Internal relationships of market-oriented EFQM enablers in the Chinese construction industry
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 5 May 2020
Issue publication date: 2 April 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Service-oriented innovation economies are becoming the new trend for the construction industry. Benchmarking the quality management level of developed countries and improving quality management are also becoming necessities for promoting innovation in the economy. The purpose of this study is to analyse the internal relationships between the five enablers of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence model, based on a market-oriented strategy, to serve as a framework for managing and improving quality.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering the different market environment and culture, this study refines the strategy enabler based on Zebal and Goodwin's (2011) Developing Country Market Orientation Scale, and builds a market-oriented EFQM Excellence model. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to analyse the results of a questionnaire survey of 683 China construction industry top enterprises to explore the internal relationships between the model's five enablers.
Findings
(1) “Leadership” has a positive influence on “Market-Oriented Strategy”, “People” and “Partnerships and Resources”; (2) “Market-Oriented Strategy” has positive influence on “Partnerships and Resources”; (3) “People” has a low influence on “Processes, Products and Services”; (4) “Partnerships and Resources” has a medium influence on “Processes, Products and Services” and (5) the relationships between “Market-Oriented Strategy” and “People”, “Partnerships and Resources” are not significant.
Originality/value
This study refines the strategy enabler of the original EFQM Excellence model with Zebal and Goodwin's (2011) Developing Country Market Orientation Scale. It also develops a market-oriented EFQM Excellence model that is suitable for developing countries, and it tests the implicit relationships of its five new enablers in an innovation environment where cultural differences exist.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant [No. C:\work\ce03\gs171301013] and the Humanity and Social Science Program Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China under Grant [No. C:\work\ce03\gs217YJA790091].Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest for the order and cooperation.Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest and author order.
Citation
Zhang, J., Li, H., Li, V., Xia, B. and Skitmore, M. (2021), "Internal relationships of market-oriented EFQM enablers in the Chinese construction industry", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 765-787. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-10-2019-0539
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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