The impact of hard and soft quality management on quality and innovation performance: An empirical study ☆

This study examines the conflicting relationship between quality management (QM) and innovation on a global basis using a multidimensional view of QM. QM is divided into two dimensions: hard QM and soft QM. Quality performance as an intended consequence of QM implementation is also examined as a potential mediator between QM and innovation. A conceptual framework is developed to postulate causal linkages between soft/hard QM, quality performance, and innovation performance. Data collected from 283 plants in eight countries and a technique of structural equation modeling are used to test this framework. The results indicate different paths to innovation from different dimensions of QM. Hard QM affects innovation performance directly and indirectly through its effect on quality performance. Soft QM has indirect effect on innovation performance through its effect on hard QM. This means that quality performance depends directly on hard QM which can be promoted by soft QM. Quality performance shows a partial mediating effect on the relationship between hard QM and innovation performance. Quality and innovation are not a matter of trade-off, but they can coexist in a cumulative improvement model with quality as a foundation. Firms have no need to abandon QM endeavor to achieve innovation. Instead, they should devote continuous efforts to maintain a solid quality system in place integrating a set of QM practices and corresponding performance measures. Managers are advised to emphasize on quality control tools and techniques and use teamwork, training, employee empowerment and problem-solving approaches as an underlying support.

[1]  Peter T. Ward,et al.  Research in the process and content of manufacturing strategy , 1990 .

[2]  Hirofumi Matsuo,et al.  Measuring changes in quality management: An empirical analysis of Japanese manufacturing companies , 2009 .

[3]  Frank W. Dewhurst,et al.  Relating TQM, marketing and business performance: An exploratory study , 2000 .

[4]  Thiagarajan Ravichandran,et al.  An innovation diffusion model of TQM implementation , 2001, IEEE Trans. Engineering Management.

[5]  G. K. Stephens,et al.  Doing business in Mexico: Understanding cultural differences , 1995 .

[6]  T. C. Powell.  Total Quality Management as Competitive Advantage , 1995 .

[7]  John C. Narver,et al.  Strategic Management Journal Research Notes and Communications Customer-led and Market-oriented: Let's Not Confuse the Two , 2022 .

[8]  Hale Kaynak,et al.  The relationship between total quality management: practices and their effects on firm performance , 2003 .

[9]  D. Garvin.  Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality , 1987 .

[10]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  The misuse of marketing: An American tragedy , 1981 .

[11]  María Leticia Santos-Vijande,et al.  Innovativeness and organizational innovation in total quality oriented firms: The moderating role of market turbulence , 2007 .

[12]  R. Schmenner,et al.  On theory in operations management , 1998 .

[13]  R. Daft.  A Dual-Core Model of Organizational Innovation , 1978 .

[14]  A. Meyer,et al.  Lasting Improvements in Manufacturing Performance: In Search of a New Theory , 1990 .

[15]  Ana Abrunhosa,et al.  Are TQM principles supporting innovation in the Portuguese footwear industry , 2008 .

[16]  M. Terziovski,et al.  The relationship between total quality management practices and operational performance , 1999 .

[17]  Prakash J. Singh,et al.  Relationship between TQM and innovation: an empirical study , 2004 .

[18]  A. Sohal,et al.  The relationship between TQM practices, quality performance, and innovation performance: An empirical examination , 2003 .

[19]  Barbara B. Flynn.  The Relationship between Quality Management Practices, Infrastructure and Fast Product Innovation , 1994 .

[20]  Barbara A. Spencer,et al.  MODELS OF ORGANIZATION AND TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT: A COMPARISON AND CRITICAL EVALUATION , 1994 .

[21]  Roberto Filippini,et al.  TQM impact on quality conformance and customer satisfaction: A causal model , 1998 .

[22]  S. Sitkin,et al.  DISTINGUISHING CONTROL FROM LEARNING IN TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT: A CONTINGENCY PERSPECTIVE , 1994 .

[23]  M. Glynn.  Innovative Genius: A Framework for Relating Individual and Organizational Intelligences to Innovation , 1996 .

[24]  Amrik S. Sohal,et al.  A study of the relationship between quality management practices and performance in small businesses , 1999 .

[25]  John Bessant,et al.  Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market, and Organizational Change, 2nd Edition , 2001 .

[26]  Amrik S. Sohal,et al.  TQM and innovation: a literature review and research framework , 2001 .

[27]  G. Spreitzer.  PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT IN THE WORKPLACE: DIMENSIONS, MEASUREMENT, AND VALIDATION , 1995 .

[28]  Jayant V. Saraph,et al.  An Instrument for Measuring the Critical Factors of Quality Management , 1989 .

[29]  S. Ahire,et al.  Quality management in TQM versus non‐TQM firms: an empirical investigation , 1996 .

[30]  Barbara M. Byrne,et al.  Structural equation modeling with EQS : basic concepts, applications, and programming , 2000 .

[31]  Adrian John Wilkinson,et al.  The other side of quality: 'soft' issues and the human resource dimension , 1992 .

[32]  Roger G. Schroeder,et al.  High performance manufacturing : global perspectives , 2001 .

[33]  Jesús Perdomo-Ortiz,et al.  Total quality management as a forerunner of business innovation capability , 2006 .

[34]  Roger G. Schroeder,et al.  The Impact of Quality Management Practices on Performance and Competitive Advantage , 1995 .

[35]  M. Noble,et al.  Manufacturing Strategy: Testing the Cumulative Model in a Multiple Country Context* , 1995 .

[36]  T. Pfeifer,et al.  Business excellence through a robust development process for innovative products , 1998 .

[37]  Micaela Martínez-Costa,et al.  Does quality management foster or hinder innovation? An empirical study of Spanish companies , 2008 .

[38]  Vincent G. Duffy,et al.  Total quality management: An empirical test for mediation effect , 2001 .

[39]  Uma Kumar,et al.  Relationship between quality management practices and innovation , 2012 .

[40]  G. Perrone,et al.  A strategic needs perspective on operations outsourcing and other inter-firm relationships , 2013 .

[41]  Amrik S. Sohal,et al.  The multidimensionality of TQM practices in determining quality and innovation performance — an empirical examination , 2004 .

[42]  Fabrizio Salvador,et al.  Information flows for high performance manufacturing , 2001 .

[43]  Luk N. Van Wassenhove,et al.  Trade-offs? What Trade-offs? Competence and Competitiveness in Manufacturing Strategy , 1993 .

[44]  Morgan Swink,et al.  Manufacturing strategy: propositions, current research, renewed directions , 1995 .

[45]  Roger G. Schroeder,et al.  Linking Routines to Operations Capabilities: A New Perspective , 2008 .

[46]  Sanjay L. Ahire,et al.  Development and Validation of TQM Implementation Constructs , 1996 .

[47]  J. Birkinshaw,et al.  THE ANTECEDENTS, CONSEQUENCES AND MEDIATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL AMBIDEXTERITY , 2004 .

[48]  Richard J. Schonberger,et al.  Japanese production management: An evolution—With mixed success , 2007 .

[49]  N. Nayab.  Kaizen: The key to Japan‚s competitive success , 2009 .

[50]  Cipriano Forza,et al.  The impact of information systems on quality performance , 1995 .

[51]  Kenneth K. Boyer,et al.  COMPETITIVE PRIORITIES: INVESTIGATING THE NEED FOR TRADE‐OFFS IN OPERATIONS STRATEGY , 2002 .

[52]  A. Sohal,et al.  The impact of TQM practices on performance: a comparative study between Australian and Singaporean organizations , 2006 .

[53]  W. Edwards Deming,et al.  Out of the Crisis , 1982 .

[54]  Roger Miller.  Applying Quality Practices to R&D , 1995 .

[55]  Francisco Javier Lloréns Montes,et al.  Relationship between quality management practices and knowledge transfer , 2007 .

[56]  S. Ahire,et al.  The impact of design management and process management on quality: an empirical investigation , 2000 .

[57]  John C. Anderson,et al.  A Path Analytic Model of a Theory of Quality Management Underlying the Deming Management Method: Preliminary Empirical Findings* , 1995 .

[58]  Gareth R. Jones,et al.  Creating a climate for innovation , 1989 .

[59]  J. Dutton,et al.  The Adoption of Radical and Incremental Innovations: An Empirical Analysis , 1986 .

[60]  Roger G. Schroeder,et al.  A FRAMEWORK FOR QUALITY MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND AN ASSOCIATED MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT , 1994 .

[61]  Rodney McAdam,et al.  Investigation of the relationship between total quality and innovation: a research study involving small organisations , 1998 .

[62]  Cemal Zehir,et al.  Investigating the effects of innovation and employee performance on the relationship between total quality management practices and firm performance: An empirical study of Turkish firms , 2010 .

[63]  J. Ettlie,et al.  Organization Strategy and Structural Differences for Radical Versus Incremental Innovation , 1984 .

[64]  Cipriano Forza,et al.  Work organization in lean production and traditional plants , 1996 .

[65]  John Crawford,et al.  Key factors predicting effectiveness of cultural change and improved productivity in implementing total quality management , 1999 .

[66]  Roger G. Schroeder,et al.  Integrating quality management practices with knowledge creation processes , 2004 .

[67]  P. Bentler,et al.  Comparative fit indexes in structural models. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[68]  Shams Rahman,et al.  Soft TQM, hard TQM, and organisational performance relationships: an empirical investigation , 2004 .

[69]  Jody Hoffer Gittell,et al.  Total quality management and human resource systems: an international comparison , 1995 .

[70]  Mohamed Zairi,et al.  Innovation or innovativeness? Results of a benchmarking study , 1994 .

[71]  T. Laosirihongthong,et al.  The impact of total quality management on innovation , 2006 .

[72]  D. Samson,et al.  EXPLODING THE MYTH: DO ALL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES CONTRIBUTE TO SUPERIOR QUALITY PERFORMANCE? , 1999 .