Identification of barriers to improving quality management systems

Quality assurance and improvement program: some considerations for central banks

Purpose

Quality Assurance and Improvement Program (QAIP) is defined as “an ongoing and periodic assessment of the entire spectrum of audit and consulting work performed by the internal audit (IA) activity”. QAIP is an important component of internal auditors’ commitment to improve internal audit (IA) quality. The pressure towards improvement is urgent for central banks, in light of the vulnerabilities of their IA functions identified by the International Monetary Fund. The authors analyse the professional standards and the literature on IA and QAIP, aiming to propose general considerations to enhance IA quality and to develop and maintain a QAIP, with reference to central banks, also shedding light on the synergies among IA, QAIP and total quality management (TQM).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews the most relevant professional standards in light of the professional and academic literature regarding IA quality, QAIP and their relationship with TQM. The analysis of these sources represents an important step to identify general measures to improve IA quality and develop effective QAIP in central banks.

Findings

This analysis shows that it is important to understand the rationale behind the development of an IA function and its theoretical and practical foundation, especially for complex organisations such as central banks. In addition, the authors show that QAIP represents an important tool to exploit the synergies between TQM and IA. These synergies could result in higher levels of quality for the IA function and more effective implementation of TQM within the whole organisation. Lastly, the authors provide practical suggestions to support the implementation of an effective QAIP in central banks and to spread TQM philosophy within the organisation.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the scant literature on IA quality and QAIP by focusing on central banks and shedding light on the relationship with TQM. Regardless of their importance, these topics have been largely neglected by the extant literature.

Recognizing the legacy of the TQM Journal: a bibliometric analysis of Scopus indexed publications (2008 - 2021)

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the trends in research published by the TQM Journal since its indexing in the Scopus database in 2008. The paper intends to offer a bibliometric analysis of the TQM Journal by highlighting the contributions made by the journal through citations, prominent authors, most frequent keywords and publications across geographical regions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study involved the use of descriptive and visual methods to examine the quantitative and qualitative features of the bibliometric data. The authors made use of Biblioshiny using R-Studio and VoS viewer user interfaces to perform various types of bibliometric analysis on the bibliomteric data of the journal extracted from Scopus database (the largest inter-disciplinary database in social sciences).

Findings

With 85% of cited documents having a total 12,079 citations, the TQM Journal is one of the most reputed and impactful journals in the field of performance, integrated management system total quality management and allied concepts. The publications in the TQM Journal have cited many top-rated journals relevant to the domain. Maximum contributions in TQM Journal are submitted by authors from Italy, India and UK. Major submissions made to TQM Journal have focused on the quality concepts relevant to production and manufacturing sector in particular. In this regard, the TQM Journal has a very bright scope in covering the diverse and latest trends across industries especially during pandemic and changes happening thereof. The contributions of the editorial team along with authors and reviewers are unmatchable in making the reputation of the TQM Journal.

Originality/value

To the best of knowledge of the authors, this is going to be first bibliometric study ever conducted on the TQM Journal on documents published in Scopus database. The work carried out is unique, as it is an attempt by authors to comprehend the legacy of the TQM Journal through bibliometric data and showcase the past trends and explore future directions for the TQM Journal.

Sustainable Quality Management Systems in the Current Paradigm: The Role of Leadership

This study supports the proposition that sustainability’s integration into Quality Management Systems (QMS) could be a viable pathway to the development of the Emergency paradigm, in which leadership plays a crucial role. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was performed in order to deepen leadership’s relationship with Quality Management (QM) from an evolutionary perspective. An exploratory survey was then conducted to assess quality managers’ perceptions of sustainability’s integration into QMS and their leadership styles, using the 5X Short Leader Form MLQ instrument. The results indicate that leadership is a critical element of QMS performance, enhancing transformational leadership, which appears to be the dominant self-perceived style of the quality managers who participated. Nevertheless, these practitioners recognise the difficulties in committing all employees to the sustainability journey. The theoretical and managerial implications give rise to this work. The SLR results could be a useful database to support future QM and Leadership research. The organisations could follow the suggested pathway to evolve their QMS to support solutions to some of the current challenges. At the same time, quality managers could reflect on their future professional challenges. This work has taken a step forward, indicating sustainable quality management systems as a viable pathway to explore QM knowledge regarding the Emergency paradigm, and thus enhancing leadership’s role.

Quality management for microenterprises and start-ups – is the ISO 9001 suitable?

Purpose

Quality management systems are well established in multinationals and SMEs. For establishing and improving such systems, there is a variety of guidelines. Furthermore, there are software tools allowing a self-assessment of the current state of the implemented systems. However, these approaches do not fit for micro-enterprises and start-ups. Their processes are rather informal or not yet specified. Moreover, these companies are often in a phase of strong growth and have only one person in charge. Hence, they face the difficulty to decide if and how a (quality) management system should be implemented. This paper aims to show a first guideline for implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

The first step comprises a definition of microenterprises and start-ups and an analysis of their specific characteristics. Following, an overview of the DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and its requirements is given. Next, it is analysed which requirements are relevant for or can be implemented in microenterprises and start-ups. Based on this, a guideline for decision-making is developed to examine if an application of the analysed standard is useful or necessary for the regarded companies. Also, the guideline illustrates how the requirements can be implemented.

Findings

A literature review, an analysis of the DIN EN ISO 9001:2015, the standards for project management, microenterprises and start-ups have been carried out. Thereby, the need to decide whether to implement implement a quality management system and assistance for the implementation process has been revealed as essential for the companies considered. Literature mostly deals with implementing a quality and/or project management system in multinationals and SMEs but not in very small companies. Furthermore, first practical examples have shown that microenterprises face difficulties when choosing and implementing a quality management system. A practical implementation guideline for these companies is lacking.

Originality/value

Although there is a lot of research dealing with quality management in SME, research about quality management in microenterprises and start-ups is scarce. This paper offers a first approach for a guideline of implementing an appropriate quality and possibly an additional or alternative project management in microenterprises and start-ups. This should facilitate the process of deciding if and how to implement an adequate management system for the regarded companies.

Quality management for microenterprises and start-ups: is the ISO 9001 suitable?

Purpose

Quality management systems (QMSs) are well established in multinationals and small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs). For establishing and improving these systems, a variety of guidelines have been established. Furthermore, there are software tools allowing a self-assessment of the current state of the implemented systems. However, these approaches are not appropriate for microenterprises and start-ups as their processes are rather informal or not yet specified. Moreover, these companies are often in a phase of strong growth and have only one person in charge; hence, they face the difficulty to decide if and how a QMS should be implemented. The purpose of this study is to report a first guideline for implementation of a QMS for microenterprises and start-ups.

Design/methodology/approach

The first step comprises a definition of microenterprises and start-ups and an analysis of their specific characteristics. An overview of the DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and its requirements is given below. Next, the relevant requirements that can be implemented in microenterprises and start-ups are analyzed. Accordingly, a guideline for decision-making is developed to examine if an application of the analyzed standard is useful or necessary for these companies. Moreover, the guideline illustrates how the requirements can be implemented.

Findings

A literature review, an analysis of the DIN EN ISO 9001:2015, and of microenterprises and start-ups have been carried out. Thus, the need to decide whether to implement a QMS and assistance for the implementation process has been revealed to be essential for the companies that were considered. The literature mostly deals with implementing a quality and/or project management system in multinationals and SMEs but not for very small companies. Furthermore, the practical examples have shown that microenterprises face difficulties when choosing and implementing a QMS; thus, a practical implementation guideline for these companies is lacking.

Originality/value

Although there is a lot of research dealing with quality management (QM) in SMEs, research about QM in microenterprises and start-ups is scarce. This paper offers a first approach for a guideline of implementing an appropriate QMS and possibly an additional or alternative project management system in microenterprises and start-ups. This should facilitate the process of deciding if and how to implement an adequate management system for such companies.

Modeling enablers of supply chain quality risk management: a grey-DEMATEL approach

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to recognize and model the enablers of supply chain quality risk management (SCQRM) through an empirical study in the Indian automotive companies.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was conducted to extract the key enablers of quality management (QM) and risk management in the context of manufacturing supply chains. A grey-based DEMATEL method was employed to identify and model the key enablers of SCQRM.

Findings

The results of empirical study showed that the effectiveness of QM and risk management systems for automotive supply chain is driven by a set of common enablers that could be employed for developing dedicated SCQRM systems. The common causal factors in the model such as the involvement of top leaders, inter-firm communication and strategic-level alignment between supply chain members on both these issues clearly state that there is a need for a broader policy at an early stage.

Practical implications

It is crucial for the automotive companies to develop and implement structured systems for SCQRM keeping in view the impact of any unaddressed quality risk on missed production targets, vehicle recalls and safety hazards.

Originality/value

This study ascertains the key enablers of SCQRM with emblematic focus on automotive industry and identifies if there are commonalities in these enablers.

Risk-based thinking according to ISO 9001:2015 standard and the risk sources European manufacturing SMEs intend to manage

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to theorize and prioritize the main categories of risk sources for the European manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in accordance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2015 requirement “risk based thinking.” Furthermore, the research analyses how these organizations intend to manage the risks and their effects.

Design/methodology/approach

A first exploratory interview with 28 experts from international certification bodies and manufacturing companies which revealed 11 risk sources has been performed. Then, quality managers from European manufacturing SMEs were surveyed to determine whether or not they intended to manage the risk sources suggested by the experts. A 95 percent confidence interval was performed to evaluate the range of plausible values for the population. The quality managers were also asked to comment on each category of risk source.

Findings

The research shows that the most taken into account categories of risk sources were the internal production of nonconforming products followed by poorly trained workers with a lack of skills and awareness, supplier nonconforming products and lack of risk-based assessment. The least taken into account category was nonconforming technical results in the design process. The quality managers’ qualitative comments also brought to light interesting issues which represented avenues for new research.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of this research lie in the first exploratory interview with the 28 experts. This process could be improved by means of a larger sample of experts. Furthermore, these experts could have included risk source categories which could fall outside of an ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) scope and application.

Practical implications

Quality managers in SMEs can now address the new ISO 9001:2015 requirement knowing what the priorities from a statistical point of view are. This implication is also relevant to QMS consultants who are implementing ISO 9001:2015 QMS together with their customers.

Originality/value

The novelty of this research is that it has been tried for the first time to theorize what the main categories of risk sources in accordance with the risk-based thinking requirement are for European manufacturing SMEs.