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The use of improvement tools in the construction sector has shown to be an important determinant of quality. Companies endeavoring to enhance their daily practices require assistance, evidence, standards, frameworks and quantitative models from existing experts to help them set out for the road. This paper is aimed to assist construction managers in the selection of tools to increase customer satisfaction.

This piece of research is based on the results of a previous empirical study on the use, within a sample of Mexican firms, of a set of more than 30 tools. It then proposes a Bayesian network (BN) to select them. By analyzing the variables under study, it is possible to establish their interaction and dependencies. The resultant BN comprises 24 nodes, and it is useful for choosing some tools that help to increase customer satisfaction.

Customers and their needs now have become more complicated and harder to meet than in the past. Then, the use of improvement tools that put quality at the heart of the management strategies is crucial for achieving customer satisfaction. In order to reduce prices, keep product quality and meet delivery times, these tools should be used on a daily basis. Along this line of thought, the overall results from the hypothetical scenarios explored in this were positive, reflecting the relevance of the proposed model. In particular, the use of tools for gathering customer needs, the utilization of technology and the implementation of a quality department are relevant for increasing customer satisfaction in the sector.

The sample size could be further expanded. The customer satisfaction dimensions could be enhanced.

While the sample in which the investigation is based could be expanded along with the number of variables and their states, the BN can help practitioners in the global construction industry to improve their quality practices, to foster loyalty and to grow revenues.

Most of the research reported in the area of continuous improvement in construction focuses on qualitative considerations, and it is still scarce in terms of developing mathematical models for selecting existing tools and, ultimately, satisfying customer’s requirements. This investigation is aimed to bridge this gap in the literature.

Quality management practitioners have yet to cease the potential of digitalisation. Furthermore, there is a lack of tools such as frameworks guiding practitioners in the digital transformation of their organisations. The purpose of this study is to provide a framework to guide quality practitioners with the implementation of digitalisation in their existing practices.

A review of literature assessed how quality management and digitalisation have been integrated. Findings from the literature review highlighted the success of the integration of Lean manufacturing with digitalisation. A comprehensive list of Lean Six Sigma tools were then reviewed in terms of their effectiveness and relevance for the hybrid digitisation approach to process improvement (HyDAPI) framework.

The implementation of the proposed HyDAPI framework in an industrial case study led to increased efficiency, reduction of waste, standardised work, mistake proofing and the ability to root cause non-conformance products.

The activities and tools in the HyDAPI framework are not inclusive of all techniques from Lean Six Sigma.

The HyDAPI framework is a flexible guide for quality practitioners to digitalise key information from manufacturing processes. The framework allows organisations to select the appropriate tools as needed. This is required because of the varying and complex nature of organisation processes and the challenge of adapting to the continually evolving Industry 4.0.

This research proposes the HyDAPI framework as a flexible and adaptable approach for quality management practitioners to implement digitalisation. This was developed because of the gap in research regarding the lack of procedures guiding organisations in their digital transition to Industry 4.0.

The use of quality management (QM) to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) is a topic of growing interest in academia and industry. The IAQ (International Academy for Quality) established Quality Sustainability Award in 2020, a testament to this growing interest. This study aims to investigate how QM philosophies, methodologies and tools can be used to achieve sustainable development in organizations.

Five large manufacturing organizations – three from India and two from China – who reported their achievements about using QM in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were studied using multiple sources of data collection. A detailed within-case and cross-case analysis were conducted to unearth this linkage's practical and theoretical aspects.

The study finds that QM methodologies effectively met the five organizations' UNSDGs. These organizations successfully used OPEX (Operational Excellence) methodologies such as Lean, Kaizen and Six Sigma to meet UNSDGs 7, 11, 12 and 13. Moreover, UNSG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) is the most targeted goal across the case studies. A cross-case analysis revealed that the most frequently used quality tools were Design of Experiments (DoE), Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA), C&E analysis and Inferential statistics, among other essential tools.

The study's sample size was limited to large-scale manufacturing organizations in the two most populous countries in the world. This may limit the study's generalizability to other countries, continents, or micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Additionally, the study's conclusions would be strengthened if tested as hypotheses in a follow-up survey.

This practical paper provides case studies on how to use QM to impact SDGs. It offers both descriptive and prescriptive solutions for practitioners. The study highlights the importance of using essential QM tools in a structured and systematic manner, with effective teams, to meet the SDGs of organizations.

The study shows how QM can be used to impact UNSDGs, and this is very important because the UNSDGs are a set of global objectives that aim to address a wide range of social and environmental issues. This study could motivate organizations to achieve the UNSDGs using essential QM tools and make the world a better place for the present and future generations.

This case study is the first to investigate at a micro-level how QM can impact UNSDGs using live examples. It uses data from the IAQ to demonstrate how QM can be integrated into UNSDGs to ensure sustainable manufacturing.

The focus of this research is to investigate if user-generated content (UGC) generated in the Booking platform can support quality management improvement within the hospitality industry by increasing customer satisfaction and eliminating defects more efficiently. Hence, it contributes to understanding how data-driven companies can rely on customer data to focus on innovation and performance improvement to meet customer requirements, eliminate defects and increase customer satisfaction.

Following the literature review, information was collected from the digital platform Booking, encompassing 15 hotel industry companies in Portugal Porto and Braga regions, selected due to their high number of customer reviews. This data was organized and categorized, eliminating all unnecessary information for the research and building an Excel database. The database was subsequently analysed with SPSS and Voyant software, performing statistical analysis, hypothesis testing and text-mining techniques to analyse the comments. After these analyses, applying quality tools allowed for more in-depth conclusions.

The research results highlight that customers' most relevant requirements in the Portuguese hospitality industry are breakfast, parking and a swimming pool. It was also possible to realize that the location is an attractive requirement, the bathroom is a must-be requirement and breakfast is a performance requirement. The results also allowed us to answer the most critical research question: “Is user-generated content a valuable aid to quality?” the answer is yes since it was possible to use the data to find improvements and faults/failures in the services.

The results of this study represent an essential step towards a complete understanding of how to take advantage of UGC within the hospitality industry by establishing a solid base of techniques, methods and quality tools for UGC analysis that can be applied in future research on different industry sectors.

This study aims to explore the conditions of successful implementation of Quality 4.0 in higher education institutions (HEIs) and the key factors affecting it, as well as the role of the Triple Helix collaborative (THC) framework in enhancing the integration of Quality 4.0 principles and Industry 4.0 technologies.

A survey-based strategy was adopted, adopting questionnaires distributed amongst researchers chosen based on their publications related to the aforementioned fields.

The successful integration of disruptive technologies, Quality 4.0 and THC in HEIs heavily relies on educators' continuous learning and professional development. Faculty members must acquire digital skills and competencies to effectively adopt disruptive technologies and implement Quality 4.0 principles in their teaching practices. HEIs should provide opportunities for faculty members to engage in ongoing training programmes, workshops and communities of practice that focus on enhancing their technological proficiencies, pedagogical strategies and collaborative skills.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported study linking the concepts of Quality 4.0 and the Triple Helix of Innovation in HEIs.

Design-thinking (DT) in education has attracted significant interest from practitioners and academics, as it proffers new-age thinking to transform learning processes. This paper synthesises extant literature and identifies the current intellectual frontiers.

First, a systematic-literature-review was undertaken employing a robust process of selecting papers (from 1986 to 2022) by reading titles, abstracts and keywords based on a required criterion, backward–forward chaining and strict quality evaluations. Next, a bibliometric analysis was undertaken using VOSviewer. Finally, text analysis using RStudio was done to trace the implications of past work and future directions.

At first, we identify and explain 12 clusters through bibliometric coupling that include “interdisciplinary-area”, “futuristic-learning”, “design-process” and “design-education”, amongst others. We explain each of these clusters later in the text. Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM), management education, design and change, teacher training, entrepreneurship education and technology, digital learning, gifted education and course development) Secondly, through co-word-analysis, we identify and explain four additional clusters that include “business education and pedagogy”, “content and learning environment”, “participants and outcome” and finally, “thinking-processes”. Based on this finding, we believe that the future holds a very positive presence sentiment for design thinking and education (DT&E) in changing the 21st century learning.

For investigating many contemporary challenges related to DT&E, like virtual reality experiential learning, sustainability education, organisational learning and management training, etc. have been outlined.

Academics may come up with new or improved courses for the implementation of DT in educational settings and policymakers may inculcate design labs in the curricula to fortify academic excellence. Managers who would employ DT in their training, development and policy design, amongst others, could end up gaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

This study conducted a comprehensive review of the field, which to our limited knowledge, no prior studies have been done so far. Besides, the study also outlines interesting research questions for future research.

This study aims to demonstrate how the process of quality function deployment (QFD) is used to identify the basic requirements of the customers in designing and executing the commercial business center.

This study was considered with the aim of determining the approach of QFD methodology used in the planning and designing of commercial business centers. The methodology used in the study is a customer-driven process that includes customer requirements in each and every aspect of the planning and designing of the project. The main focus of this study is to understand the requirements of the customers and to design and execute a commercial business project.

This study illustrates the quality requirements of the projects that benefit from the QFD process to obtain customer requirements for the planning and designing of commercial business centers. A case study is used to demonstrate the use of QFD process. This helps to explain the effective application of QFD in the planning and designing of business centers and similar constructions.

The planning and designing of the commercial business center using the QFD process were challenging and hence it is limited to the design part. The strategic objectives are not taken into account while performing QFD in this case study and the risk of market research is lacking. House of quality (HOQ) can be too complicated at times; hence, the adaptability in the traditional QFD is lacking. Most of the work in the HOQ matrix is done through subjective evaluation. Therefore, this research is mostly useful for a single party responsible for all phases of the planning and designing of the project.

In the construction industry, the use of the QFD process for project performance analysis and application is restricted. As a result of the scarcity of studies on the planning and design of construction projects, this study on the planning and design of a construction project was inspired.

The research aims to develop an assessment framework that evaluates critical success factors (CSFs) for the Quality 4.0 (Q 4.0) transition among Indian firms.

The authors use the fuzzy-Delphi method to validate the results of a systematic literature review (SLR) that explores critical aspects. Further, the fuzzy decision-making trial and laboratory (DEMATEL) method determines the cause-and-effect link. The findings indicate that developing a Q 4.0 framework is essential for the long-term success of manufacturing companies. Utilizing the power of digital technology, data analytics and automation, manufacturing companies can benefit from the Q 4.0 framework. Product quality, operational effectiveness and overall business performance may all be enhanced by implementing the Q 4.0 transition framework.

The study highlights significant awareness of Q 4.0 in the Indian manufacturing sector that is acquired through various means such as training, experience, learning and research. However, most manufacturing industries in India still follow older quality paradigms. On the other hand, Indian manufacturing industries seem well-equipped to adopt Q 4.0, given practitioners' firm grasp of its concepts and anticipated benefits, including improved customer satisfaction, product refinement, continuous process enhancement, waste reduction and informed decision-making. Adoption hurdles involve challenges including reliable electricity access, high-speed Internet, infrastructure, a skilled workforce and financial support. The study also introduces a transition framework facilitating the shift from conventional methods to Q 4.0, aligned with the principles of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR).

This research exclusively examines the manufacturing sector, neglecting other fields such as medical, service, mining and construction. Additionally, there needs to be more emphasis on the Q 4.0 implementation frameworks within the scope of the study.

This may be the inaugural framework for transitioning to Q 4.0 in India's manufacturing sectors and, conceivably, other developing nations.

This study aims at determining the influence of the competitive strategy types and organizational structure dimensions on Cost of Quality (CoQ) in Food and Beverage (F&B) small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

A survey questionnaire was sent to F&B companies in Greece and 307 responded positively and fully completed the questionnaire. The research model developed (consisting of the competitive strategy types, the organizational structure dimensions and CoQ) was tested using the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.

The findings indicated that cost leadership, centralization and formalization influence the CoQ positively and significantly. By contrast, differentiation does not influence CoQ.

The small sample of the responding companies operating in one country, the different F&B sub-sectors, the subjective perceptions of only one representative per company and the cross-sectional nature of the study are the main limitations of the present study.

This paper provides academicians and practitioners with a better understanding of the factors that influence the quality-cost level.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that examines the effect of competitive strategy and organizational structure on CoQ.

Quality management barriers have been discovered in construction small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), determining their long-term survival. Despite the recognition of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as a valuable quality management technique for addressing the barriers faced by SMEs, LSS implementation within the construction SME context is alarmingly low. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the barriers for implementing LSS within construction SMEs and to determine the most effective strategies for overcoming these barriers.

A quantitative research approach was used, and data was collected in two stages: a questionnaire survey with 44 construction professionals and an expert opinion survey with 12 LSS specialists. The collected data was then analysed using the fuzzy TOPSIS method, achieving a higher degree of sensitivity.

The findings revealed the 15 most significant LSS barriers that need to be addressed. In addition, the ten most important strategies to be implemented in overcoming the identified barriers before LSS implementation were discovered and thematised, most notably the hiring of LSS specialists for project monitoring and the formation of a committee for strategic planning through LSS.

Previous research on LSS examined barriers and strategies for SMEs in general, but to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind, focusing especially on the construction SME context and involving the unique fuzzy TOPSIS approach.