The international dissemination of quality: a challenge for the quality management research community

The international dissemination of quality: a challenge for the quality management research community

Article Type: Guest editorial From: International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Volume 27, Issue 9

The dissemination of Quality Management (QM) practices across the globe is one of the most interesting business phenomena we have witnessed in recent decades. As well as the remarkable spread of the ISO 9000 series of quality management standards, we have seen the widespread adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma and many associated improvement techniques. These approaches have influenced organisational behaviour and performance in most developed and developing counties. For example, using QM approaches; manufacturers in developing nations have been able to enhance their value creation and quality performance, to supply the demanding businesses and consumers in the developed world. Thus, they have been able to create wealth for their own societies, using QM as a key factor for their development.

This area is of importance to several constituencies, including public policy-makers, manufacturing companies, academics and consultants. A better understanding of the way in which QM practices spread, are adopted (and perhaps adapted) in different countries is valuable to our understanding of business success and effective organisational management. There are some established elements of management theory that may help us understand these phenomena and place them in context. As examples, the study of management trends and fashions (Abrahamson, 1991, 1996), dissemination of management practices (Rogers, 1995) themes in the management discourse, (Barley and Kunda, 1992) and national management culture (Hofstede, 2001; Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997), all provide valuable perspectives.

There is already a considerable body of (mainly empirical) work from within the QM sub-discipline, related to the implementation and effects of various key approaches. There have been numerous studies of the adoption of QM practices in various countries and industries, typically using surveys or case study methods to investigate QM adoption. In general, these studies have not been well-related to the wider management literature or theory. There remains a significant research gap: to date no studies of note have been conducted, or any theory developed, to provide a broad understanding of the global dissemination and adoption of QM practice.

The editor of this special issue sought contributions to help fill this gap, and the selected papers are outlined below. They were submitted by academics working in many nations, and refer to developments in China, Mexico, Ireland, the ASEAN nations, the Balkan region and several other countries.

Two of these papers address issues connected with the ISO 9000 series, one of the most important global standardisation efforts ever undertaken. They both use a quantitative approach. A paper by Dowlatshahi and Hooshangi presents an analysis of the enablers of ISO 9000 series certification in the Mexican Maquiladora sector, which was one of the first major examples of the internationalisation of manufacturing operations. The author shows that ISO 9001 certified companies in the Maquiladoras have better relationships with suppliers, management support, employee involvement and communications. All these benefits are facilitated by more effective quality processes than those of non-certified companies. This type of research illustrates the need for and benefits of QM adoption in today’s global operations, and the QM considerations that should be addressed when setting up manufacturing facilities in lower labour cost regions.

Marimon et al. present an international comparative study and comparison of leading countries in the adoption of both the ISO 9000 series and the ISO 14000 (environmental) standards. This paper introduces the concept of “certification intensity”, and compares this metric for various nations. Four countries (China, Japan, Italy, and Spain) are found to be consistently ahead with regard to the number of ISO 9000 and 14000 series certifications, and also to have higher certification intensities. Logistics curves are used to illustrate these similarities and predict the future for ISO certification.

Total Quality Management (TQM) continues as a leading approach to QM across the world, and is especially popular in Asian countries. A paper from Thailand by Purmakitikashem and Laosirihongthong examines QM practices in companies operating within the automotive supply chain of several ASEAN countries. Companies that have achieved ISO 9001 certification typically move on to adopt TQM, as the next stage in their “quality journey”, although tier 3 suppliers were less likely to adopt TQM than those further down the supply chain. In addition, the authors found that good QM practices were significantly more likely to be adopted in TQM as opposed to non-TQM firms, illustrating the genuine benefits to the companies involved. This paper clearly shows the extent to which advanced QM approaches have penetrated industry in the newly-industrialised nations of Asia, and also the continuing importance of TQM, which is sometimes dismissed as a fading fashion.

TQM is also the focus for a paper by Psychogios, which addresses the Balkan region, considering Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece. From the perspective of this region, Psychogios sees the TQM approach as originating from a different business culture, and perhaps indeed being antithetical to the Balkan way of business. Modernisation trends, however, exert pressures on organisations to adopt this approach. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry, he develops some theory – the “four-fold model”, to explain key features of TQM adoption in the region. The components of the model are the business and management culture, modernisation pressures, education level of managers and the sector of employment. These four factors help to explain the challenges and barriers faced by organisations in the Balkans region as they seek to adopt modern QM practices.

Six Sigma is considered one of the more modern themes in quality, although now more than 25 years old, it is now combined with Lean by many leading companies and continues to be disseminated internationally and increasingly to reach smaller companies. Van der Wiele et al. address this issue, with a study from Ireland, a country that has attracted many multinational companies in recent decades. The authors initially used a survey approach, finding that approximately half of their respondent firms used Six Sigma, many of which were US-based multinationals and established Six Sigma users. They supplemented the survey data with interviews to obtain more detailed information, and found that the multinationals acted as a diffusion mechanism to smaller companies, starting with adoption of Six Sigma at US headquarters, which was then taken up by the Irish subsidiary, then diffused to suppliers and finally to other Irish firms. This paper substantiates a key mechanism for QM dissemination.

From China comes a paper by Qui and Tannock, based on qualitative case study research conducted at six Shanghai manufacturing companies. This study developed a multi-factor dissemination and adoption model for QM. This paper sets out to make a theory-building contribution in the context of Abramson’s management fashions and Roger’s dissemination theories, and aims to improve our understanding of how Chinese companies adopt QM practices. In this study a number of key QM dissemination mechanisms were identified, including quality associations and local consultants, customers, the internet, and Joint-Venture partners. QM adoption was influenced by competition and market pressure, and by industry sector among other factors.

There were a number of other contributions that were not selected for publication in this special issue. These tended to fall into two groups. Some were empirical descriptions of QM practices in various countries, with little or no linkage to either a theory background or a comparative international perspective. A further, smaller, group were conceptual articles, advancing theory, mostly in a national context, with little or no supporting empirical evidence.

The general impression given to the editor of this special issue is that the broader research gap suggested above does indeed exist, but also that none of the selected papers, although each makes a worthwhile contribution, have the necessary scope to fully address it. The academic study of QM has not thrown up big theories in recent years, since the giants of the past, such as Deming, Feigenbaum and Juran, made their contributions. Application-oriented studies, refinement of statistical techniques and quantitative studies of the relationship between detailed factors tend to dominate the research output.

And yet, the need for better insights into the international dimensions of QM is pressing. Many less-developed countries currently suffer from a chronic and ongoing lack of industrial competitiveness, caused, in part, by an inability to add value to exports or to attract foreign business investment. QM has a vital part to play here, as it did in the development of manufacturing in many Asian countries. How are effective QM practices to be disseminated to and adopted in these nations? What are the theoretical models that describe the international dissemination and adoption of QM? Why do QM researchers pay so little attention to established management theory that might help develop these models? These questions outline a major challenge for the research community in quality.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Flor Monica Gutierrez from Nottingham University Business School for all her help in preparing this special issue, as well as all the authors and reviewers who have contributed to make it possible. He would also like to thank Ton van der Wiele (RSM Erasmus University) for his help and support.

James TannockNottingham University Business School, Nottingham, UK