An Information Systems Design Framework for Facilitating TQM Implementation

Exploring the relationship between information technology competence and quality management

“…It is defined as a continuous process of comparison and evaluation of the firm's products, services, and practices relative to those applied by competitors recognized as leaders in the sector (Camp, 1993). The information that this practice provides must be available at the right time and be concise and easy to interpret; this information must be gathered and used in a highly precise way (Ahmed and Ravichandran, 1999).…”

“…It is defined as a continuous process of comparison and evaluation of the firm's products, services, and practices relative to those applied by competitors recognized as leaders in the sector (Camp, 1993). The information that this practice provides must be available at the right time and be concise and easy to interpret; this information must be gathered and used in a highly precise way (Ahmed and Ravichandran, 1999). Dewhurst et al (1999) analyze how IT contributes to the benchmarking process, since it facilitates the following: communication with competing firms, identification of the best firms in the sector in which the organization operates, and simulation and analysis of measurements of performance.…”

“…In that sense, quality management (QM) offers one of the sets of organizational practices related to Operations Management that is most frequently and well-established in firms (Sousa and Voss, 2002; Nair, 2006). The literature review shows that QM plays an important role in improving the firm's competitive position (Reed et al, 2000) and that the proper application of IT can influence this relationship (Murray, 1991; Aiken et al, 1996; Cortada, 1995; Forza, 1995; Ahmed and Ravichandran, 1999; Perez-Arostegui et al, 2012). Thus, the development of an IT competence will improve the efficacy of QM practices, enabling firms to achieve a better competitive position (Pearson et al, 1995).…”

Information technology‐enabled quality performance: an exploratory study

“…Ahmed and Ravichandran (1999) establish that quality performance improvement depends on the proper IT design. This is accomplished by:achieving integration of all IT components (i.e.…”

“…Current research has shown that quality management (QM) plays an important role in improving the firm's competitive position (Reed et al , 2000) and that the proper application of IT can influence this relationship (Forza, 1995; Ahmed and Ravichandran, 1999; Willcocks et al , 2007). Thus, developing IT competence will improve the QM performance, enabling firms to achieve a better competitive position (Pearson et al , 1995; Jenkins, 2010).…”