From Quality Management to Socially Responsible Organisations: the Case for CSR

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the growing interest of the role of business in society, commonly referred to as CSR. Historically CSR can be traced back to the 1950s, although in very recent times there has been a virtual explosion of interest in its use and applicability in organisations. However, there are many unresolved issues, most notably in terms of how CSR should or can be implemented and embedded in an organisation. This paper therefore seeks to explore the relationship and potential synergies between quality management and CSR. Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative exploratory study in this paper represents the first stage of an ongoing research programme, and is based on an in-depth analysis of quality award submission documentation from six case organisations that have recently been recognised as winners in relation to their quest for business improvement. Findings – The paper finds that substantial evidence from each of the case organisations demonstrates the breadth and depth of activities in which they are engaging under the broad headings of workplace, environment, social impact, and economic impact. However, whilst there is no doubting the sincerity of the actions, the approaches and activities, a strategic focus on CSR is still very much in its infancy. Research limitations/implications – In this paper there is a paucity of empirical research examining how existing management tools, techniques and methodologies can be used to further the CSR debate. This paper represents an important first step in redressing this imbalance. Practical implications – The paper suggests that the quality management and business excellence frameworks can offer a strong foundation from which to develop CSR strategies, behaviours and activities in an organisation. Originality/value – This paper represents an important first step in understanding how and where CSR “fits” into an organisation and potentially how existing quality methodologies, tools and frameworks can be used to aid the implementation of CSR.

Towards a Contingency Theory perspective of Quality Management in Enabling Strategic Alignment

The aim of this paper is to explore the role of Quality Management (QM) theory and practice using a contingency theory perspective. The study is grounded in the role of QM in improving strategic alignment within Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) using Contingency Theory rather than adopting best practice approaches. An inductive theory building research methodology was used involving multiple case analyses of five SMEs, involving repeat interviews (n=45), focus groups (n=5) and document analysis. From the findings, it was found that Contingency Variables (strategy, culture, lifecycle and customer focus) and their respective typologies were found to interact with QM practices in helping to shape strategic alignment between the SMEs and their environments. This shaping process based on contingency approaches occurred in a manner unique to each SME and their respective environments rather than in an overarching best practice manner.

Quality Management and Managerialism in Healthcare:: A Critical Historical Survey

Quality Management and Managerialism in Healthcare creates a comprehensive and systematic international survey of various perspectives on healthcare quality management together with some of their most pertinent critiques. Chapter one starts with a general discussion of the factors that drove the introduction of management paradigms into public sector and health management contexts in the mid to late 1980s. Chapter two explores the rise of risk awareness in medicine; which, prior to the 1980s, stood largely in isolation to the implementation of managerial performance targets. Chapter three investigates the widespread adoption of performance management and clinical governance frameworks during the 1980s and 1990s. This is followed by Chapters four and five which examine systems based models of patient safety and the evidence-based medicine movement as exemplars of managerial perspectives on healthcare quality. Chapter six discusses potential future avenues for the development of alternative perspectives on quality of care which emphasise workforce involvement. The book concludes by reviewing the factors which have underpinned the managerialist trajectory of healthcare management over the past decades and explores the potential impact of nascent technologies such as 'connected health' and 'telehealth' on future developments.

European Cystic Fibrosis Society Standards of Care: Quality Management in cystic fibrosis

Since the earliest days of cystic fibrosis (CF) treatment, patient data have been recorded and reviewed in order to identify the factors that lead to more favourable outcomes. Large data repositories, such as the US Cystic Fibrosis Registry, which was established in the 1960s, enabled successful treatments and patient outcomes to be recognized and improvement programmes to be implemented in specialist CF centres. Over the past decades, the greater volumes of data becoming available through Centre databases and patient registries led to the possibility of making comparisons between different therapies, approaches to care and indeed data recording. The quality of care for individuals with CF has become a focus at several levels: patient, centre, regional, national and international. This paper reviews the quality management and improvement issues at each of these levels with particular reference to indicators of health, the role of CF Centres, regional networks, national health policy, and international data registration and comparisons. 

Legitimising Quality Principles through Critical Incidents in Organisational Development

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to analyse how critical incidents or organisational crises can be used to check and legitimise quality management change efforts in relation to the fundamental principles of quality. Design/methodology/approach – Multiple case studies analyse critical incidents that demonstrate the importance of legitimisation, normative evaluation and conflict constructs in this process. A theoretical framework composed of these constructs is used to guide the analysis. Findings – The cases show that the critical incidents leading to the legitimisation of continuous improvement (CI) were diverse. However all resulted in the need for significant ongoing cost reduction to achieve or retain competitiveness. In addition, attempts at legitimising CI were coupled with attempts at destabilising the existing normative practice. This destabilisation process, in some cases, advocated supplementing the existing approaches and in others replacing them. In all cases, significant conflict arose in these legitimising and normative evaluation processes. Research limitations/implications – It is suggested that further research could involve a critical analysis of existing quality models, tools and techniques in relation to how they incorporate, and are built upon, fundamental quality management principles. Furthermore, such studies could probe the dangers of quality curriculum becoming divorced from business and market reality and thus creating a parallel existence. Practical implications – As demonstrated by the case studies, models, tools and techniques are not valued for their intrinsic value but rather for what they will contribute to addressing the business needs. Thus, in addition to being an opportunity for quality management, critical incidents present a challenge to the field. Quality management must be shown to make a contribution in these circumstances. Originality/value – This paper is of value to both academics and practitioners.

Developing a model of innovation implementation for UK SMEs: A path analysis and explanatory case analysis

Continuous large-scale changes in technology and the globalization of markets have resulted in the need for many SMEs to use innovation as a means of seeking competitive advantage where innovation includes both technological and organizational perspectives (Tapscott, 2009). However, there is a paucity of systematic and empirical research relating to the implementation of innovation management in the context of SMEs. The aim of this article is to redress this imbalance via an empirical study created to develop and test a model of innovation implementation in SMEs. This study uses Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to test the plausibility of an innovation model, developed from earlier studies, as the basis of a questionnaire survey of 395 SMEs in the UK. The resultant model and construct relationship results are further probed using an explanatory multiple case analysis to explore ‘how’ and ‘why’ type questions within the model and construct relationships. The findings show that the
effects of leadership, people and culture on innovation implementation are mediated by business improvement activities relating to Total Quality Management/Continuous Improvement (TQM/CI) and product and process developments. It is concluded that SMEs have an opportunity to leverage existing quality and process improvement activities to move beyond continuous
improvement outcomes towards effective innovation implementation. The article concludes by suggesting areas suitable for further research.

Lean principles and techniques for improving the quality and productivity of software development projects: a case study

Software product development is recognised as difficult due to the intangible nature of the product, requirements elicitation, effective progress measurement, and so forth. In this paper, we describe some of the challenges of software product development and how the challenges are being met by lean management principles and techniques. Specifically, we examine lean principles and techniques that were devised by Toyota and other manufacturers over the last 50 years. Applying lean principles to software development projects has been advocated for over ten years and it will be shown that the extensive lean literature is a valuable source of ideas for software development. A case study with a software development organisation, Timberline Inc., will demonstrate that lean principles and techniques can be successfully applied to software product development.

PLS modelling and fault detection on the Tennessee Eastman benchmark

This paper describes the application of multivariate regression techniques to the Tennessee Eastman benchmark process for modelling and fault detection. Two methods are applied : linear partial least squares, and a nonlinear variant of this procedure using a radial basis function inner relation. The performance of the RBF networks is enhanced through the use of a recently developed training algorithm which uses quasi-Newton optimization to ensure an efficient and parsimonious network; details of this algorithm can be found in this paper. The PLS and PLS/RBF methods are then used to create on-line inferential models of delayed process measurements. As these measurements relate to the final product composition, these models suggest that on-line statistical quality control analysis should be possible for this plant. The generation of `soft sensors' for these measurements has the further effect of introducing a redundant element into the system, redundancy which can then be used to generate a fault detection and isolation scheme for these sensors. This is achieved by arranging the sensors and models in a manner comparable to the dedicated estimator scheme of Clarke et al. 1975, IEEE Trans. Pero. Elect. Sys., AES-14R, 465-473. The effectiveness of this scheme is demonstrated on a series of simulated sensor and process faults, with full detection and isolation shown to be possible for sensor malfunctions, and detection feasible in the case of process faults. Suggestions for enhancing the diagnostic capacity in the latter case are covered towards the end of the paper.

Does Inappropriate Quality Control Demotivate Workers

The construction industry requires quality control and regulation of its contingent,unpredictable environment. However, taking too much control from workers candisempower and demotivate. In the 1970s Deci and Ryan developed selfdeterminationtheory which states that in order to be intrinsically motivated, threecomponents are necessary - competence, autonomy and relatedness. This study aimsto examine the way in which the three ‘nutriments’ for intrinsic motivation may beundermined by heavy-handed quality control. A critical literature review analysesconstruction, psychological and management research regarding the control andmotivation of workers, using self-determination theory as a framework. Initialfindings show that quality management systems do not always work as designed.Workers perceive that unnecessary, wasteful and tedious counter checking of theirwork implies that they are not fully trusted by management to work without oversight.Control of workers and pressure for continual improvement may lead to resistanceand deception. Controlling mechanisms can break the link between performance andsatisfaction, reducing motivation and paradoxically reducing the likelihood of thequality they intend to promote. This study will lead to a greater understanding ofcontrol and motivation, facilitating further research into improvements in theapplication of quality control to maintain employee motivation.