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1 – 10 of over 131000Reports the main findings of a study carried out into the qualityimprovement structure of six different companies. Among the findings isthat an infrastructure in terms of TQM…
Abstract
Reports the main findings of a study carried out into the quality improvement structure of six different companies. Among the findings is that an infrastructure in terms of TQM Steering Committee and improvements facilitators is necessary at the introduction and during the development stages of an improvement process, but this infrastructure will change as a company’s quality improvement activities mature. In setting up this structure, care must be taken that it does not duplicate the existing management structure. The improvement structure becomes less important when people in all functions take responsibility for their own personal improvement but it takes some time for this to happen. Also points out that the improvement infrastructure needs to be reviewed on a regular basis and assessed to evaluate its effectiveness.
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This article presents the findings of a comprehensive, exploratory survey concerning transportation quality improvement programs. Various quality improvement program dimensions…
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This article presents the findings of a comprehensive, exploratory survey concerning transportation quality improvement programs. Various quality improvement program dimensions were compared among two groups of respondents: those who experienced market share increases or cost decreases associated with the quality programs, and those who did not. The survey examined firms’ general focus on quality and customers, the use and design of formal quality improvement programs, and the success and current status of these programs. A number of significant quality program differences were found when comparing the two groups, including differences in top management support, benchmarking practices, customer interaction, and program design elements.
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Valerie Sutherland, Peter Makin, Kevin Bright and Charles Cox
Goal setting and feedback techniques have previously been used toimprove safety behaviour. Describes a pilot study of the application ofa behaviour‐based quality improvement…
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Goal setting and feedback techniques have previously been used to improve safety behaviour. Describes a pilot study of the application of a behaviour‐based quality improvement process in a continuous process production plant with a particular focus on certain aspects of the organizational structure and climate which might be conducive to the changes necessary to facilitate this approach. Since “quality improvement”, unlike “safety improvement”, is more likely to be contingent on interactions with other people, the need to optimize communication and interpersonal relationships at work are important. Suggests that an internal customer, linking‐pin model provides the optimal conditions required, and ensures a high level of employee participation in the process of continuous quality improvement.
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John Sinclair and Alastair Arthur
Corporate culture plays a key role in the adoption and maintenance of acontinuous improvement environment. Yet the role that culture does playand its nature tend to be overlooked…
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Corporate culture plays a key role in the adoption and maintenance of a continuous improvement environment. Yet the role that culture does play and its nature tend to be overlooked or simplified so as to be almost meaningless. Overviews aspects of corporate culture and uses a case study of a professional company to show how they went about developing a continuous improvement environment. The key lessons from the case study include the need for “ownership” of jobs, self‐esteem as a driving force for continuous improvement, importance of activities related to customers, achievement requiring teamwork, function replaced by process and understanding through involvement in quality improvement programmes.
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Mahmoud M. Yasin and Jafar Alavi
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to study the environmental and competitive factors in the service organizations and second, to investigate the extent of effective…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to study the environmental and competitive factors in the service organizations and second, to investigate the extent of effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives in different operational settings.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper factor analysis is used to determine the underlying factors associated with the changes in the competitive environment. Proportional measures are used to study the implementation of quality improvement initiatives.
Findings
The paper finds that quality improvement initiatives are not implemented uniformly by all the service industries. Organizations implementing quality improvement initiatives face varying degrees of effectiveness. Positive operational and strategic outcomes have been observed by organizations implementing the quality improvement initiatives.
Practical implications
The results of this paper show that implementation of different types of quality improvement initiatives has a positive impact on operational and strategic aspects of service organizations.
Originality/value
The empirical investigation in this paper shows the practical and theoretical value of issues related to the performance of service organizations.
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Djoko Setijono and Jens J. Dahlgaard
This paper presents a methodology to nominate and select improvement projects that are perceived as adding value to customers (both internal and external). The structure of the…
Abstract
This paper presents a methodology to nominate and select improvement projects that are perceived as adding value to customers (both internal and external). The structure of the methodology can be explained in three “stages”. First, the methodology suggests a new way of categorizing improvement opportunities, i.e. reactive‐proactive, to “upgrade” the little Q ‐ big Q categorisation. Then, it develops a roadmap that links performance indicators and improvement projects for both reactive and proactive improvements. Finally, it suggests an algorithm to select the improvement project, where the assessment of to what extent the nominated improvement projects add value to customers relies on the comparison between Overall Perceived Benefits (OPB) and Overall Perceived Efforts (OPE). The improvement project perceived as having the largest impact on adding value to customers receives the highest priority.
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Roland Hellberg and Eivind Fauskanger
The purpose of this study is to investigate how professionals who are continuing their education rate a higher education quality management course with an emphasis on reflective…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how professionals who are continuing their education rate a higher education quality management course with an emphasis on reflective learning and real problem-solving. The audited course consists of module-based teaching, while students work on an improvement project at their workplace between course sessions. This study has a twofold aim: to contribute to the design of quality improvement courses based on doing as we learn and to offer insight into the use of a final grading method that consist of a folder with reports from the intermediate work steps and a final report.
Design/methodology/approach
After completing the course, students received a survey with questions and statements about the course content, delivery and final grading methods. They answered these questions on a seven-point Likert scale and also answered open-ended questions.
Findings
It is clear that professional students value the interweaving of theory with real-life training, and they value module-based teaching in which theory is reviewed and applied to practical problems. Reflective learning was achieved through feedback from both teachers and fellow students on various interim reports. Students’ employers benefit from the course, as students gain experience with quality improvement. The grading of a final report on the improvement project based on three sub-assignments was highly appreciated.
Practical implications
Developers in courses in quality improvement benefit from learning how this course is structured, assessed and how participants perceived its components.
Originality/value
The course design with modules and intermediate work steps, where the students apply theory in quality improvement to a real project at their workplace, is an original concept. The modules correspond to the plan, do, check and act (PDCA) methodology.
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Mohammad Javad Ershadi, Nafiseh Najafi and Paria Soleimani
Total quality management (TQM) is a part of the total quality assurance perspective. This system, which is considered as a type of managerial philosophy, employs all…
Abstract
Purpose
Total quality management (TQM) is a part of the total quality assurance perspective. This system, which is considered as a type of managerial philosophy, employs all organizational levels to constantly ameliorate the quality of goods and service. The purpose of this paper is to measure the effect of hard and soft TQM factors on the behavior of customers based on the role of innovation and continuous improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model was extracted from TQM variables in hard and soft parts, customer behavior, innovation and continuous improvement by reviewing the literature and research background. Based on this, a questionnaire was prepared and then, distributed among the statistical population including 374 project managers, quality assurance managers as well as quality control managers by using simple random sampling. All sub-criteria of questionnaire were determined using Delphi technique, to test the research model. Having gathered the questionnaire, the hypotheses were analyzed by using structural equation modeling and AMOS software.
Findings
According to the statistical analyses, TQM has a significant effect on customer behavior through continuous improvement of the quality and innovation. Also, regarding the obtained results, the highest effect was related to the effect of hard TQM factors on customer behavior through innovation as 0.62. Furtheremore, TQM soft factors such as human resource management have significant effect on customer behavior through quality improvement and innovation. Moreover, TQM hard factors are effective on customer behavior through quality improvement and innovation.
Research limitations/implications
The questionnaire was designed and distributed in order to evaluate the hypotheses in this study. One of the primary rationales behind utilizing this method instead of other methods such as interview was high geographical distribution of organizations. Using other moderator variables such as knowledge management, customer knowledge management and customer emotions can be conducted in the future in this area.
Practical implications
Changing the organizational relationships from task orientation to the process orientation, and controlling the organizational performance by measuring process innovations and improvements, while paying attention to the customer satisfaction system are suggested in this paper. These implications should be implemented in construction projects by department of project management office. Furtheremore, providing different communication for receiving the opinions of the customer and imposing them in the product and service, paying attention to the response system and customer complaint, implementation of this process in the organization, and having a process approach for presenting and developing services are the main subjects in this regard.
Originality/value
Unlike previous studies on this subject, a structural equation model is used for assessing unobservable latent constructs and their related interrelationship in measuring the impact of TQM factors. Focusing on customer behavior which is a broader domain than customer satisfation through continuous improvement of the quality and innovation is another value of this research.
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Bozena Poksinska, Jostein Pettersen, Mattias Elg, Jörgen Eklund and Lars Witell
This paper aims to present and discuss the current state of quality‐improvement activities in Swedish companies. The paper focuses on the drivers for quality improvement; types of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present and discuss the current state of quality‐improvement activities in Swedish companies. The paper focuses on the drivers for quality improvement; types of approaches, tools and techniques, and organizational aspects influenced by quality improvement; and potential areas for improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents results from a survey on quality improvement work in Swedish industry. Data for this paper were collected using a web‐based questionnaire that was distributed to 800 production managers working in Swedish service and manufacturing organizations. Of the 800 questionnaires sent, a total of 118 questionnaires were filled out, which resulted in a response rate of 16 percent.
Findings
The result shows that the major drivers for quality improvement work in Swedish industry are economical aspects as the need for cost reduction, the need to become more competitive and the wish to increase market share. Drivers such as pressure from shareholders and trends in management have a minor role. The underlying approaches for quality improvement work are standards such as ISO 9000 and ISO 14000. A total of 72 percent of respondents stated that they work with quality management systems; 59 percent, with environmental management systems. The aspects that were most positively influenced by the improvement work were employee motivation, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, product/service quality, and flow in internal processes.
Research limitations/implications
Empirical results obtained in Sweden may differ to some extent in other countries.
Practical implications
This paper is intended as a source of inspiration for researchers, consultants, and managers who are interested in the current trends and future developments in the quality field.
Originality/value
The paper provides valuable insights into the current state of quality improvement activities in Swedish industry, as seen from the perspective of the production manager.
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John L. Michela, Hamid Noori and Shailendra Jha
Examines the literature to identify the essential components of kaizen or continuous improvement programmes. Relying on published sources on the North American experience with…
Abstract
Examines the literature to identify the essential components of kaizen or continuous improvement programmes. Relying on published sources on the North American experience with continuous improvement, also tries to identify organizational structures and practices likely to lead to successful implementation of such programmes. Distinguishes between kaizen and more radical, “strategic leap” improvement approaches, and describes the North American record of success with continuous improvement programmes. An emergent theme is that success with continuous improvement requires a wide array of systems, processes, and orientations to be congruent within the organization. Argues that the study of when, how, and why kaizen succeeds is by no means complete, and proposes a set of open research questions whose investigation is likely to be useful to both scholars and practitioners. Finally, discusses some of the ways in which the existing literature can be immediately useful for practice in organizations.
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