Quality Practices, Priorities and Performance: An International Study

Brennan, Louis; Vecchi, Alessandra; Crowe, Deirdre

doi:10.2139/ssrn.922015

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Drawing on our previous work on innovation and performance particularly of Irish based manufacturing (Crowe et al , 2007; Brennan et al , 2002, 2003) as well as work on quality priorities, practices and performance between indigenous and foreign firms (Vecchi and Brennan, 2006; Brennan et al , 2005), this paper endorses the view that a fuller understanding of quality can be reached only by embracing these concomitant perspectives, namely priorities, practices and performance. In particular we endorse the idea that the means by which priorities are transposed into practices, and how these practices are assessed (performance) are likely to be affected by national cultures.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 69%

Quality management: a cross‐cultural perspective

Vecchi

Brennan

2009

Cross Cultural Management

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PurposeThe aim of this paper is to present the results of a survey administered across 23 countries that examines quality priorities, practices and performance by adopting Hofstede's national cultural framework. The purpose of this study is to test the validity of the “culture‐specific” argument as an explanatory construct for explaining quality management.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in 2006 as part of the IV iteration of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. The methodology involved the use of a self‐administered questionnaire to director/head of operations/manufacturing in best practice firms within the sector of firms classified by ISIC codes (rev.3.1) Divisions 28‐35.FindingsFrom the findings it emerges that whereas differences in priorities can be affected by masculinity and uncertainty avoidance to a very small degree, all the four dimensions of culture significantly affect quality practice and three of the four dimensions affect performance to a greater extent.Practical implicationsThe paper contributes to the validation of the “culture‐specific” hypothesis in relation to quality management by addressing its managerial implications. In particular it calls for a fuller appreciation of cultural dimensions which will in turn help firms to better align their quality practices towards the attainment of improved quality performance.Originality/valueWhereas the traditional literature on quality practices in its attempt to explain existing differences across countries addresses the issue of convergence or divergence of quality practices across countries, this paper analyses similarities and differences by comparing quality priorities, practices and performance across Hofstede's four cultural dimensions. The paper also proposes an original interpretative framework where variations in both quality practices and performance can be explained by some identifiable mechanisms either of “better fit” or “compensation”.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 69%