new product time-to-market. Additionally, the results indicate that the relationships are stronger for projects developing highly innovative products as opposed to less innovative products.

Extent of Internet-based Technology Use in New Product Development Projects in Canada and the United States

Internet-based technologies (IBT) have become very popular tools in new product development. However, there is lack of research on how extensively different technologies are used and what they are used for. The objective of this study is to investigate the current state of adoption of Internet-based technologies by Canadian and American manufacturing companies and also to investigate the differences in their applications and use in projects with different levels of product innovativeness, team proximity, and suppliers’ involvement in the team. The research uses data collected from 278 NPD projects conducted by Canadian and American manufacturing companies.