The profitability of customer‐targeted quality improvement efforts: an empirical examination

While many researchers tend to agree that quality improvement efforts lead to operational and customer‐related organizational gains, the financial bottom‐line impact of quality efforts is still debatable. Utilizes a sample of 68 certified Portuguese firms to shed some light on the nature of the relationships between quality improvement efforts and financial performance measures. Uses factor analysis, cluster analysis, and analysis of variance to analyze the data gathered using a survey‐based research instrument. Concludes that quality efforts directed toward the customer tend to be associated with higher financial performance in terms of net profit after tax.