Xingxing Zu

Infrastructure and core quality management practices: how do they affect quality?

Purpose – This empirical study seeks to resolve the conflicting findings in the quality management (QM) literature about how different QM practices, specifically, infrastructure QM practices and core QM practices, affect quality performance.Design/methodology/approach – Based on the Socio‐Technical Systems theory and research related to QM implementation and performance, the study proposes a research model of the relationship between infrastructure and core QM practices and their direct and indirect effects on quality performance. The empirical data were drawn from 226 manufacturing plants in the USA. The research model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) technique.Findings – In the structural model, two integrated factors were used to represent the two types of QM practices: the infrastructure QM includes top management support, customer relationship, and supplier relationship, and workforce management; and the core QM consists of quality information, product/service design, and process ...

An agency theory perspective on supply chain quality management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is two‐fold: to examine two approaches buying firms can utilize to manage supplier quality; and to investigate the ways in which factors inherent in supply chain relationships affect the use of these approaches in supply chain quality management.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on agency theory, this paper proposes a conceptual framework that relates the underlying factors of a supply chain relationship to the use of quality management approaches. Two types of approaches, outcome‐based and behavior‐based, are discussed in terms of their focuses, purposes, and methods. Propositions are developed about the effects of these factors on the decisions buying firms make about supply chain quality management.Findings – This study suggests that rather than relying on one generic supply chain quality management approach for all suppliers, firms need to choose different management mechanisms for different suppliers based on the salient attributes of individual suppliers and t...

Quality management in China: the effects of firm characteristics and cultural profile

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the underlying characteristics that influence quality management implementation at manufacturing companies operating in China.Design/methodology/approach – The data of this study were based on 199 manufacturing companies collected from a cross‐sectional survey in China. The cultural profiles of these companies were identified through cluster analysis. Multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to identify the effects of operating characteristics and cultural profile on the implementation level of quality management practices.Findings – The results show that in general, there is no significant difference in implementing quality management practices among companies of different operating characteristics in terms of company size, industry, ownership, and production process. This study reveals that cultural profile is a distinguishing factor to explain the difference in quality management implementation among the companies.Originality/value – As China...

Enhancing Six Sigma Implementation Through Human Resource Management

While many companies have implemented Six Sigma and claim that they have achieved remarkable benefits from their investment, not all Six Sigma implementations yield the positive results promoted by its advocates. Human resource management (HRM) is recognized as a critical factor that influences the adoption of Six Sigma in organizations. Using data collected from 95 manufacturing plants that practice Six Sigma, this study investigates the role of three quality-oriented HRM practices—employee involvement, employee training, and employee performance and recognition—in Six Sigma implementation. Results of this study indicate that the three HRM practices significantly affect the use of Six Sigma methodology. In addition, it is found that Six Sigma role structure (that is, the human infrastructure for Six Sigma using the Six Sigma Green and Black Belt system) integrates with the traditional quality-oriented HRM practices in supporting the use of Six Sigma methodology.

A profit-driven approach to building a "people-responsible" supply chain

Abstract Today, an increasing number of companies have publicized policies to improve corporate social responsibility performance related to human resources in their supply chain management practices, such as safer and healthier working conditions, higher payment, better benefits, and fewer working hours. However, there are still concerns about the sincerity and effectiveness of such efforts. This could be attributed to the fact that the economic benefit of those improvements is not clearly structured as an integral part in the companies’ decision-making process. In this paper, we develop a stylized analytic framework that links a firms supply chain social performance in people with its economic performance in profit. Specifically, we examine how consumers’ responses to the outbreak of social misconduct in supply chains affect competing firms’ market segmentation and profit and subsequently provide economic incentive for proactive social responsibility investment. Closed-form optimal solutions for proactive social responsibility strategy are found for our model setup. Numerical tests and sensitivity analyses have been conducted to study the effects of various factors on the firms’ supply chain social responsibility strategies. Factors such as consumers’ ethical disposition, the social environment, and consumers’ perception of a products functional versus social value are a few among them. The results of our analysis demonstrate that proactive investment in supply chain social responsibility can enhance a firms competitive advantage and economic performance, thereby suggesting a profit-driven approach to achieving supply chain social responsibility and sustainability.

An empirical model of supplier relation and management for better quality

A companys quality performance is necessarily dependent on its internal quality control and improvement efforts, but also subject to reliable delivery of high quality materials and parts from suppliers. This study identifies four key practices in quality-focused supplier relation and management, and examines how these practices affect quality performance of manufacturing companies in China. It is found that supplier partnership is the foundation for effective supplier quality control and management. And, a companys efforts in applying supplier involvement, quality-oriented supplier selection, and supplier JIT delivery, in general, are positively related to the improvements in its product quality, process quality and inventory performance. The results of this study will provide a better understanding of how to develop an effective supplier quality management system in China.

An empirical investigation of the relationship between Six Sigma practices and organisational innovation

Both Six Sigma and innovation play key roles in improving competitiveness. While there is abundant research on Six Sigma and innovation from many perspectives, rigorous empirical research investigating the impact of Six Sigma on organisational innovation has been limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between Six Sigma practices and different types of organisational innovation including product innovation, process innovation, and administrative innovation. Empirical data were collected from 249 firms in China which had implemented Six Sigma as a formal programme in their organisation. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the hypothesised relationship between Six Sigma practices and innovation. The results show that Six Sigma management, infrastructure, and core practices have a positive relationship with product, process, and administrative innovation. This study contributes to a better understanding of how firms can take advantage of the Six Sigma implementation to improve their capacity in innovation.