Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between "soft" and "hard" TQM elements and quality management results. Design/methodology/approach -Empirical data were drawn from 370 Greek companies using the questionnaire method. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to examine constructs' reliability and validity, while the relationships between them were examined through Structural Equation Modelling. Findings -The study proved that quality improvement and the consolidation of the company's market position are influenced mainly by adopting "soft" TQM elements and secondarily "hard" TQM elements.Research limitations/implications -The fact that the study was based on quality managers' perceptions and the participation of companies from all sectors creates limitations, but also future research orientations. Practical implications -To achieve benefits and obtain a competitive advantage, which is of major importance for the sustainability of a company, quality design, control and improvement tools are not enough and the adoption of a TQM culture is primarily required. Originality/value -The study describes in a reliable and valid way a model which consists of "soft" and "hard" TQM elements and quality management results.

The present study attempts to offer more insights into the Greek organic market. It examines the organic products as “eco‐products”, suitable for “green” consumers, who are ecologically/environmentally ecology‐aware and who are concerned with health and quality‐of‐life issues. Analysing a countrywide sample, the survey concludes that three consumer types exist in terms of attitude towards, purchase intention and awareness of organic products: the “unaware”, the “aware non‐buyers”, and the “(aware) buyers” (or simply buyers) of organic food products. After developing a detailed profile of the first two, the “aware buyers” type is segmented in terms of five groups of personality and behavioural factors, defined in the international literature as the driving forces of organic purchasing.

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationships between the total quality management (TQM) factors and organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach -A research project was carried out in 370 Greek companies, using the questionnaire method. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were applied to assess the measurement model reliability and validity. The relationships between the latent constructs were examined through Structural Equation Modelling. Findings -The TQM factors revealed by the study were the quality practices of the top management, employee involvement in the quality management system, customer focus, process and data quality management and quality tools and techniques implementation. According to the findings, these factors significantly affect the companies' performance with respect to their internal procedures, customers, market share and the natural and social environment.Research limitations/implications -The subjective data being dependent on the perceptions of the quality managers and the fact that the sample companies came from different sectors constitute the limitations of the present study. Practical implications -Given the increased rate of the companies that adopt quality assurance standards, the organizational performance improvement as well as the competitive advantage in the market can be obtained through a valid quality management model, as specified by the TQM principles. Originality/value -The paper describes a reliable and a valid TQM model and a way for a company to lay the foundations for business performance improvement.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the motives for implementing the ISO 14001 standard, the difficulties in meeting the standard's requirements and the benefits derived, and to determine the most significant latent constructs (unobserved variables) of these.Design/methodology/approachA research project was carried out in 53 ISO 14001‐certified Greek companies. Exploratory Factor Analyses were applied in order to refine the latent constructs of the ISO 14001 motives, difficulties and benefits.FindingsObtaining a competitive advantage, the social requirement and the environmentally‐friendly policy were the extracted latent constructs of the ISO 14001 motives. The decision of the companies to be ISO 14001‐certified was mostly influenced by internal motives. The ISO 14001 requirements and the determination of environmental performance issues were the extracted latent constructs of the difficulties faced during the implementation of the standard. However, according to the findings, the level of these difficulties was not high. The improvement of a company's position in the market, the transition from conventional to sustainable practices, the improved relationship with society due to better environmental performance and the improvement of waste processing were the extracted latent constructs of the benefits derived. Even though they were not extremely high, the internal were more significant than the external benefits.Research limitations/implicationsThe subjective character of the data collected, the small size of the sample of the participating companies and their diversity with respect to their sector and size, are the main limitations of the present study. Future studies can use these limitations as suggestions for further research.Practical implicationsThe latent constructs extracted through the analysis of the ISO 14001 motives, difficulties and benefits may encourage non‐certified companies to implement an Environmental Management System (EMS) according to ISO 14001. The ISO 14001 certified companies can focus on specific factors in order to strengthen their motivation, avoid difficulties, maximise benefits and consequently to improve their environmental management and performance.Originality/valueThis paper describes the underlying structure of the ISO 14001 motives, difficulties and benefits and determines the respective latent constructs.

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This paper analyses sustainable performance differences within the Greek food supply chain and provides numerous statistical comparisons of its key members (growers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers) with respect to firm size. In an attempt to fill a gap in the relevant literature, we examined micro, small and medium-sized firms against a set of sustainable performance measures and we employed survey research using a sample of 997 firms operating in the Greek food supply chain. Key informants evaluated their firms based on sustainable performance measures (consumption, flexibility, responsiveness, product quality and total supply chain performance). The results were analysed using ANOVA. The findings identify the Greek food supply chain members who over-perform or underperform in relation to size. These include small growers, wholesalers, retailers, medium-sized manufacturers and wholesalers, micro manufacturers and retailers. Specific reasons are provided for these sustainability performance differentials including the role of locality as well as the asset and resource intensity of some operations (e.g. manufacturing). Another key finding relates to small firms which are the top performers in terms of sustainability performance measures especially in the areas of flexibility and responsiveness. Members of this chain also underperform in the product conservation time measure, irrespective of size, and we highlight the urgent need for this to be addressed. Findings of this paper will prove useful for food SMEs and policymakers planning to introduce specific sustainability incentives related to firm size and to the food chain

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