Total quality beyond North America: A comparative analysis of the performance of European Excellence Award winners

Introducing a concept for efficient design of EFQM excellence model

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a roadmap for operationalizing EFQM excellence model based on the RADAR logic and in parallel develop a new concept for selecting the firm-specific EFQM measures based on the level of maturity and the prevailing corporate culture.

Design/methodology/approach

– A comprehensive review of literature leads to a clarification of the relation between EFQM measures and RADAR logic and also identification of the requirements for assessment of culture and determination of maturity level in the context of EFQM excellence model. Based on these requirements, existing culture assessment approaches and maturity assessment methods have been evaluated.

Findings

– The main outcome of this research is a new concept for efficient design of EFQM excellence model. This concept consist of three main parts: assessment of culture types in context of EFQM; assessment of maturity level; and design of EFQM measures based on RADAR logic. The findings are expected to reduce the effort for implementation of EFQM by designing tailored measures that fit to the existing culture and maturity level.

Practical implications

– The findings of this study are relevant to multinational large firms that deal with EFQM or similar excellence models.

Originality/value

– This paper presents a new concept for designing EFQM in the light of prevailing corporate culture and maturity level, which in one hand needs fewer resources and on the other hand it is more effective in implementation.

Assessing quality of management practices in Palestinian hospitals

Purpose

– This paper aims to provide an assessment of the quality of management practices and implementation in hospitals operating in the West Bank of Palestine using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) Criteria.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on the MBNQA Criteria, a survey of 51 hospitals was conducted using questionnaires, interviews and focus groups to gather data. Data were analyzed and compared across all administrative types of hospitals using the MBNQA points system.

Findings

– The results show that the performance of non-governmental organizations and private hospitals was superior with respect to all other administrative types. A closer look at the results show that all hospitals exhibit areas of concern such as human resource focus, information and analysis, as well as performance results.

Research limitations/implications

– Despite the exclusion of hospitals operating in the Gaza Strip, this research promotes critical management practices aimed at improving quality of management practices and their subsequent implementation in the surveyed hospitals.

Practical implications

– The MBNQA Criteria, as well as other quality assessment tools, can be used to measure the various activities of hospitals and identify competencies and weaknesses in a tangible manner to improve hospital performance.

Originality/value

– This paper presents a fresh perspective on the quality management issues in Palestinian hospitals to practitioners, administrators and academics using the MBNQA Criteria. Also, it serves as a foundation for future initiatives and programs aimed at improving quality in hospitals.

Achieving employee commitment for continuous improvement initiatives

Purpose

– Although prior research has found that employee participation is key to successfully implementing quality management initiatives (Baird et al., 2011; de Menezes, 2012; Lagrosen and Lagrosen, 2005), little research in operations management exists that investigates which management actions and behaviors lead to employee commitment to such initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap in the operations management literature by investigating which influence tactics are the most effective in soliciting employee commitment to continuous improvement tasks. The paper also examines how influence tactics affect the supervisor-subordinate relationship and the manager’s effectiveness in implementing continuous improvement initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey instrument was used to measure supervisor-subordinate relationship quality, usage of influence behaviors and participants’ task commitment to continuous improvement initiatives.

Findings

– The results indicate that five of the 11 influence tactics identified in the prior literature, i.e., collaboration, consultation, ingratiation, inspirational appeals, and rational persuasion, are significant and strong predictors of employee commitment to continuous improvement initiatives. Further, analyses show that these influence tactics are significant drivers of the quality of the supervisor-subordinate relationship, which was found to partially mediate the relationship between influence tactics and the supervisor’s effectiveness in implementing continuous improvement projects.

Research limitations/implications

– Since the extant CI and Total Quality Management literature has looked at the plant or program level rather than the worker-level as in the research, the findings offer one explanation as to why earlier studies investigating the relationship between quality management programs and increased organizational performance reported mixed results.

Practical implications

– Increasing managers’ awareness and usage of influence tactics may increase the success rate of continuous improvement projects as well the quality of the relationship with the manager’s subordinates.

Originality/value

– While the extant literature has argued that management support and employee commitment are key components of a continuous improvement project implementation, little has been written about the specific management actions and behaviors that lead to success.

Quality management practices and their relationship to organizational performance

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of total quality management (TQM) practices implemented in Palestinian hospitals and their relationship to organizational performance using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey of 51 hospitals operating in the West Bank of Palestine was conducted in order to test the validity and reliability of TQM constructs and their relationship to organizational performance.

Findings

– The results showed that TQM constructs used in this study are positively related to hospital performance and for the most part the relationship was significant; they were capable of explaining a significant portion of variance in performance. Three elements were found to be strongly significant predictors of performance- people management, process management, and information and analysis.

Research limitations/implications

– Although hospitals operating in the Gaza Strip were excluded from the study, this research promotes critical management practices that help channeling organization resources into areas aimed at improving quality and performance.

Practical implications

– The study showed that there are certain areas where administrators or managers need to focus on should they aspire for better performance. The constructs used in this study can be used to assess the implementation of quality practices and highlight areas for movement.

Originality/value

– This paper provided practitioners, administrators, and academics with a fresh perspective on quality management practices and their impact on organizational performance. It also served as a foundation for future initiatives and programs aimed at improving quality in hospitals.