Assessing the individual and synergistic effects of quality management practices on operations performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Jinhui Wu
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Performance Goals ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Effects ◽  
Operations Performance ◽  
The Individual

Purpose Quality management (QM) practices have long been suggested as a package to improve the quality performance of a company. Yet, empirical studies offered little support of this perspective as only a small set of QM practices were found to be conductive to quality improvement. By taking a new approach, the purpose of this paper is simultaneously evaluate the individual and synergistic effects of several key quality practices on operations performance. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected and used to test the proposed hypotheses. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to assess the magnitude of synergistic effects and individual effects. Findings It is found in this study that the synergistic effects across QM practices are substantial in enhancing all operations performance dimensions whereas individual effect varies for different performance goals. Originality/value This study makes theoretical contributes to the field of QM by providing empirical support of the interdependence assumption of QM practices and resolving the inconsistent findings. Practically, the results suggest that in-depth implementation of various QM practices simultaneously can be highly effective to achieve performance improvement on all accounts. In addition, the positive additional individual effects also open up a firm’s strategic choices of where to focus the resource investment in the adoption process as long as the strategic focus can justify its contribution toward the desired performance goals.

Supply-side resilience as practice bundles: a critical incident study

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 948-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandar Dabhilkar ◽  
Seyoum Eshetu Birkie ◽  
Matti Kaulio
Keyword(s):  
Critical Incident ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supply Disruptions ◽  
Operations Performance ◽  
Practice Bundles ◽  
Resilience Capabilities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a typology of supply-side resilience capabilities and empirically validates these capabilities and their constituent bundles of practices. Design/methodology/approach – The study is primarily qualitative, employing the critical incident technique to collect data across 22 firms and seeking to validate how and why practice bundles form and relate to operations performance. It contains a frequency of occurrence analysis for the purpose of triangulation, a minor statistical part to provide some additional evidence of bundle formation and correlation between adoption of bundles of practices and recovered operations performance after upstream supply chain disruptions. Findings – Four supply-side resilience capabilities are conceptualized along two dichotomous dimensions – “proactive/reactive” and “internal/external” – in a 2×2 matrix as proactive-internal, proactive-external, reactive-internal and reactive-external resilience capabilities. Empirical support for the conceptualized typology is found. Bundles of specific practices that can be associated with each capability are identified. Moreover, the study finds a relationship between these practice bundles and recovered operations performance. Research limitations/implications – The statistical part is used just to provide some additional evidence through factor and regression analyses that these capabilities exist and do benefit adopting firms. Practical implications – Specifies practices that lead to recovered operations performance in the event of supply disruptions. Originality/value – Advances current theory by operationalizing resilience as a set of dynamic capabilities in terms of practice bundles that aid in recovering operations performance upon supply disruptions.

scholarly journals Synergistic and Additive Effects of Chromosomal and Plasmid-Encoded Hemolysins Contribute to Hemolysis and Virulence in Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae

2013 ◽  
Vol 81 (9) ◽  
pp. 3287-3299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amable J. Rivas ◽  
Miguel Balado ◽  
Manuel L. Lemos ◽  
Carlos R. Osorio
Keyword(s):  
Animal Species ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Additive Effects ◽  
Iron Starvation ◽  
Triple Mutant ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Photobacterium Damselae ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

ABSTRACTPhotobacterium damselaesubsp.damselaecauses infections and fatal disease in marine animals and in humans. Highly hemolytic strains produce damselysin (Dly) and plasmid-encoded HlyA (HlyApl). These hemolysins are encoded by plasmid pPHDD1 and contribute to hemolysis and virulence for fish and mice. In this study, we report that all the hemolytic strains produce a hitherto uncharacterized chromosome-encoded HlyA (HlyAch). Hemolysis was completely abolished in a singlehlyAchmutant of a plasmidless strain and in adly hlyAplhlyAchtriple mutant. We found that Dly, HlyApl, and HlyAchare needed for full hemolytic values in strains harboring pPHDD1, and these values are the result of the additive effects between HlyApland HlyAch, on the one hand, and of the synergistic effect of Dly with HlyApland HlyAch, on the other hand. Interestingly, Dly-producing strains produced synergistic effects with strains lacking Dly production but secreting HlyA, constituting a case of the CAMP (Christie,Atkins, andMunch-Petersen) reaction. Environmental factors such as iron starvation and salt concentration were found to regulate the expression of the three hemolysins. We found that the contributions, in terms of the individual and combined effects, of the three hemolysins to hemolysis and virulence varied depending on the animal species tested. While Dly and HlyAplwere found to be main contributors in the virulence for mice, we observed that the contribution of hemolysins to virulence for fish was mainly based on the synergistic effects between Dly and either of the two HlyA hemolysins rather than on their individual effects.

Disentangling the individual entrepreneurial orientation and SMEs success nexus: an action-based interplay of exploration activities and entrepreneurial alertness

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Raza Bilal ◽  
Tehreem Fatima
Keyword(s):  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Entrepreneurial Alertness ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Conditional Indirect Effects

Purpose This study aims to extend the much-held strategic entrepreneurial orientation stance and conceptualized it as a psychological disposition of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) owners. Based on this notion, the authors theorized that individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) is a precursor of success in manufacturing sector SMEs. Building on the credo of action regulation, the authors clarified the IEO and SMEs’ success association by introducing exploration activities as a conduit. Further, the authors posited that entrepreneurial alertness augments the nexus of IEO, exploration activities and SMEs success. Design/methodology/approach A three-wave survey was done by drawing a cluster-based sample of 389 SME owners in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. The mediation and moderation analysis were done by PROCESS macro that uses bootstrapping with 5,000 draws to calculate the indirect (Model 4), conditional and conditional indirect effects (Model 7) at a 95% confidence interval. Findings The results offered empirical support to the conjectured association among IEO and SMEs’ success mediated by exploration activities. Moreover, the conditional direct (between IEO and exploration activities) and indirect impact (among IEO and SMEs’ success mediated by exploration activities) of entrepreneurial alertness was substantiated. Originality/value The authors added to the sprouting body of knowledge in the field of entrepreneurial orientation by focusing on its individual-level psychological conception. The authors have unlocked the interplay between IEO and SMEs’ success via the role of action characteristics of exploration activities and entrepreneurial alertness based on the action regulation tenet. Thus, the authors made a novel contribution by linking the micro-level entrepreneurial orientation and actions with macro-level SMEs' success.

An empirically validated quality management measurement instrument

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prakash J. Singh ◽  
Alan Smith
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Measurement Instrument ◽  
Psychometric Validation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Manufacturing Organizations

PurposeTo develop a quality management (QM) measurement instrument that has sound psychometric properties and recognizes a key feature of the field, i.e. QM is currently characterized by three competing approaches: standards‐based; prize‐criteria; and, elemental implementation approaches.Design/methodology/approachThe three disparate approaches were analyzed to identify sets of key constructs and associated items. The assembled instrument was empirically validated through a survey of 418 Australian manufacturing organizations. A full set of reliability and validity tests were performed. Wherever applicable, confirmatory approach using structural equation modeling was used.FindingsThe results of psychometric tests suggest that the constructs of the three approaches have good empirical support. In the manner in which the instrument is presented, it is possible to separately measure constructs related to each of the three approaches.Research limitations/implicationsThe measurement instrument has been validated with manufacturing organizations from Australia. It is applicability to other industry sectors or country contexts needs to be verified.Practical implicationsPractitioners and consultants can use the measurement instrument for conducting QM benchmarking exercises within and across organizations. Researchers can use the instrument in future studies for, inter alia, theory development in the area.Originality/valueThe measurement instrument overcomes the shortcomings of the existing instruments by explicitly including all three practical approaches to quality management. Also, a rigorous psychometric validation process is adopted that provides credible outcomes.

Synergistic Effects of APOE and CLU May Increase the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease: Acceleration of Atrophy in the Volumes and Shapes of the Hippocampus and Amygdala

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 1311-1327
Author(s):  
Na An ◽  
Yu Fu ◽  
Jie Shi ◽  
Han-Ning Guo ◽  
Zheng-Wu Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Combined Effects ◽  
Individual Effects ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Neuroimaging Genetics ◽  
Surface Based Morphometry

Background: The volume loss of the hippocampus and amygdala in non-demented individuals has been reported to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Many neuroimaging genetics studies mainly focused on the individual effects of APOE and CLU on neuroimaging to understand their neural mechanisms, whereas their synergistic effects have been rarely studied. Objective: To assess whether APOE and CLU have synergetic effects, we investigated the epistatic interaction and combined effects of the two genetic variants on morphological degeneration of hippocampus and amygdala in the non-demented elderly at baseline and 2-year follow-up. Methods: Besides the widely-used volume indicator, the surface-based morphometry method was also adopted in this study to evaluate shape alterations. Results: Our results showed a synergistic effect of homozygosity for the CLU risk allele C in rs11136000 and APOE ɛ4 on the hippocampal and amygdalar volumes during a 2-year follow-up. Moreover, the combined effects of APOE ɛ4 and CLU C were stronger than either of the individual effects in the atrophy progress of the amygdala. Conclusion: These findings indicate that brain morphological changes are caused by more than one gene variant, which may help us to better understand the complex endogenous mechanism of AD.

Business customers’ readiness to adopt manufacturer’s new services

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eija Vaittinen ◽  
Miia Martinsuo ◽  
Roland Ortt
Keyword(s):  
Adoption Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Context ◽  
Service Adoption ◽  
Readiness To Adopt ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Business Customers ◽  
Business To Business ◽  
A Company

Purpose For successful servitization, manufacturing firms must understand how their customers adopt new services. The purpose of this paper is to explore customers’ readiness for a manufacturer’s new services to complement its goods. The goal is to increase knowledge of the aspects that manufacturers should consider when bringing new kinds of services to market. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study design is used to analyze readiness for services and interest in service adoption in three customer firms of a manufacturer. The interview data were collected from 14 persons at customer sites and were content analyzed. Findings The results show that readiness – a concept that is often used in the field of technology – is relevant also for the service adoption process. In a business-to-business context, readiness for service adoption concerns the individual and organizational levels, and hence a new dimension of organizational culture and habits had to be added to the concept that originally focuses on individuals. People consider different factors when making consecutive decisions during the service adoption process and these factors can vary even within a company. The cornerstone for new service adoption is the customer firm’s actual need for the service. Originality/value The results offer new knowledge about service adoption in a business-to-business context by taking a customer firm’s perspective. They, thus, complement previous studies on the supplier perspective of servitization and service adoption in consumer business. The contributions help manufacturers focus their efforts when bringing new services to market.

Mapping the TQM implementation

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 3081-3116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vimal Kumar ◽  
R.R.K. Sharma ◽  
Pratima Verma ◽  
Kuei-Kuei Lai ◽  
Yu-Hsin Chang
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Strategic Orientation ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Business Competitiveness ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Culture is considered as one of the variables that influence the total quality management (TQM) adoption process. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between cultural dimensions and the strategy of the firms in TQM implementation. These relationships are the subject of prior research. Furthermore, the authors make a comparative analysis of cultural dimensions on strategic choices of the firms, i.e. innovators, prospectors and defenders in TQM implementation. Design/methodology/approach From the existing literature review on TQM practices and organizational culture, 14 cultural dimensions were employed with organizational strategy in this present study. By using survey data collection method, 111 Indian firms were selected. The authors considered three strategy parameters and six structural attributes to identify the strategy of the firms, namely innovators, prospectors and defenders identified using cluster analysis. Furthermore, the relationship between organizational culture and strategy was examined using one-way ANOVA approach. Findings The results of the study revealed that eleven of the fourteen hypotheses supported which relating the cultural dimensions to TQM implementation with the strategic orientation. With the help of significant related values of cultural dimensions to the particular strategic firms, it is also found that implementation of TQM is easy or not. Some of the organizations with a particular strategic orientation will be able to implement TQM easily and successfully but some organizations will have difficulty to implement it successfully. Practical implications The firms hold their importance with respect to the different strategic orientation toward the various aspects of organizational cultures and TQM approaches in its implementation. Managerially, due to increased business competitiveness and economic pressures, top management sees the way in adopting TQM practices to achieve a competitive advantage. Apparently, it is evident that matching of TQM practices for a different strategy of the firms with various cultural dimensions leads to the smooth functioning of the organization. This study helps to the current organizations in implementing TQM with their respective culture. Originality/value This research can be useful for three strategic firms, namely innovators, prospectors and defenders to achieve effective implementation of TQM practices with consideration and understanding of the advantage of each culture dimension. The framework of the current study represents the effectiveness in assessing the TQM practices in individual cultural dimensions and its significant role.

Total quality management practices and organizational performance in the construction chemicals companies in Jordan

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 3180-3205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neven Androwis ◽  
Rateb J. Sweis ◽  
Ali Tarhini ◽  
Alireza Moarefi ◽  
Mahmood Hosseini Amiri
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Total Quality Management ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Management Practices ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between total quality management practices and the organizational performance in the Jordanian construction chemicals companies. Design/methodology/approach In this research, ten constructs were used to measure TQM practices, whereas six constructs were used to measure the organizational performance. A total of 160 questionnaires were distributed to 28 companies. Of these 131 questionnaires were completed and used for the analysis, representing a response rate of 81.9 percent. Findings Analysis has shown that TQM practices positively affect the organizational performance, with a significant value for top management commitment, customer focus, supplier management, process control and continuous improvement. Research limitations/implications Results were based on perceptual data provided by participants working in different sectors of the organization, which may not provide a clear picture. It would be appropriate to consider collecting information from several stakeholders such as customers and suppliers. Willingness of respondents and delivering data within time were a big challenge though efforts were made to guarantee the confidentiality of the respondents. Practical implications Results from this research points out that TQM is considered as a key-contributing factor to firm’s survival. It also provides empirical support that TQM implementation in manufacturing organizations contributes to the performance and survival of such organizations. This research also provides an understanding of the dynamic role of TQM practices that would help managers pay attention to the fundamental practices that have a direct impact on the firms’ performance. This will help the organizations to dedicate efforts and allocate resources to get the best long-term outcomes and to figure out their strengths and weaknesses to develop and implement a new strategy to enhance their competitive position. Originality/value Construction sector in Jordan is a competitive sector. Therefore, quality in such industry is vital. Many companies in Jordan have much interest in implementing TQM practices. However, research efforts related to this field are rare. No research papers investigating the relationship between TQM practices and performance in Jordanian construction chemicals companies have been found. This research, therefore, seeks to examine the relationship between TQM practices and the construction chemicals firms’ performance in Jordan.

Causal paths to acceptance of technological innovations by individual employees

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majharul Talukder
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Innovation Adoption ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Adoption Of Innovation ◽  
The Individual

Purpose Despite much research on organizations’ adoption of innovation, little is currently known about individual employees have gone about it. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the determinants that address individual employees’ decisions concerning innovation in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 272 employees from a tertiary education institution in Australia using a structured instrument. Findings Results from the structural equation modeling analysis indicate that enjoyment and motivation impact significantly on attitudes to an innovation, which, in turn, affects how employees behave toward it. Practical implications Furthermore, organizational patronage, innovativeness and self-image have been found to influence the innovation adoption process. These findings have implications for the effective management and implementation of an innovation at the individual level. Originality/value Although innovation adoption has been studied extensively, drivers of adoption and research on individual innovation acceptance remain limited. Designing an effective approach for increasing end-user acceptance and subsequent use of innovation continues to be a fundamental challenge. The current literature indicates that we know relatively little about the ways in which individuals adopt and the factors that influence individual adoption of innovation. This study is designed to fill that gap. The identification of the factors is important to create a work environment that is conducive to individual adoption of innovation and thereby gain the expected benefits from the innovation.

scholarly journals Technology transfer as a part of the business – inter-organizational transfer strategies based on experiences of aircraft production

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Fredriksson ◽  
Anna Malm ◽  
Erik Skov Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Performance Goals ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Transfer Capability ◽  
Transfer Strategies ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Aircraft Production

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is through a literature study and a study of the Saab offset cases to identify strategies to increase inter-organizational transfer capability.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a literature study and a study of three of Saab’s offset cases and Saab’s process for technology transfer.FindingsThis study has identified inter-organizational transfer strategies based on the importance of the hierarchy of decision-making and the change from capacity transfers to capability transfers in offset business. The type of performance goals set in the business agreement decides how to realize the transfer. The hierarchy of decision-making creates a need to align the understanding of the performance goals between the different parts of the organization, which affect the plans for how to transfer knowledge between the organizational as well as the individual levels. To reach the performance goals of the technology transfer, there needs to be a balance between the disseminative capability of the sender and the absorptive capability of the receiver.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on a single case within a relatively unique industry with an offset perspective and production transfers. Therefore, there is also a need for future studies to confirm the identified relationships within outsourcing/offset within other industries and other types of transfers.Originality/valueA change from capacity transfers to capability transfers in both outsourcing/offshoring and offset business indicates that more research should be placed on the disseminative capacity of the sender. The literature review revealed that the disseminative capacity of the sender has been the subject of less research than the absorptive capacity of the receiver.

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