Kongkiti Phusavat

A structural equation model of TQM, market orientation and service quality

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between total quality management (TQM), market orientation and service quality in the Malaysian service industry.Design/methodology/approach – Data from 150 service firms were collected. Structural equation modeling was employed in this study to examine the associations between TQM, market orientation and service quality.Findings – This study provides empirical evidence and confirms findings obtained from previous studies that TQM has a positive and significant relationship with both market orientation and service quality. Moreover, it was discovered that market orientation is also significantly related to service quality.Research limitations/implications – This research study implies that if firms are not able to comprehend the importance of TQM dimensions, by which the different dimensions of it can influence a firms performance, they may not succeed in harvesting the full value of market orientation and service quality. Meanwhile, the ...

Competitive priorities of manufacturing firms in Thailand

Purpose – This paper seeks to identify competitive priorities, based on the opinions of top executives of manufacturing firms belonging to the Federation of Thai Industry (FTI). It is also to evaluate the implications and applicability of these findings for Thai manufacturers.Design/methodology/approach – A survey is used as a data‐collection tool to gather the opinions of top executives. Its main contents are based on Takala (2002). Ten manufacturers from four industries have participated in the study. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is selected to analyze the survey responses. In addition, the comparison of competitive priorities among Thailand, China, and Taiwan is made. The follow‐up interviews and discussion are also conducted.Findings – There are six criteria selected to reflect competitive priorities: quality, customer‐focus, delivery, flexibility, know‐how, and costs. The study reveals that the quality, customer‐focus and delivery criteria are recognized as important priorities in order to ...

A proposed white‐collar workforce performance measurement framework

Purpose – To propose a structured framework for measuring white‐collar workforce.Design/methodology/approach – The proposed framework, designated as the multi‐dimension measurement process or the MDMP, is based on the nature of white‐collar work as well as on the strengths of current measurement techniques such as Zigons. The experiment on comparing the MDMP with several techniques was conducted. The analytic hierarchical process (AHP) has been adopted to determine the usefulness and applicability of the MDMP. The follow‐up discussions with the participants and the surveys to external experts have also been made.Findings – The research results imply potential usefulness and applications for the MDMP. Relatively to others, the MDMP has performed very highly with the set of prioritized criteria (from the AHP) that is used for this comparison, e.g. reliability, strategic congruence, measurement coverage, and user acceptance. Based on this experiment, the MDMP appears to ensure the alignment between strategi...

Productivity/performance measurement: Case application at the government pharmaceutical organization

Purpose – To address two key problems facing the production department at the government pharmaceutical organization (GPO). They were a lack of productivity and performance measurement at the operational level, and a need to assess the functional readiness to undertake its own performance‐analysis work.Design/methodology/approach – The decision was made to apply the multi‐factor productivity measurement model (MFPMM). This was due to its ability to link with existing data that had been generated by the accounting department, its explicit integration between productivity and financial performance (i.e. profitability) at the operational level, and its major features such as information on opportunity gain/loss.Findings – For the GPO, it was quite clear that productivity improvement would represent the critical direction for the production department in the future. Based on its initial deployment at the Section 3 unit, the MFPMM was generally viewed as a suitable tool for measuring and providing necessary pr...

Applying social network analysis on customer complaint handling

Purpose – The paper aims to examine existing information flows formally and informally within a customer complaint handling process, and to identify possible improvement areas to strengthen the effectiveness of this process in the workplace. These objectives are derived from the fact more than 80 percent of complaints have taken longer than the targeted timeframe during the past two years at the plant under study. The study is part of the plants overall efforts in improving quality and customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology involves document reviews (i.e. a customer complaint handling procedure), discussion groups and interviews, and the use of the UCInet software for the social network analysis or SNA formulation. Key features such as connection strength, point connectivity, and degree centrality are examined.Findings – The SNA shows that everybody associated with this process is connected. For a potential downside, customer service and quality assurance engineers appear to ...

Roles of performance measurement in SMEs' management processes

This paper describes key activities that were undertaken to assist SRC Enterprise, under the so-called Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Revitalization Program. The Department of Industrial Promotion under the Ministry of Industry sponsored this programme. The programme aimed to improve competitiveness and to strengthen the management practices of participating SMEs in Thailand. In this paper, the activities specifically discussed included the assessment of SRC Enterprises management system, development of performance measurement (to help strengthen the management system), initiating of performance analysis, and addressing of ongoing challenges as a demonstration of information usefulness. Two critical challenges were used to demonstrate the importance of providing quantitative information to the companys management. Improvement decisions to respond to these challenges were the document-control process of customer drawings and the change in the companys procurement policy. Finally, the future work for SRC Enterprise and the research in the area of SMEs are proposed and discussed.

Proposed verification method for the content suitability of the customer satisfaction survey

Purpose – To address multiple problems facing a companys top management with respect to the customer satisfaction survey. Is the customer satisfaction survey still suitable after many years of use? What method should be applied to help ensure better utilization of information from the customer satisfaction survey? Should the three aspects (i.e. quality, delivery, and responsiveness) representing the customer satisfaction continue to be used as part of the surveys main contents. As an ISO 9001: 2000 certified company, the customer satisfaction survey is required.Design/methodology/approach – A method was proposed to help integrate the survey results with other key performance indicators (or ratios). This integration represented the verification effort on the suitability of the customer satisfaction survey. The examinations into the interrelationships between these three aspects the companys performance indicators included three perspectives. They were: no time‐factor consideration; one‐period time‐lag f...

International study of technology investment decisions at hospitals

Purpose – Healthcare costs have increased considerably over the past decades around the world. Major contributors to this trend are expensive medical technologies. The purpose of this paper is to use a case study approach to understand how organizational and country level factors influence hospital investment behavior. Design/methodology/approach – The paper developed a conceptual framework based upon decision theory and institutional theory from which key questions were derived. The paper conducted semi-structured group interviews with relevant stakeholders in six hospitals located in five countries (Germany, India, Thailand, South Korea, USA). Findings – The paper found that the investment decisions of the interviewed hospitals are primarily affected by the healthcare system, the socio-economic and cultural context, and the organizations mission. Most of the interviewed hospitals consider multiple criteria in their decision-making framework and share similar organizational processes. Practical implicat...

Critical factors for an effective business value chain

– The purpose of this paper is to identify critical factors for effective business value chains in the electrical and electronic industries. This knowledge can benefit private firms as well as their supplier management and customer fulfillment, and public agencies for relevant policy initiatives., – The research methodology includes the survey development and the statistical analyses, especially the use of the Pearson correlation. Altogether, a total of 129 firms participated in this study, 97 companies from Hong Kong and 32 firms from Thailand. Included in this methodology are a pre‐test of a survey and follow‐up discussions with participating executives., – An effective business value chain essentially depends on good operational systems and management, and information and communication technology (ICT) linkages with both suppliers and customers. There are a total of five critical factors for effective business value chains. For example, an effective business value chain is influenced by how well production and delivery systems are managed. In addition, how well a manufacturer can manage its operation is influenced by customers with effective information and communication infrastructures., – The five identified factors can be used as a checklist for planning and/or monitoring the effectiveness of a business value chain. The findings also helps develop a new initiative to be undertaken by Thailands Department of Industrial Work when attempting to strengthen business value chains within various industrial clusters., – The findings underline the need to focus on data harmonization and to adapt ICT standards, such as Control Objectives for Information and related Technology COBIT and Projects in Controlled Environments PRINCE for data sharing and software development, to promote supplier audits when sustaining a business value chain.

Interrelationships among knowledge management, organisational learning and innovation

This study aims to describe the interrelationships among knowledge management, organisational learning and innovation. This description potentially helps a company’s preparation for the application of the quality management award. The Thailand Quality Award highlights the interrelationships among knowledge management, workforce focus and leadership as they contribute to learning and innovation, continuous performance improvement and organisational competitiveness. A total of 35 manufacturing firms completed and returned the survey. The interviews with chief quality officers were also conducted to help interpret the survey’s findings. The results show that effective knowledge management will lead to better learning and subsequently more innovativeness in an organisation. These results also indicate the importance of leadership in establishing supportive cultures and working environment for effective knowledge management.