Developing learning capabilities through a quality management program

This study examines the development of learning capabilities through the implementation of a quality management program in services, based on a case study of transplantation management. The findings show how the introduction of an online system, based on a quality management program, underpinned the knowledge-building capacity of the organization. The results contribute to service literature by addressing how a quality management program links to organizational learning process directly and through building-up organizational knowledge. The implementation of a quality management program allows knowledge building through identification and socialization of tacit knowledge and combination of explicit knowledge. The development of learning capabilities fostered by the introduction of this program occurs under conditions that contribute to the building-up of organizational knowledge. Organizational learning is enhanced during this implementation through an incremental process that detects errors and corrects behavior and/or alters organizations premises, standards and values. This organizational learning helps to upgrade the overall process.     

The Design,Development and Implementation of Bank Licensing Policies and Procedures in Zambia (1980-2000)

Abstract

This study reviews the design, development and implementation of licensing policies in the years preceding the 1995-1997/98 bank failures in Zambia (1980-1994), and the licensing reforms that were followed thereafter (1995-2000). It documents important weaknesses in licensing practices that hindered regulatory effectiveness: inadequate minimum capital standards, insufficient ownership/management quality assessments, inadequate consideration of the convenience and needs of the financial sector and political interference in the licensing process. In addressing these and other weaknesses, however, the paper calls for research on prudential entry requirements to go beyond identifying desirable minimum requirements to establishing practical tools and techniques for regulators, especially for evaluating the quality of prospective bank owners and managers. It nevertheless cautions against adopting an overly cautious licensing policy, especially towards domestic banks as they provide valuable services to domestic economies.     

The spanish restaurant sector: evaluating the perceptions of quality

The restaurant sector is one of the fastest growing sectors within the Spanish economy and looks likely to continue its development into the future. The implementation of total quality (TQ) systems in the tourist industry is still a recent phenomenon in Spain. Hence the importance of the client's satisfaction, resulting in the acquisition of an optimum quality level: i.e. cooking is culture and it has to be culturally adapted and promoted. The survey on the customers of Spanish restaurants reported in this article has gathered the perception of quality according to a likert scale from one to five. The objective of the survey was to determine the degree of satisfaction as well as the quality of the establishment, by using a cluster analysis of the data. Amongst the findings of the survey was the importance of the motivation of pleasure that makes people go to restaurants and it is therefore necessary to create a favourable atmosphere of quality the customers will want to come back to. This provides the sector's greatest challenge.     

Accountability in Crisis: The Sponsorship Scandal and the Office of the Comptroller General in Canada

For much of the last 50 years, a key platform animating public sector reform in Canada and elsewhere has been that efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved by adapting private sector financial management methods and practices. We argue that the recent re-establishment of the Office of the Comptroller General (OCG) of Canada represents a key element of a program of strengthening financial accountability that has emerged within the Canadian Federal Government. Although this program is longstanding and is associated Canada’s implementation of new public management initiatives, it has recently drawn particular sustenance from the sponsorship scandal in Canada. We demonstrate that the reincarnated OCG, re-established amid a rhetoric of “modernization” and of “strengthening” accountability, has a wide-ranging mandate to enhance financial and audit controls, create financial standards, nurture professional development, and oversee government spending. We explore some of the consequences of this development and of the broader financial accountability mechanisms introduced in response to the Sponsorship scandal within the Canadian public sector.     

我国成人高等教育教学评估体系构建中引入ISO9000标准的必要性和可行性分析

ISO9000标准体系科学地总结了世界各国对质量管理的基本规律．已成为国际上通用的质量管理标准体系。该标准体系在我国企业质量管理中发展迅速、研究甚多,但在我国教育质量管理中发展很慢,研究甚少。为了促进我国成人高等教育教学质量的快速提高,对我国成人高等教育教学评估体系构建中引入ISO9000标准的必要性和可行性进行了分析。     

Total quality management,institutional isomorphism and performance: the case of financial services

This article concentrates on the relationship between the number of years that the firms have been implementing total quality management and the impact its practice can have on performance. The literature provides studies revealing that the last firms to introduce total quality management fail partly due to the fact that they imitate the implementation strategy used. Based on a sample of 77 Spanish financial companies, this paper provides evidence of the concept of institutionalisation as a process by which different management practices are generalised. The conclusion reached is that the process differs depending on the moment in which the total quality management system is introduced.     

The Influence of Internal and External Codes on CSR Practice: The Case of Companies Operating in Serbia

In this article, our aim is to examine the difference between the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice of the multinational companies (MNCs) and of the domestic companies operating in Serbia, as well as the influence of internal self-regulations such as statements of corporate values and codes of conduct, and external self-regulations such as the implementation of the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards on CSR practice. The CSR practice is observed in five CSR areas: employee relations, customer relations, environmental practice, community and social involvement, and transparency in business activity. The findings indicate that the CSR practice of the MNCs is significantly different in comparison to domestic companies only in the area of employee relations. Furthermore, the overall results suggest that internal self-regulations have more influence on CSR practice than the implementation of generic management system standards. However, the existence of transparent corporate values, codes of conduct and implemented management systems according to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards does not prove to be strong predictors of CSR performance.     

基于ISO9000族标准的供应链质量管理实施框架

供应链质量管理具有极其重要性,需要借鉴ISO9000中质量管理的定义来建立供应链质量管理实施框架,并且分别从供应链质量策划、供应链质量控制、供应链质量改进和供应链质量保证四个方面来系统地了解供应链中的核心企业在实施供应链质量管理时应采取的措施以及可以借助的质量管理工具。     

Environmental Certification and Technical Efficiency: A Study of Manufacturing Firms in India

Obtaining environmental certification (such as the ISO-14,001) has become a status symbol for adopting greener practices for the corporate sector in emerging economies. Such certification can help improve the global visibility of firms and is mandated in international trade. This paper attempts to examine the impact of such certifications on technical efficiency of firms belonging to the manufacturing sector in India. In analyzing the impact of ISO Certification on technical efficiency, this paper uses data from the CMIE Prowess from 2007 to 2012. In the first step, the paper estimates technical efficiency for the sample firms and then examines the determinants of inter-firm differences in technical efficiency using firm specific characteristics. The results of this study conclude that there are substantial inter-firm differences in technical efficiency and they are systematically different based on firm age, firm size, debt capital, MNE affiliation, and ISO certification. ISO certification, especially maintaining the standards associated with it, turned out to be an important factor in making the firms achieve higher technical efficiency. In addition, the results of this study also confirm that firms that are ISO certified and doing R&D are better off in technical efficiency as compared to others.     

Adoption of Online Social Networks to Communicate with Financial Institutions

Spain's financial sector is not in a healthy state, and the problems that some financial institutions currently face perpetuate the widespread perception of risk across the entire sector. Moreover, the online social networks (OSN) that emerged a decade ago are suddenly at the very heart of digital society. In this study we develop a predictive model to determine that the motivational factors that influence Spanish users' intention to use OSN to communicate with financial institutions are quality management, availability of information, external conditions, trust, perceived compatibility, perceived usefulness, attitude, and intention. Data were collected from 335 Spanish OSN users through an online survey. The results suggest that quality management has a highly significant and positive effect on perceived usefulness and that perceived usefulness has a positive and significant effect on the intention to use social networks to communicate with financial institutions.     

引入ISO9000质量管理体系提升高校物业管理水平

将ISO9000质量管理体系引入高校物业后勤管理工作,是提升物业管理效率、降低管理成本的必要手段,也是今后的发展趋势。制定切实可行的质量方针和目标,编制规范、完善的质量管理体系文件、制定企业培训措施,建立系统科学的监察、测评、考评制度,从而提高后勤管理工作的综合能力和管理水平,以适应ISO9000质量管理体系的要求。     

The evolving interpretations of customers in higher education: empowering the elusive

Students within higher education are increasingly referred to as customers. And there have been increasing pressures for academics to respond to them as such. Universities, especially their management, have been adopting the vocabulary of quality management systems that may be more commonplace in industry. In recent decades, there has been a fierce debate among academics as to whether this approach is appropriate in the academic sector, and whether students are customers, consumers, clients, etc. This paper explores the debate and the central ideas that have informed it. Despite the largely semantic debate over the definition of customers, universities have attempted to empower the multiple stakeholders, using a variety of tools. The paper goes on to discuss how the nature of students is evolving with the move toward widening access, and how the concepts and tools surrounding quality systems must also evolve.     

Exploring Foreign Tourists’ Image of Tanzania: A Factorial Analysis Approach

Abstract

In the last decade, the economy of African continent and Tanzania in particular has witnessed a business boom of the tourism sector. While the sector has continued to grow and become a dependable source of direct and indirect employment to youths in urban and rural areas, the sector has been awash with challenges. These challenges include terrorism attacks, energy crises and poor infrastructure. However, the impact of these challenges on the image of Tanzania as a tourist destination has not received the deserved attention. This study explores the perception of visitors towards Tanzania as a tourist destination after they have completed their tourist visit. This study employs factor analysis technique to explore country destination image. Questionnaires were administered to visitors at some of the tourists’ hotels and Julius Kamabarage Nyerere International Airport (as a major exit point) in the country. Frontline employees, various tourist sites and access to services emerged to be strong tourist destination image factors. This implies that the efforts of marketing tourism destination should focus on promoting all the sites the country has.     

Faking ISO 9001 in China: An exploratory study

Over 1.5 million ISO 9001 certificates are in effect worldwide, 30 years after this quality management standard was launched. As the factory of the world, China is by far the leading country for ISO 9001, in terms of both absolute and relative numbers and growth. Nevertheless, practitioners have cast doubts on the reliability of adopting ISO third-party quality certification in this country. In-depth interviews with 40 senior quality managers, consultants, and auditors with broad field experience and other complementary methods paints a disturbing picture. The widespread prevalence of fake ISO 9001 certificates is indicated, together with an eroded credibility of the process of third-party certification. We discuss the profound implications of the study—including whether or not the phenomenon is restricted to China—and introduce suggestions for managers and other stakeholders, as well as avenues for further research.     

Promotion and Economic Impact of Foreign Tourism

This study discusses the economic power and international fame of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia’s tourist sector. A review of the economics literature justifies our measurement of tourism’s economic impact on the tourist sector. The main contribution is an estimation of foreign tourist expenditure in Andalusia, the main Spanish tourist destination per number of overnights. Drawing on this estimate, the input–output methodology is applied to determine the global impact of this expenditure on the region. The study differentiates the three types of tourism of the region: coast, urban interior and rural interior.     

TQM and performance: Is the relationship so obvious?

This study explores the relationship between total quality management (TQM) and firm performance taking TQM as an internally consistent system of practices. The study tests the link between the two variables using the universal approach, analyzes whether the most competitive firms are those adopting TQM, and tests for an isomorphic effect on other firms. The study uses a sample of Spanish firms that have received TQM prizes at the national or regional level between 1997 and 2003 and a control sample for comparison. The findings indicate that in the absence of any evidence to confirm the universal hypothesis, TQM pioneers experience performance gains, because of the early implementation of the system; however, late adopters do not experience similar results. Firms using a TQM system are not necessarily better than their counterparts are, before putting the system into action. The study uses panel data that takes into account the unobservable heterogeneity between individuals and the dynamics of firms' financial variables.     

Environmental management systems: an alternative marketing strategy for sustainability

The purpose of the paper is to shed light on the extent to which environmental management systems such as ISO 14000 standards influence marketing efforts. By examining firms who prefer ISO 14000 standards against those who do not, this research provides a platform for understanding their significance when applied to marketing and seeks to improve environmental marketing strategies. The study empirically tests whether statistically significant differences exist between the two groups on a set of marketing variables. The study uses hierarchical clustering Ward’s method and measurement using squared Euclidean distances to determine the two groups. Discriminant analysis (DA) was used to classify each of the observations into selected groups; and test differences between these groups. Stepwise DA identified customer satisfaction as the best marketing predictor. This research indicates that green market-driven solutions for responsible consumption work best when it is consumer-driven, and consumers derive satisfaction from those results. The results adopts the view that investing in IS0 14000 standards is also highly beneficial for the wider applicability of developing strategies that would help firms make better decisions in marketing.     

顷客心理受权与服务质量和满意感的实证研究

目前,大学生旅游已成为旅游业新的利润增长点,是旅游企业不可忽视的一个市场群体。通过在广州市的三所大学进行了一次实证研究,探讨了顾客心理受权的组成成分及其与服务质量和顾客满意感之间的关系。数据分析结果表明,顾客的消费能力、消费自主权、影响力是顾客心理受权的组成成分,顾客心理受权对服务质量和顾客满意感存在显著影响。     

顾客心理受权与服务质量和满意感的实证研究

目前，大学生旅游已成为旅游业新的利润增长点，是旅游企业不可忽视的一个市场群体。通过在广州市的三所大学进行了一次实证研究，探讨了顾客心理受权的组成成分及其与服务质量和顾客满意感之间的关系。数据分析结果表明，顾客的消费能力、消费自主权、影响力是顾客心理受权的组成成分。顾客心理受权对服务质量和顾客满意感存在显著影响。     

浅论县级区域旅游优势与发展——以湖南省桂东县为例

旅游业是当今世界发展最快的产业,由于旅游经济的特殊性,不同的区域在规划时一定要与当地的经济协调发展。湖南省桂东县旅游资源丰富,近年来获得了较快的发展。对这个新生商机的出现更需要正确引导激励,积极拓展其发展空间。县级区域的旅游业发展将成为区域经济一个新的增长点。