Total quality management and human resource systems: an international comparison

This paper takes advantage of a unique international data set to examine the determinants of the adoption and sustainability of total quality management techniques, focusing in particular on the role played by human resource professionals and practices. The data come from a 1991 survey conducted by Ernst and Young and the American Quality Foundation covering the use of TQM tools in the computer, auto, health care and banking industries in Japan, the United States, Canada and Germany.

The research distinguishes between two ways of implementing total quality management – one approach conceptualizes TQM as a relatively limited set of technical engineering changes while the second implements these technical changes as part of a larger transformation of the organization of work. We find support for the second approach in that the number of employees using quality tools and the number of quality tools in use is greater and lasts longer in firms that also have team-based human resource systems for frontline employees, with team structures, suggestion systems, meetings and group rewards. This central finding holds across all countries and industries studied.

We also find that achievement of these changes requires the commitment of organizational stakeholders to incorporate the interests of employees in strategic decision making. Though union presence alone does not predict the adoption or sustainability of these innovations, partnership between management and union does have a positive effect. The level of strategic influence of the human resource department also influences innovation, though in ways that differ across countries and industries.

The findings suggest the value of comparative studies and of research focused at exploring sub-national variation. The findings also suggest the value of a longitudinal study of the sustainability of innovation.     

Q-TAM: a quality technology acceptance model for technology operations managers

This paper contributes to research on the quality factors that affect customer acceptance and intention to continue purchasing disposable technology. We have developed a model (Q-TAM) that integrates the Technology Acceptance Model and a quality framework. We conducted a survey of 322 smartphones users and analyzed the results using Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to determine how our integrated Q-TAM model affected consumers’ intention-to-continue-purchasing disposable technology. The PLS-SEM analysis of the Q-TAM model established that consumers assessed the product quality based on two distinct dimensions: attribute quality and reliability quality. Further, we found support for the positive and significant effects of product quality and perceived ease of use as predictors of a customer’s intention to purchase a technological device. Of interest is our finding that perceived usefulness, in the presence of product quality, is not significant. The finding also suggests that customers perceive the usefulness of a product as a component/part of a product’s quality dimension, confirming Joseph Juran’s quality philosophy of “fitness of use.” This suggests that in order to satisfy consumer demands, technology operations managers must ensure their products are of good attribute and reliability quality. The findings of this study make a case for a quality technology acceptance model (Q-TAM) that encourages technology operations managers to focus their efforts on quality to ensure that their products satisfy customer needs and are perceived as useful.     

Really changing the course: the limitations of environmental management systems for innovation

The paper broadens the scope of environmental management system (EMS) research by describing how EMSs can contribute to inertia in present production systems. In conjunction with other factors this inertia can inhibit dramatic shifts toward more sustainable technologies and systems. Our approach builds upon technological lock‐in theory, which focuses on market coordination and technological interdependencies as generators of inertia in technological systems. Building on this framework, we call attention to previously under appreciated non‐market social forces and institutional structures that can further reinforce lock‐in. We argue that the co‐evolutionary mechanisms that generate increasing returns for physical technologies may also be applied to social technologies, such as management systems. The paper describes the emergence of ‘EMS lock‐in’ as a path dependent evolution occurring within the context of the larger quality management paradigm. While EMS may initially produce improvements in environmental performance, EMS may also constrain organizational focus to the exploitation of present production systems, rather than exploring for superior innovations that are discontinuous. The paper questions the enthusiastic private and public sector support for EMS implementation and instead recommends an ambidextrous management approach that integrates foresight and broader stakeholder collaboration. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

危机管理:企业的必修课

公关危机和危机管理 危机一词源于英文的CRISIS,在汉语里危机的书面意思是严重困难的关头。企业公共关系危机,是指危及企业组织利益、形象的突发性事件或灾难性的事故。     

Physical distribution service quality in Internet retailing: service pricing, transaction attributes, and firm attributes

This paper develops a theoretical framework and empirically investigates physical distribution service (PDS) quality by Internet retailers in their transactions with consumers. An analysis of data that measure hundreds of electronic commerce transactions along with data at the firm level shows that higher shipping and handling charges are good indicators of better PDS quality. Other transaction-level conditions and firm-level attributes also affect PDS quality, as measured by availability, timeliness, and reliability. Most notably, when the net price of products transacted increases, PDS reliability and availability decline. Furthermore, Internet-retailer size is found to favor PDS availability whereas, surprisingly, newer Internet retailers exhibit a higher level of PDS availability than many of their incumbent competitors.     

An expanded model of the factors affecting the acceptance and effectiveness of electronic human resource management systems

Despite the widespread use of eHR systems, surveys show that there may be a number of problems associated with their design and implementation [CedarCrestone (2007). CedarCrestone 2007–2008 HR systems survey: HR technologies, service delivery approaches, and metrics. Available at www.cedarcrestone.com/research.php. Retrieved July, 2008]. In an effort to overcome these problems we expanded the model of eHR acceptance and effectiveness developed by Stone, Stone-Romero, & Lukaszewski [Stone, D. L., Stone-Romero, E. F., & Lukaszewski, K. (2006). Factors affecting the acceptance and effectiveness of electronic human resource systems. Human Resources Management Review, 16, 229-244]. The expanded model provides a more detailed discussion of the communication processes underlying these systems including the effects of media and message characteristics. In addition, we offer a number of testable hypotheses based on the model that can be used to guide future research on eHR systems.     

Audit quality: attributes,private safeguards and the role of regulation

This article examines the private mechanisms used to safeguard quality in auditing, with a view to defining rules capable of facilitating the performance of market forces. An outline is given of a general theory of private quality assurance in auditing, based on the use of quasi-rents to self-enforce quality dimensions. Particular attention is paid to the role of fee income diversification as the key ingredient of private incentives for audit quality. The role of public regulation is then situated in the context defined by the presence of these safeguard mechanisms. This helps in defining the content of rules and the function of regulatory bodies in facilitating and strengthening the protective operation of the market. By making sense of the interaction between regulation, quality attributes and private safeguards, the analysis helps to evaluate the relative merits of different regulatory options.     

论数字城市政府管理理论创新

自有国家和政府以来 ,善政和善治便成为人们追求的理想政府管理模式。政府运作的有效性也成为政府行政的根本价值。顺应知识经济时代和信息社会发展的要求 ,数字城市政府管理模式应运而生 ,该模式的提出 ,是对传统政府管理模式的重大突破和创新。　　一、组织决策创新 :由满意决策到最优决策的转变　　决策是政府组织的主要功能。行政管理的过程就是决策的过程 ,决策的科学与否直接关系着组织目标的实现程度。在传统的行政组织中 ,知识的不完备性、预见未来的困难性以及备选行为范围的有限性 ,决定了组织决策行为依赖的只能是有限理性 ,组织…     

Concepts of evidence in systems analysis: Testing macro-system theories

Quality & Quantity -     

The state of total quality management: a review

As quality is seen as becoming a competitive mandate, many organizations are said to be embracing the practice of total quality management (TQM) as an improvement strategy. In this paper, we will be examining the extent to which quality management (QM) - TQM in particular-has been adopted by organizations. Just as there are companies that claim that QM is benefiting them, the concept is also increasingly being criticized for not bringing about the promised results, and in the following review, studies that have highlighted this disparity in opinions will be reviewed. Increasingly, doubts have been raised as to whether partial quality management - and not TQM - is being practised in organizations. This paper will also examine the difficulties companies may be faced with in their attempts to embrace TQM.     

Factors affecting the effectiveness and acceptance of electronic selection systems

There has been a rise in the use of electronic selection (e-selection) systems in organizations. Given the widespread use of these systems, this article reviews the factors that affect their effectiveness and acceptance by job applicants (applicant acceptance), and offers directions for future research on the topic. In particular, we examine the effectiveness and acceptance of these systems at each stage of the selection process including (a) job analysis, (b) job application, (c) pre-employment testing, (d) interviewing, (e) selection decision-making, and (f) evaluation and validation. We also consider their potential for adverse impact and invasion of privacy. Finally, we present some implications for e-selection system design and implementation.     

Total quality management and statistical quality control: practical applications to waste stream management

TQM offers a completely new approach to problem solving in health care. The approach requires dedication and persistence in monitoring, understanding, and changing systems at a level that has never been reached before in the United States' health care system. Materiel management, purchasing, nursing, housekeeping, and administration now have the necessary tools to centrally study the medical waste stream flow at their facilities. The intent of this article is to display how TQM techniques can be applied to minimize a hospital's medical waste stream. The approach of studying medical waste as a defect generated during the process of delivering high-quality care enables a hospital to pinpoint causes of these defects, modify the parent system of the defect, and lessen the generation of medical waste defects. Successful implementation of these techniques as a continuous process will enable hospitals to be leaders in the preservation of their host communities' environments.     

Matrix management in hospitals: testing theories of matrix structure and development.

A study of 315 hospitals with matrix management programs was used to test several hypotheses concerning matrix management advanced by earlier theorists. The study verifies that matrix management involves several distinctive elements that can be scaled to form increasingly complex types of lateral coordinative devices. The scalability of these elements is evident only cross-sectionally. The results show that matrix complexity is not an outcome of program age, nor does matrix complexity at the time of implementation appear to influence program survival. Matrix complexity, finally, is not determined by the organization's task diversity and uncertainty. The results suggest several modifications in prevailing theories of matrix organization.     

The contextualization of human resource and quality management: a sensemaking perspective on everybody's involvement

The principal idea of this paper is that human resource management (HRM) and quality management (QM) ideas require contextualization when used to change organizations. Here, contextualization stands for the process that leads to a shared meaning, i.e. the majority of the co-workers in an organization understand and define a concept or change in terms that are shared and accepted. In the present paper, we study a strategic change project, based on HRM and QM ideas, conducted at the County Council of Värmland (CCV), the public healthcare authority in the County of Värmland in Sweden, where the focus was on everybody's involvement. Our interpretation of the project shows that a shared meaning of the concept of everybody's involvement was not reached in this particular case, i.e. contextualization did not occur. One important result of the study is that contextualization is a prerequisite for realizing HRM and QM thoughts. The paper also stresses how important it is that general and ‘non-contextualized’ HRM and QM ideas are adapted to local practices when used to direct organizational change.     

Factors affecting the acceptance and effectiveness of electronic human resource systems

Electronic human resource (eHR) systems are being used with increasing frequency in organizations. However, there is relatively little research on factors that influence the degree to which they result in functional versus dysfunctional consequences for individuals and organizations. Thus, the major purposes of this article are to: (a) present a model that relates a number of antecedents to such consequences, (b) describe the impact of individual and eHR system characteristics on four important eHR-related variables (i.e., information flows, social interactions, perceived control, and system acceptance), (c) offer a set of hypotheses that can be used to guide research on eHR systems, and (d) advance recommendations for the design of such systems.     

Innovation pathways at the Base of the Pyramid: Establishing technological legitimacy through social attributes

Two challenging imperatives we face today are the amelioration of global poverty and reducing environmental impacts such as global climate change. This article discusses these challenges in the ‘Base of the Pyramid’ (BOP), impoverished socio-economic groups from underdeveloped regions that have traditionally been excluded from economic participation. Drawing on the BOP, global value chain and latecomer literature, we propose five innovation pathways for social and environmental improvement within poor communities. We extend Geel’s (2002) new socio-technical landscape framework, Hall et als' (2011) and Hall and Martin’s (2005) framework for innovative uncertainties and Aldrich and Fiol’s (1994) legitimization processes by proposing a ‘hurdles and levers analysis,’ suggesting that in addition to overcoming technological and commercial hurdles, social attributes play a key role in BOP innovation dynamics. Two illustrative cases are presented; an initiative to replace candles and kerosene lanterns with semiconductor white light-emitting-diodes (WLEDs) in various BOP locations; and the development of naturally colored cotton in poor regions of Brazil for sale locally and abroad. We argue that social uncertainties in particular may act as ‘levers’, compensating for initial technological and commercial deficiencies, thus providing technology developers time to improve. The paper concludes with implications for policy and future research.     

Project management systems: Moving project management from an operational to a strategic discipline

This article illustrates one aspect of the concept of “fit” between an organization's implementation of project management and its organizational context by exploring how the underlying drivers of an organization's strategy might influence not only the nature of the projects that it undertakes, but also the appropriateness of the arrangements that it makes to manage those projects. Using a model conceptualized from the literature on strategic management, an analysis of four organizations that have made significant investments in project management over the past 5 years supports the hypothesis that the degree of “fit” between an organization's strategic drivers of value and the configuration of its project management system influences the value it obtains from project management.     

Building pragmatist theories of PM practice: Theorizing the act of project management

This article examines project management through the lens of practice. Drawing on the literature, we develop a typological model that brings together four distinct theoretical types of project management practice. Adopting a deliberately critical perspective, we show that the first three types propose a weak conception of the logical relationship between the theory and practice of project management. In contrast, the fourth type, anchored in a pragmatist conception of the theory‐practice link, provides the potential to build strong theories of project management practice. A specific objective is to elucidate the distinct features of the fourth type of theory.