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Quality assurance is the process of providing confidence that the stated or implied requirements for quality are met. In financial investment services, “quality” is defined as the perception of the investor about achieving satisfactory returns under acceptable and generally accepted risks within a planned time. Investor’s confidence in achieving quality stems from the quality assurance efforts and processes of the investment service provider. In this paper, different types of investment services, from a simple provision of investment information, to a full‐service portfolio management are discussed. Principles of quality assurance in investment services are provided. A realistic portfolio management case indicates that a modern quality management system (ISO 9000) can enhance quality assurance and thus the quality of investment services.

Over the last year, the introduction of effective quality systems and the achievement of high quality products represented fundamental competitive incentives for the adoption of total quality management practices. Unfortunately, many empirical studies demonstrate that most of the quality based programmes introduced within small firms did not improve their competitive position and profitability. The reason for such a failure is threefold: ambiguity of quality dimension, lack of suitable decisional tools and distinctive features characterising small firms. Hence, the objective of this paper is to provide small firms’ managers with a decisional tool (derived from the Fuzzy Sets Theory) aimed at supporting the evaluation process and at selecting the most suitable investments within different competitive contexts.

This study examines the relationship between investor cognitive bias, investor intuitive attributes and investment decision quality in commercial real estate in Uganda.

A cross-sectional research survey was used in this study, and data were collected from 200 investors of commercial real estate in Uganda using a structured questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses derived under this study.

The results indicate that investor cognitive bias and investor intuitive attributes are positive and significant determinants of investment decision quality in commercial real estate. In addition, the two components of Investor cognitive bias (framing variation and cognitive heuristics) are positive and significant determinants of investment decision quality, whereas mental accounting is a negative and significant determinant of investment decision quality. For investor intuitive attributes, confidence degree and loss aversion are positive and significant determinants of investment decision quality, whereas herding behavior is a negative and significant determinant of investment decision quality in commercial real estate in Uganda.

For practitioners in commercial real estate sector should emphasize independent evaluation of investment opportunities (framing variation), simplify information regarding investments (Cognitive heuristics), believe in own abilities (Confidence degree), be risk averse (loss aversion) and avoid making decisions based on subjective visual mind (mental accounting) and group think/herding in order to make quality investment decisions. For policymakers, the study has illuminated factors such as provision of reliable information that ought to be taken into account when promulgating policies for regulation of the commercial real estate sector. This will help investors to come up with investment decisions which are plausible.

Few studies have focused on investor cognitive bias and investor intuitive attributes on investment decision quality in commercial real estate. This study is the first to examine the relationship, especially in the commercial real estate sector in a developing country like Uganda.

Performance-based contracting (PBC) has been gaining popularity over the years. However, empirical studies investigating the impact of PBC features have been limited. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of PBC features leading to quality investment that fosters financial benefits.

After examining the validity and reliability of scale items through confirmatory factor analysis, this study tested hypotheses using covariance-based structural equation modeling of survey data from 381 supply, logistics and operations managers.

The findings reveal the impact of PBC features (joint knowledge generation, goal congruence and incentive alignment) on financial benefits and the mediation impact of quality investment between these features and financial benefits. The upfront investment for quality enhancement was found facilitator of PBC features to achieve financial benefits. The findings also reveal the importance of collaborative communication and information sharing for knowledge generation that leads financial benefits through quality investment. This study shows that PBC governance strengthens the theory of relational view by empowering collaborative efforts and aligning goals and incentives within downstream suppliers for knowledge generation and quality enhancement.

An analysis of PBC features by industry would be very beneficial in differentiating between and more thoroughly understanding the commonalities and differences across various sectors. Investigating how these change across industries would also help identify any bias in PBC implementation.

This study illustrates that it will be practical and beneficial for suppliers to understand the major drivers of quality investment and the relationship between quality investment and the financial benefits of selecting PBC.

Unlike most previous studies, this research contributes to the literature in that it is one of the relatively few examples of empirical research on PBC features. Overall, the findings of this study will improve our understanding of how PBC features enhance upfront investment in quality and improve financial benefits.

The purpose of this paper is to compare Chinese high-tech firms with other international firms in terms of quality capability and competence.

This study uses data from the GMRG fourth round survey and provides a method for differentiating and empirically measuring quality competence and capability using a sample of 343 plants in 17 countries in the high-tech manufacturing sector.

It is shown that the theory of performance frontiers can be used to explain differences in levels of investment in quality management, as well as competence and capability, in plants across regions with varying levels of economic development. Further, it is shown that plants in China provide an example of a special case in that they do not display the same characteristics as plants in other emerging economies.

The study is limited to the high-tech sector and is also constrained by the countries in which the GMRG data has been gathered.

Investment in quality management methods may not always result in discernible variance in quality indicators. In this study this has been shown to be the case in plants in the industrialized world, highlighting the importance of developing a requisite proficiency in innovation. For the plants in China leverage may lie in focussing on how and where resources are being invested, and how quality management is actually valued within a plant.

The study indicates that although some economies in the world may experience rapid growth this also needs to be tempered by a requisite investment in building human capability.

The evidence indicates that the plants in China in this study do not possess similar levels of quality competence and capability, and struggle to make investment in quality management alter outcomes.

Moral hazard and adverse selection often exist in asymmetric information environment. In this paper, quality investment decision problem is studied under moral hazard. A basic model for quality investment level decision is developed with the supplier as a principal and the buyer as an agent. And then we regard the supplier and the buyer’s rational limitations to set up a model when the buyer’s quality evaluation and processing activities are hidden. The model is optimized and the results under different backgrounds are discussed and compared. Results show that the buyer’s quality evaluation level and processing level are mostly influenced by the supplier’s quality assurance payment. Both the supplier and the buyer choose different quality investment levels under moral hazard because of the supplier’s payment to the buyer in case of internal failure and external failure.

This paper explores how the manufacturer’s strategic choice (acquisition or investment) impacts product quality in a supply chain comprising two complementary suppliers and a common manufacturer.

The manufacturer faces six strategic choices to improve product quality: acquiring or investing in the high-capable supplier, the low-capable supplier, or both. As the Stackelberg leader, the manufacturer determines which strategy is adopted, while suppliers are separately responsible for components’ quality and wholesale prices. The authors use game theory and calculate the model with Mathematica.

The authors develop analytical models to analyze how acquisition costs, investment proportions, component importance and quality improvement coefficients influence decision-makers. The results show that the highest quality may not benefit the manufacturer. Investing in or acquiring a low-capable supplier is better than a high-capable supplier under certain conditions. If the gaps between two suppliers’ quality improvement coefficients and the importance of two components are dramatic, the manufacturer should choose an investment strategy.

This study contributes to the complementary supply chain management by comparing two kinds of strategies-acquisition and investment, with a high-capable supplier and a low-capable supplier.

The purpose of this study is to assess how differences in national culture influence the impact of investments in manufacturing practices on operational performance. The paper addresses the following research question: does national culture affect the efficacy of investments in manufacturing practices?

Hofstede's model of national culture is used to test whether there are operational performance differences when organisations in different cultural contexts invest in identical manufacturing practices. The research question is explored and answered by assessing the moderating role of national culture using ordinary least square analysis.

The results suggest that some dimensions of national culture significantly moderate the impact of investments in manufacturing practices on manufacturing performance.

This study represents a comprehensive attempt to explain differences in the impact of manufacturing practices investments on operational performance improvements in terms of cultural differences.

This paper analyzes the effect of institutional quality and economic freedom on investment and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Focusing on a panel of 27 countries, the study employed the panel fixed and random effect models to analyze data spanning from 2005 to 2018. The study also employed the Wu–Hausman test to determine if the endogeneity problem exists in the model.

The findings of the study show that individually, an improvement in economic freedom stimulates economic growth while the improvement in institutional quality is effective in spurring investment. However, the interaction effect of improvement in institutional quality and economic freedom is the stimulation of both investment and economic growth. The findings are robust to alternative model specifications.

The study implies that for SSA countries to effectively achieve higher investment and economic growth outcomes, there is the need to simultaneously strengthen institutional quality and improve economic freedom. Focusing on either of the factors without the other leads to less desirable growth and investment outcomes.

The study examined the combined influence of institutional quality and economic freedom on investment and growth in SSA. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has investigated this in the context of SSA.

In recent years it has been often claimed that quality is one of most critical success factors for organizations. Managers introduced quality‐based programmes – such as total quality management – assuming that performances would improve. However, many quality‐based initiatives failed. There are several reasons that could explain the failure of quality‐based strategies in a number of firms; suggests two causes: the lack of effective decisional tools for evaluating the most effective investment(s) among a set of potential programmes; and the lack of specific goals to be assigned to each investment in order to monitor the actual results of the programmes on time. In small firms these problems are greater because of the limited availability of financial and managerial resources which make more difficult the identification of the most effective decisional solutions. Identifies a conceptual framework aimed at supporting the choice of most effective models for evaluating quality‐related investments in small firms, particularly an approach which balances different decisional needs such as completeness, urgency of evaluation, measurability of output and structural characteristics.