Infrastructure and core quality practices in Indian manufacturing organizations: Scale development and validation

The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a scale for infrastructure and core practices, including total quality management (TQM) and Six Sigma practices, in the Indian manufacturing organizations.

In this study, a psychometric systematic scale development procedure has been adopted and executed, which includes three phases. Phase 1 includes item generation and selection through expert opinion. In Phase 2, scale refinement using item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and convergent and discriminant validity have been carried out. Finally, in Phase 3, scale validation through the replication of CFA and nomological validity assessment has been conducted. Also, a higher order measurement and structural model has been used to assess predictive validity of infrastructure and core practices.

The findings of the empirical study resulted in a 45-item scale that measures Infrastructure practices (top management commitment, workforce management, supplier relationship, customer relationship management, Six Sigma role structure) and core practices (process management, product/service design, quality information and analysis, Six Sigma metric, Six Sigma structure), considering both TQM and Six Sigma practices. Also, the higher order predictive validity assessment model suggested that core practices have a higher impact on quality performance than infrastructure practices.

This study considered TQM and Six Sigma practices for defining infrastructure and core practices. However, future studies may include other quality tools in infrastructure and core quality practices such as Lean, Kaizen, and others in the measurement model to get more concrete results.

This reliable and valid scale will help managers measure the level of QM in order to enhance business performance.

This study symbolizes a first-time attempt for developing a validated tool to measure infrastructure and core practices in the Indian manufacturing organizations.