Margarida Saraiva

Management of quality-related costs: the case of Portuguese companies

The traditional view of quality-related costs (QRC) tries to justify investment in prevention as a way to reduce the costs of failure. But this static view must counter a more dynamic vision that fosters continuous improvement and assesses the costs and benefits of implementing techniques and methods of quality management, such as certification of ISO 9001systems. However, it is unknown whether such companies are also engaged in the management of QRC arising from activities undertaken, either at the level of monitoring, or coming from failures, and if such organisations verify (or not) the recovery of investments in quality. In this sense, the present article aims to provide insight into the procedures adopted by Portuguese companies in managing QRC, and to assess the extent to which management reports allow the analysis of quality costs and contribute to the related planning and control activities. The results of this study showed that there is hardly any assent to the implementation of formal mechanisms for planning and control of QRC, and to the explicit identification and segregation of those costs in management reports.

Dependency relationships between critical factors of quality and employee satisfaction

The literature has paid very little attention to the effects of the critical factors of quality on employee satisfaction in the tourism context. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine these relationships among tourist accommodation enterprises considering the perception of quality managers. A theoretical model together with the hypotheses to be contrasted is proposed and it is validated by the technique of structural equation models. The target population of the study is made up of tourist accommodations certified with ‘Q for Quality’ in Spain. The structural equation model provides evidence that the critical factor antecedents of employee satisfaction are process management and quality policy and planning; the latter criterion has a greater influence. The study also found that leadership is an important factor for obtaining results from employees through the rest of the variables that make up the model and employee satisfaction promotes learning within the organisation.

How companies use the information about quality-related costs

This work focuses on the broad topic of quality-related costs (QRC), which has been largely discussed in the literature. Nevertheless, one of the least studied issues relates to the way companies use QRC information. In this research the profile of use of QRC information is analysed considering the model proposed by Simons [(1991). Strategic orientation and top management attention to control systems. Strategic Management Journal, 12(1), 49–62], from which it is possible to distinguish between a diagnostic and an interactive profile of use. The analysis of the data collected through a questionnaire survey to a sample of Portuguese certified companies (PCCs) involved the application of principal component analysis, cluster analysis, one-way analysis of variance and discriminant analysis. The results showed that a substantial part of PCCs use the QRC information according to a diagnostic and interactive profile. Managers of these companies use QRC information to set goals, monitor their implementation and motivate participants (according to a diagnostic profile), but also to foster organisational learning, the emergence of new ideas and strategies (according to an interactive profile). About 30% of companies favour a diagnostic profile. However, about 32% of companies report negative values for both profiles, indicating that these companies undertake initiatives to prepare QRC information but their leaders do not use it in the management process.

How Communication and Control Processes Improve Quality

In order to achieve excellence, an organization should use two key instruments—quality and an efficient and effective communication process amongst all employees—so it can attain quality management. This chapter aims to examine whether organizational communication and quality are interrelated, in order to answer the following question: Is it necessary to improve communication within an organization so that quality management can be efficiently and effectively pursued? For this purpose, data were collected through the administration of a questionnaire to the staff of a Portuguese public organization. The findings showed that, in this organization, communication among employees of various sectors is satisfactory and that there is mutual help between them in order to improve the organizational performance.

A CAPACITY BUILDING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION ERASMUS+ PROJECT: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT FOR SOUTHEAST ASIAN UNIVERSITIES (HR4ASIA)

The development and optimization of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is becoming more and more important. Consequently, Human Resources Management (HRM) has gained greater prominence in the management of these institutions. Due to the complexity of academic contexts of HEIs, HRM models need to be able to respond to new challenges. These challenges concern selection, motivation and development of their staff. Currently, especially in Southeast Asian countries, Human Resources approaches need to be more efficient and tailored to current labor and societal needs. In order to support Higher Education organizational changes in Southeast Asia, a consortium of 4 institutions from Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy and Lithuania) and 8 from Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand) lead by the University of Danang (Vietnam), applied to a Capacity Building for Higher Education project under the framework of the Erasmus+ Program. The project “Strategic Human Resources Management for Southeast Asian Universities” (HR4Asia) approved in 2016 and co-funded by the European Commission aims at contributing to Higher Education organizational reform in Southeast Asia by improving HRM at the target HEIs from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam and Thailand. Each partner has well defined tasks according to the work packages established on the project. This research is focused on the competences that workers need to achieve to have a better performance in the institution. It was necessary to present and deconstruct, among others, the concepts of competence as capacity and competency as performance, to learn how to measure competencies and to manage competency and Human Resources. Staff involved in this project will be able to design and define the competencies model of the structures of each HEI to define the competency model per structure (mapping of organizational competencies and a model of competences of structures). This is one more step to achieve the following final goals: introduce in Southeast Asian HEIs a scheme to developing and implementing innovative HRM approaches, paying attention to transversal and additional skills, such as communication and self-learning. Tailor-made dissemination activities addressing non-partner HEIs, Ministries of Higher Education and other stakeholders will promote the project objectives, paving the way for its sustainability.

Influence of quality on employee results: the case of rural accommodations in Spain

Few studies have analysed the effect of the critical factors of quality results on employees in the services sector and, more specifically, in the tourism sector. This work studies the rural accommodation sector in order to provide facility managers with the critical factors on which to focus their efforts towards increasing their employee results/satisfaction. The data obtained from 100 rural accommodations in Spain are analysed and each of the measurement scales used are validated by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The theoretical model proposed to analyse the relationship is estimated by applying Structural Equation Modelling. The research reveals that the factors to which greater attention should be paid in order to enhance employee results/satisfaction are quality policy and strategy and processes management, the latter being the criterion through which the rest of the critical factors perform. The greatest total effect derives from quality policy and strategy and leadership, and indirect effect via the rest of the criteria.

INTERPERSONAL BEHAVIORAL QUALITY RELATIONS: THE BULLYING BEHAVIORAL CASE AND THE EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL SKILLS OF YOUNG PORTUGUESE STUDENTS

The quality of the interpersonal relationships that are established during the life is an important factor of psychological and social adjustment, indispensable for the human development. As adolescents dissociate themselves from their parents (although the family continues to occupy an important place) peer relationships increase, gain importance, and become the most influential context in terms of socialization. The school is one of the main scenarios structured to promote the personal development of each student, their capacities, learning and quality interactions with their colleagues. If school and peer acceptance are of great significance to adolescents, then not liking it or being rejected by peers can also lead to difficulties of social and emotional adjustment. Aggressive behaviors among peers are thus the main problem of interpersonal relationships in school context. Violent behaviors and situations of indiscipline are also frequently observed in school, but bullying is distinguished from these by evidence of an intentionality in aggression, by the regularity with which they occur (regardless of the form that occurs: direct, through physical or verbal aggression, or indirect, through relational aggression) and power imbalance among the participants. In this sense, this study intends to understand how aggressive behaviors among peers relate to the emotional and social skills of the students involved. To do this, a questionnaire survey was carried out through the Interpersonal Behavior Scale in School Context (ECICE) and the Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (EQ-i: YV), with 297 Portuguese students from a public school of the district of Évora Portugal. The results show the existence of negative relations between the behaviors of bullying and the emotional and social competences. It was also possible to verify statistically significant differences in bullying situations and emotional and social competences, as a function of sociodemographic variables and school characterization. It is outlined the importance of the education of emotional and social competences for the promotion of quality interpersonal relationships in the school context.

Gastronomy and Wines in the Alentejo Portuguese Region: Motivation and Satisfaction of Tourists from Évora

Food and winemaking are a recognized tangible and intangible culturalheritage of Portugal. From the relationshipbetween these twocomponents, astrategic product emerged with a considerable potential for tourism industry, which is notignored bymany of tourism organizations. This chapter intends to analyze food and winemaking from atourism demand perspective. Particularly, this study describes visitors’ profile, including, their motivations, their knowledgeabout theenological and gastronomicresourcesand the degreeof satisfaction. A total of 308 questionnaires were collected between February and May of 2012, from the visitors that visited the historic center of Evora (Alentejo-Portugal). Results reveal a visitor profile associated with regional cuisine and wine products from Portugal. Moreover, visitors’ evidenced a high level of knowledge regarding the Portuguese cuisine and regional wines; although this not matches with their primary motivation for visit the city of Evora.

Supply Chain as a Collaborative Virtual Network Based on LARG Strategy

The structure, organization and integration it is crucial to improve global supply chains performance and help them to achieve strategic and operational goals. Literature suggests that agile, resilient and sustainable supply chains strategies enable them to be more competitive in order to adapt to the dynamic and unstable scenario. This paper aims to present a model for implementing a strategy based on LARG paradigms (Lean philosophy, Agility, Resilience and sustainability—“Green”), used to denote the necessary strategy for competitiveness in an international automotive supply chain. Using “building theory approach”, supported by a case study, conducted in four companies that integrated automotive supply chains, three hypotheses were defined to be validated through an explanatory model and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) were defined to measure supply chain overall performance. This study brings contributes to management knowledge by empirically investigate the main effects of LARG strategy on supply chain performance, proposing a process approach applied to a collaborative virtual network structure, in order to improve network efficiency. Data analysis supports some interesting conclusions, as the more important KPI’s to measure LARG strategy, and the evolution from Supply chain to Supply Network.

An Integrated View of the Use of Quality Cost Information, the Improvement of the Quality Management System and Effects on Performance: A Study in Portuguese Companies

The literature focusing on quality costs has placed great importance on issues related to identifying, measuring and reporting quality cost information. Less attention has been paid to how this information is used in the management process and how it can enhance internal capabilities and thereby improve company performance. In addition to addressing this question, we analyse how the extensive use of quality costs can boost organisational learning and innovation in organisations’ internal processes, thus leading to an overall improvement in the quality management system that is reflected in financial and non-financial performance. The conceptual model developed involves these relationships and has been tested using the structural equation modelling technique. To this end, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Portuguese companies with the ISO 9000 certification. The results shed light on the causal links between the variables, and thus validate the conceptual model indicating that the use of quality cost information has a positive effect on both the development of quality management systems and performance.