Towards a quality management competence framework: exploring needed competencies in quality management

Abstract

Few empirical studies have focused on what quality management practitioners actually do, with even fewer studies focusing on what it actually takes to do quality management work, i.e. the competencies of quality management. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a competence-based terminology for describing general competencies of quality management work in organisations and to create a competence framework in order to understand what is needed to be a quality management practitioner. This paper is based on an embedded, qualitative multiple-case study design incorporating four Swedish large size organisations where designated quality management practitioners (n = 33) were selected and interviewed. A quality management competence framework incorporating four main quality management competence dimensions is presented: the human, the methods & process, the conceptual and the contextual competence dimensions. Four generic quality management role responsibilities are also posited: centralised & strategic, centralised & operational, local & strategic and local & operational role responsibilities. The competencies and role responsibilities are discussed in relation to the notion of emergent quality management and the emerging need of more integrative and business excellence-oriented quality management.

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

“…What is the role of Quality Managers to add this last element ('the musicians') to the 'orchestra'? Martin, et al [81] identified four main quality management responsibilities levels: centralised and strategic; centralised and operational; local and strategic; and local and operational. Other research works [5] have defended the idea that Quality professionals should develop a long-term perspective into a life cycle approach, bet on customer loyalty, and develop a more committed attitude towards work with quality.…”

The Many Meanings of Quality: Towards a Definition in Support of Sustainable Operations

“…The managerial implications of the proposed framework are based on a desire to aid in the understanding of current, and future roles of quality practitioners (Elg et al, 2011;Waddell & Mallen, 2001), as well as the competencies (Martin et al, 2019;Ponsignon et al, 2019) required in these roles. As an example, the scope dimension opens for discussions on competencies needed to work with quality improvements that supports increased value for buyers and users but at the same time minimised environmental impact.…”

“…In industry, most organisations have wellestablished quality departments (Sousa & Voss, 2002), but the method of organising quality work for best results is still being questioned. These questions are about the need for a separate quality profession (Waddell & Mallen, 2001), the quality practices that best influence business results (Gremyr et al, 2019), and competencies that the quality practitioners need to have (Martin et al, 2019;Ponsignon et al, 2019). All of these questions relate to the definition of quality and its meaning.…”

Exploring the work and competence of interactive researchers

“…), while competence in use refers to what the individual actually has the capacity to do and to the attributes of an employee that can be translated into a specific performance. The documentation of formal competence might not cover all of an individual's competence due to the implicit and tacit nature of competence in use (Ellström and Kock, 2008;Illeris, 2009;Martin et al, 2019;Warhurst and Thompson, 2006). Second, competence is strongly associated with working life contexts and the abilities of professionals to perform their work and carry out certain tasks (Sandberg, 2000), that is, knowing what to do and how to do it in a given situation.…”