Luis Miguel Molina Fernández

Factors affecting the relationship between total quality management and organizational performance

This paper aims to provide a framework for studying the relationship between total quality management (TQM) and organizational performance. TQM contents as well as TQM elements are considered. So, from a contingency approach, TQM contents have to be consistent with business orientation and environmental uncertainty in order to be effective. On the other hand, the relationship between TQM elements and performance is developed from an industrial psychology perspective. Hence, TQM elements are considered to impact both behavioural and individuals’ learning processes. In the proposed model this relations are mediated by the TQM‐driven cultural change acceptance. Moreover, TQM elements impact these individual processes both directly and mediated by systems and personal factors. Hence, both TQM contents and elements have to be considered to do the right things and to do it well.

Total Quality Management, strategic orientation and organizational performance: the case of Spanish companies

Abstract This paper examines the relationship between strategy and Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation, as well as the impact of the adaptation of both to organizational performance. We have used the emphasis on cost leadership, differentiation on marketing and differentiation on innovation as strategic dimensions to develop four great strategic configurations. The degrees of implementation of the TQM elements in each of them, as well as their associations to the various types of performances have been studied. Our results significantly support the hypotheses proposed, and suggest differences in TQM implementation depending on the selected strategy. It is also noticed that companies with greater degrees of co-alignment between their strategies and TQM are those with the highest levels of performance.

The moderating effect of slack resources on the relation between quality management and organisational learning

Recent literature in the field of strategic management suggests that firms must learn to combine internal competencies and resources in order to achieve competitive advantages. This paper examines how firms employ slack resources to enhance the relationship between quality management (QM) and organisational learning to obtain sustainable competitive advantages. The findings use empirical data gathered from 202 quality managers to support the hypotheses that: (1) there is a strong connection between organisational learning and QM; and (2) the relation between organisational learning and QM is moderated by slack resources.

A dynamic evaluation of factors determining the quality of service perceived by clients: an empirical analysis focused on the consultancy sector

The buyer–seller relation has become an integral part of business strategy in the service sector. This study begins from the importance of quality of service in the buyer-seller relation and adds evidence concerning an issue missing in other studies performed: the importance that clients attribute to dimensions of perceived quality varies as a function of the length of their relation to the firm. We identify which dimensions of quality of service should at any given moment be the primary concern of management and which should have secondary significance. To do this, we contacted an experienced national consultancy in order to learn, by means of a multiple linear regression model, the value attributed on the part of its clients to the quality of service and its dimensions. The study shows how buyers value some dimensions of perceived quality as a function of the length of their relation to the organisation.