Pay‐off selection criteria for quality and improvement initiatives

Purpose – The variety of possible quality management (QM) and continuous improvement (CI) initiatives and their various possible permutations can make it difficult for a company to choose the best approach for their requirements. This paper aims to address the selection issue by presenting a method to compare popular QM and CI initiatives from the perspective of the pay‐offs, or expected benefits, to an organisation which successfully adopts the approach.Design/methodology/approach – The relevant QM and CI literature was analysed, examining key initiatives and their reported pay‐offs to the organisation. A matrix diagram approach is introduced which presents the extent and credibility of arguments advanced for these initiatives, in seven categories of pay‐off. A system of assessment is proposed, which quantifies the extent and weight of empirical evidence and estimates the strength of the claim for each pay‐off.Findings – The pay‐off matrix summarises the claims in each of the pay‐off categories, assesses...

[1]  Tom Kubiak,et al.  An Integrated Approach System , 2003 .

[2]  Darrell Rigby,et al.  The Bain 2005 management tool survey , 2005 .

[3]  Zahir Irani,et al.  Business process reengineering: a survey of international experience , 2001, Bus. Process. Manag. J..

[4]  Klaus Krippendorff,et al.  Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology , 1980 .

[5]  Terry Hill,et al.  Manufacturing Strategy: Text and Cases , 1993 .

[6]  Keki R. Bhote.  The power of ultimate Six Sigma : Keki Bhote's proven system for moving beyond quality excellence to total business excellence , 2003 .

[7]  Jane Whitney Gibson,et al.  Management fads: Emergence, evolution, and implications for managers , 2001 .

[8]  Greg Weller.  What Do CEOs Think About Quality , 2004 .

[9]  Marcelo Resende,et al.  Quality certification and performance of Brazilian firms: An empirical study , 2000 .

[10]  Dimitris Skuras,et al.  Strategic orientation and financial performance of firms implementing ISO 9000 , 2004 .

[11]  Charles J. Corbett,et al.  The Financial Impact of ISO 9000 Certification in the United States: An Empirical Analysis , 2005, Manag. Sci..

[12]  Jens J. Dahlgaard,et al.  ISO 9001:2000 in small organisations , 2006 .

[13]  Praveen Gupta,et al.  Six Sigma Business Scorecard , 2003 .

[14]  Victor B. Wayhan,et al.  ISO 9000 certification: The financial performance implications , 2002 .

[15]  Margaret A. White,et al.  The Relationship between ISO 9000 and Business Performance: Does Registration Really Matter? , 1999 .

[16]  Kim Hua Tan,et al.  Linking Objectives to Actions: A Decision Support Approach Based on Cause-Effect Linkages , 2003, Decis. Sci..

[17]  Nitin Nohria,et al.  What really works. , 2003, Harvard business review.

[18]  K. Platts,et al.  Manufacturing Audit in the Process of Strategy Formulation , 1990 .

[19]  James Tannock,et al.  A study of TQM implementation in Thailand , 1999 .

[20]  Mahmoud M. Yasin,et al.  The profitability of customer‐targeted quality improvement efforts: an empirical examination , 2004 .

[21]  Danny Miller,et al.  Spotting management fads. , 2002, Harvard business review.

[22]  K. B. Hendricks,et al.  Does Implementing an Effective TQM Program Actually Improve Operating Performance? Empirical Evidence from Firms That Have Won Quality Awards , 1997 .

[23]  Alex Douglas,et al.  The case for ISO 9000 , 2003 .

[24]  Andrew Sturdy.  The Adoption of Management Ideas and Practices , 2004 .

[25]  S. Wheelwright,et al.  Restoring Our Competitive Edge: Competing Through Manufacturing , 1984 .

[26]  Timothy S. Clark,et al.  Management Fashion as Image-Spectacle , 2004 .

[27]  Nitin Nohria,et al.  What Really Works: The 4+2 Formula for Sustained Business Success , 2003 .

[28]  Jiju Antony,et al.  Key ingredients for the effective implementation of Six Sigma program , 2002 .

[29]  Joseph Moses Juran,et al.  Juran Institute's Six Sigma Breakthrough and Beyond , 2004 .

[30]  Kim Hua Tan,et al.  The connectance model revisited: a tool for manufacturing objective deployment , 2004 .

[31]  Adrienne Curry,et al.  ISO 9000 and TQM: are they complementary or contradictory to each other? , 2003 .

[32]  M. Terziovski,et al.  The Business Value of Quality Management Systems Certification , 1997 .

[33]  G. Easton,et al.  The Effects of Total Quality Management on Corporate Performance: An Empirical Investigation , 1998 .

[34]  Kevin B. Hendricks,et al.  The Long-Run Stock Price Performance of Firms with Effective TQM Programs , 2001, Manag. Sci..

[35]  R. Cagliano,et al.  How improvement programmes of manufacturing are selected , 2000 .

[36]  James Tannock,et al.  TQM Best Practices: Experiences of Malaysian SMEs , 2005 .