An exploration of quality management practices in the manufacturing industry of Ethiopia

Linking Leadership to Employees Performance: The Mediating Role of Human Resource Management

Human resource management (HRM) practices along with appropriate leadership have a paramount role in enhancing employees’ performance. Even though there was much literature on the subject of HRM and leadership, there were still some unanswered questions about the set of HR practices that most effectively contribute to improved employees’ performance through proper leadership. The primary goal of this research was to look at how leadership quality affects employee performance, as well as the function of human resource management in mediating the relationship between leadership and employee performance in manufacturing industries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study used an explanatory and descriptive research design, and a mixed research approach (qualitative and quantitative), to achieve its goal. More specifically, a multi-stage sampling technique (simple random and purposive sampling) was employed. The data was collected from both primary and secondary sources, and analysis was made using a structural and measurement model by AMOS Version 2021. The finding of the study implies that; leadership has a positive and significant relationship with employee performance through human resource management, hence the full mediating role of human resource management was observed between leadership and employee performance. This study is novel in that, it contributes new finding to the existing literature by combining the relationship between leadership and employee performance in a single study and two different directions (direct and indirect). Hence, the recommendations can be applied by industry managers to boost employees’ performance through appropriate HRM practices and leadership by taking this finding as a benchmark. Based on the finding of the study, we recommend industry managers focus on human resource management indicators such as collaboration, involvement, actualization, perceivance, and teamwork to boost their leadership quality that deliberately influences employees’ performance.

An empirical examination of the relationship between benchmarking, innovation culture and organisational performance using structural equation modelling

Purpose

Police agencies are under pressure to improve their performance and provide outstanding services for the community. In response, academics and practitioners have called to adopt effective methods that help these agencies to achieve their goals. Studies reported that benchmarking has a role to improve organisational performance. However, poor evidence of using benchmarking within police agencies and very few studies examine the relationship between it and police performance. Motivated by this gap, this study aims to explore and examine this relationship under the mediating role of innovation culture.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative methodology was utilised in this study. Data used to examine the hypotheses were obtained from the departments and stations of the Dubai Police Force (DPF), and the population comprised head section officers. A total of 338 questionnaires were distributed to respondents, 252 of which were returned. The hypothesised relationships were tested with the data collected by SPSS and SmartPLS statistical software.

Findings

Findings clearly show that benchmarking is directly and indirectly associated with the organisational performance of the DPF through innovation culture. Results support the notion that innovation culture facilitates the implementation of proper benchmarking projects in the DPF, which positively affects different aspects of its performance.

Research limitations/implications

This study includes several limitations. Specifically, the generalisability of the findings should be considered. The analysis applies only to the DPF in the UAE. Thus, investigating and analysing variables in different police agencies in the UAE or internationally would be valuable.

Practical implications

Several recommendations are provided in relation to the obtained results to assist managers and decision makers in the DPF and other police agencies. This study includes suggestions for improving police performance by establishing an innovation culture and adopting benchmarking practices.

Originality/value

Although several contributions indicated that benchmarking and innovation culture is a key determinant of success, the literature lacks empirical studies investigating this link in the police field. This study is the only one to date that examined this relationship in police services. Accordingly, this study seeks to bridge this gap and delivers empirical evidence and theoretical insight to better understand this relationship.

Does people-related total quality management “work” for people? An empirical study of the Sri Lankan apparel industry

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between people-related total quality management (PTQM) practices and employee work attitudes, as well as the impact of the specific PTQM practices on work attitudes in the context of the Sri Lankan apparel industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The five PTQM practices included top management commitment, employee empowerment, training, employee involvement and teamwork. Employee work attitudes comprised of job satisfaction, affective commitment, job involvement and turnover intention. Data collected from the machine operator-level employees in the top 100 apparel exporters in Sri Lanka were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).

Findings

The findings suggest that the PTQM practices were significant drivers of job involvement but not of job satisfaction, affective commitment and turnover intentions. It was also found that teamwork, training and employee involvement were the most important PTQM practices towards employee work attitudes. Top management commitment drove affective commitment and job involvement, while employee empowerment was important only for job involvement.

Research limitations/implications

The research only considered the top 100 export- apparel manufacturers in Sri Lanka; hence, care has to be taken for the findings to represent the entire manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka.

Originality/value

Based on the perceptions of floor level employees, which is scarcely investigated in the PTQM domain, the paper presents an interesting and unique perspective on the relationship between the PTQM practices and employee work attitudes, challenging majority of previous research findings. Besides making theoretical contributions, the findings offer valuable insights into the management of Sri Lankan apparel companies by highlighting the PTQM practices, which need to be strengthened.

Digital supplier selection reinforcing supply chain quality management systems to enhance firm's performance

Purpose

The geographical scattering of physical facilities in conventional supply chains enforces firms to shift toward digital supply chains (DSCs). While switching to DSCs, the decision-making becomes more complex with an upsurge in the size of the manufacturing firms. The manufacturing firms need to develop supply chain quality management (SCQM) systems to improvise their processes for delivering advance products and services. For developing SCQM, the role of the digital supplier is significant, as they may recuperate the quality management systems (QMS) for enhancing the firm's performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that affect the selection of digital suppliers. The other purpose is to evaluate the alternatives for identifying the best supplier that enhances the QMS for DSCs.

Design/methodology/approach

The decision-making is complex for digital supplier selection (DSS) and thus, the study has utilized integrated SWARA-WASPAS methods for their critical evaluation. The stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) method has been utilized for identifying the weightage of factors and weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) for assessing the digital suppliers to explore the best alternative. The integrated SWARA-WASPAS method is the most advance approach in multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) for the evaluation of the factors.

Findings

The study reveals that supplier competency is the most significant factor in selecting digital supplier in DSC that may improve the product and service quality. The study also explores that manufacturing firms needs an efficient system for developing value for the internal and external partners that help them to cope up with the dynamic world. On the basis of the WASPAS results, supplier S8 has been ranked as the best supplier who has highest competency in the form of responsiveness, resilience, sustainable practices and digital innovation.

Research limitations/implications

The factors are assessed on the decision team of experts that may be biased and thus, the research may further be validated through empirical studies. The research has to be extended in other nations for exploring how organizations and customers are responding to the DSCs.

Practical implications

The study has given insights to the manufacturing firms to consider the crucial factors for DSS, as it affects the overall performance of the organizations. The decision makers of manufacturing organizations should consider the factors such as supplier competency, digital innovation and information sharing for value creation that may provide them better opportunities for developing their DSCs along with their digital suppliers to connect with stakeholders appropriately.

Social implications

The improved SCQM aligned with DSS will offer quality products that are sustainable and provide social and economic benefits to the society. The DSS will be able to provide improvisation of the existing products and services for developing a sustainable value chains for the manufacturing organizations. This process will bring more transparency, viability and sustainability in the product and services. As a result, the DSC partners will be more transparent, viable and resilient.

Originality/value

The research on DSS and its importance in enhancing QMS is limited. This research is the novel approach to understand the criteria behind the selection of the digital suppliers’ role and their presence in enhancing the quality of products and services.

Insights into the reasons behind the limited implementation of ISO 9001 certification: empirical evidence from Yemen

Purpose

While ISO 9001 standard certification is approaching saturation in developed countries, other nations are still struggling with the implementation of ISO 9001. This study provides insights into countries with a very low number of registered certifications to understand the reasons behind the limited implementations, more particularly using evidence from Yemen. The objective of the study is to assess: the awareness, understanding, motivations, barriers and the benefits of implementing ISO 9001.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted to measure awareness levels, understanding, driving factors, barriers and the benefits of ISO 9001. Data collection was carried out through the classification of targeted firms into two separate categories, certified and noncertified organizations. The classification of firms was conducted to enrich the understanding from two different perspectives. A total of 72 responses, from companies ranging in size from large to small, and in both the private and public sectors, were analyzed using the descriptive and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA).

Findings

The data analysis showed that the limited implementation of ISO 9001 certifications could be due to several internal and external factors such as the relatively low awareness level of the certification and guidelines, and the inconsistency of understanding the certification purpose. The benefits focused solely on improving the quality of systems efficiency and increasing quality awareness, and not on internationalization.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this work provide the groundwork for decision-makers to understand the drivers and challenges of ISO 9001 to plan corrective actions and contribute to promote and increase the number of certified organizations in similar countries and economies. While the data in this study were collected in the context of one country, the methodology and framework used in this study can be utilized by other researchers to collect data in similar countries with a low number of ISO 9001 certifications.

Originality/value

This research is one of the very few that addresses the limited implementation of ISO 9001 in the Middle East and North Africa region and Yemen in particular.

Have the Reports of TQM’s Death Been Greatly Exaggerated? A Re-Examination of the Concept’s Historical Popularity Trajectory

There is a vast literature on Total Quality Management (TQM), one of the most influential management concepts introduced during the twentieth century. In the TQM literature, there are multiple conflicting views on TQM’s historical popularity trajectory. In the past, commentators have debated whether TQM represents a lasting trend, or instead should be considered a more short-lived management fad or fashion. Since the 1990s, skeptics have speculated about the imminent fall, death, and burial of TQM, and even delivered eulogies. However, others claim that the level of interest has picked back up and that TQM is alive and well. Therefore, this paper attempts to synthesize and reconcile these differing views on the long-term trajectory of TQM and provide an updated picture and status report, taking into account the latest findings and developments in research and practice. The evidence reviewed in this paper suggests that, even though TQM has become much less noticeable in public management discourse compared to the heydays of the 1980s and 1990s, the concept has persisted and even to this day remains widely used by organizations worldwide.