Why Total Quality Management Programs Do Not Persist: The Role of Management Quality and Implications for Leading a TQM Transformation*

Top‐down total quality management (TQM) programs often fail to create deep and sustained change in organizations. They become a fad soon replaced by another fad. Failure to institutionalize TQM can be attributed to a gap between top management's rhetoric about their intentions for TQM and the reality of implementation in various subunits of the organization. The gap varies from subunit to subunit due to the quality of management in each. By quality of management is meant the capacity of senior team to (1) develop commitment to the new TQM direction and behave and make decisions that are consistent with it, (2) develop the cross‐functional mechanisms, leadership skills, and team culture needed for TQM implementation, and (3) create a climate of open dialogues about progress in the TQM transformation that will enable learning and further change. The TQM transformations will persist only if top management requires and ultimately institutionalizes an honest organizational‐wide conversation that surfaces valid data about the quality of management in each subunit of the firm and leads to changes in management quality or replacement of managers.     

The integration of TQM and technology/R&D management in determining quality and innovation performance

This paper presents an empirical study which examines the co-alignment between Total Quality Management (TQM) and technology/research and development (R&D) management in predicting organizational performance in terms of quality and innovation. This study improves our understanding of the relationship between TQM and innovation based on the following two major issues. First, this study contributes to the understanding of the co-alignment between TQM and technology management along with R&D management by bridging the gap between the two areas which are often addressed in a separate fashion. Second, this study also examines the impact of the integration between TQM and technology/R&D on quality and innovation performance which have been considered as the primary sources of a competitive advantage. The empirical data was drawn from 194 Australian organizations and analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. The findings indicate that TQM shows a strong predictive power against quality performance but no significant relationship against innovation performance. On the other hand, technology and R&D management shows a significant relationship with quality performance but at a lower level than that of TQM, and shows much stronger relationship with innovation performance. In addition, there is strong and positive correlation between TQM and technology/R&D management. The major implication of this study is that technology/R&D management is an appropriate resource to be used in harmony with TQM to enhance organizational performance, particularly innovation.     

我国民营企业政治关联、多元化战略与公司绩效

本文以我国2002-2005年在沪深证券交易所上市的民营企业为样本,综合考察了政治关联与多元化对公司绩效的共同影响,探讨企业政治关联是否具有多元化效应,这种多元化效应是否真正促进了企业绩效的实现。本文研究结果发现:第一,无政治关联企业的多元化与公司业绩关系呈倒U型,具有政治关联的企业多元化与公司业绩关系呈逆L型;第二,具有政治关联的企业更可能实施多元化,尤其是非相关多元化;第三,有政治关联的民营企业在进行国际化发展时,更有可能通过非相关多元化战略进行扩张,但是对于无政治关联的企业,则更可能通过专业化战略拓展海外市场。进一步,本文发现,国际化与相关多元化在一定程度上存在着替代关系,而与非相关多元化存在一定程度的互补关系;第四,具有政治关联企业的多元化(包括相关多元化与非相关多元化)比无政治关联企业更可能促进企业短期经营状况的改善,即会计绩效的提高;但具有政治关联企业的非相关多元化将对未来的绩效表现产生负面影响,即损害公司的市场价值。     

企业文化与组织绩效关系研究

近年来,企业文化对企业经营绩效的影响备受重视,企业文化在企业核心竞争力中的作用也越来越重要。因此,企业文化与组织绩效间关系的研究已成为刻不容缓的课题。本文尝试以中国大陆和台湾两地区的企业为研究对象,实施问卷调查,对所收集的资料进行分析,比较两岸企业文化的差异,并探讨企业文化与组织绩效的关系,最后提出本研究的主要发现与建议。     

Zombies and Originals: How Cultural Theory Informs Stakeholder Management

The question of stakeholder salience has recently resurfaced in the suggestion that the ethical foundations of corporate cultures result in stakeholder cultures that largely explain how firms allocate resources among stakeholders. The present article seeks to complement this novel approach to understanding stakeholder management by adding insights from the multilevel influences that create the corporate culture in the first place, and ultimately affect managers in their stakeholder decisions. This article draws on cultural theory to examine how the individuals who compose firms present group and grid solidarity that results in cultural biases in the corporate culture. These cultural biases—individualism, hierarchy, fatalism, and egalitarianism—are then paired with the stakeholder cultures they enable, and inferences are extracted concerning the salience managers are likely to accord to various classes of stakeholders as a result. Future research and managerial implications stemming from this new view on stakeholder management conclude this article.     

企业文化系统及其塑造研究

在心理契约与企业文化比较研究的基础上,以心理契约为基础,给出了企业文化的定 义,较系统地研究了企业文化理论;构建了企业文化系统模型,从塑造的角度解析了其维度构 成;并应用绩效报酬激励机制,提出建设企业强文化的方法. 最后,运用案例进行了实证分析     

战略聚焦视角下的文化特性与新产品创造力研究

 基于竞争价值框架和战略理论,在新产品开发过程中,企业文化特性与战略聚焦因素的有效适应或协同对新产品创造力有积极的影响作用。企业文化特性是指一组企业成员所共享的价值观、规范、信仰和群体性认知,能够影响并塑造组织成员的认知、动机和能力,因而在新产品研发阶段对企业产生新想法和解决创造性问题的能力均有重要影响。目前相关研究已开始探讨员工所处的企业文化环境对其新颖而有用想法的产生能力(即创造力)的影响。但鲜有研究在企业层面分析企业文化特性与企业战略的交互对新产品创造力的作用机理。        从竞争价值框架和战略聚焦视角出发,深入分析企业不同文化特性与新产品创造力之间的作用关系,建立基于战略聚焦视角的文化特性-创造力匹配模型,并实证检验新产品开发过程中两类企业文化特性对新产品创造力的影响以及战略聚焦变量在这一过程中的调节机理。为了揭示企业文化特性影响新产品创造力的作用机理,在直接检验柔性导向文化和控制导向文化与新产品创造力关系的基础上,深入分析并检验组织内外部战略聚焦变量(长期导向和企业家导向）对上述关系的调节作用。        以209家中国企业为研究对象进行实证研究,结果表明柔性导向文化和控制导向文化均正向促进新产品创造力;企业家导向正向调节柔性导向文化和控制导向文化与新产品创造力之间的关系;而长期导向对柔性导向文化和控制导向文化与新产品创造力之间关系的调节作用是非线性、倒U形的,即在新产品开发过程中,中等强度的长期导向对企业两种类型文化与新产品创造力的促进作用最强。        研究结论为探讨企业文化特性的激励效能提供了新的理论视角,并对企业在新产品开发过程中的战略聚焦规划和创造力管理有重要的实践指导意义。     

Quality Management and Cooperative Values: Investigation of Multilevel Influences on Workgroup Performance

Unsuccessful quality initiatives often are attributed to an organizational culture that does not recognize the importance of the cooperative values that underlie “soft” quality management practices, like customer focus and empowerment. Yet, the literature remains unclear as to how quality management and cooperative values interrelate by failing to incorporate the multilevel influences on this relationship in organizations. This research analyzes a multilevel model based on sociotechnical systems and quality management theories. Secondary data are used to test an explanation of how organizational‐level and workgroup‐level quality management practices relate to cooperative cultural values and workgroup performance. A single‐level model is also tested to demonstrate its inadequacies. Based upon the support for a multilevel model, managerial insights are provided that aid in deciding where resources should be allocated during a quality initiative.     

A Corporate Culture Pattern to Manage Business Ethics

Within the general frame of proposals for an adequate management of business ethics, this paper is based on the vision of corporate culture as a pattern to achieve such purpose. If we consider ethics as a specific value of corporate culture, we may resort to the mechanism of cultural change and implementation in order to manage ethics. Despite the difficulties it entails in terms of time and money investment, this procedure is one of the safest ways to reach ethical values which are known, shared and then practiced by all the members of a corporation, whatever the category. From this central standpoint, and basing ourselves on our own proposal for the management of culture, we shall describe which specific steps must be taken in order to achieve a set of ethical values which are both realistic and furthermore shared by all collaborators of an organization.     

并购后高管变更、合法性与并购绩效——基于制度理论的视角

并购后的高管变更对于企业的并购绩效具有重要的影响,但目前的研究结论没有取得一致性。本文基于制度理论的视角引入合法性的概念,通过123份并购样本实证分析了并购后高管变更、合法性以及并购绩效之间的关系。研究结果显示:并购后高管变更与并购的外部合法性和内部合法性之间均存在显著的负相关;而外部合法性和内部合法性对于并购绩效具有显著的积极作用。本研究结论对于我国企业的并购后高管变更决策以及如何提升并购绩效具有理论指导意义。     

组织文化演变驱动力的实证研究

组织文化是组织战略性竞争优势的重要组成部分。在前人研究的基础上,本文首先区分了组织文化变革两种类型——改革与演变,并以组织文化演变为研究对象,进一步提出驱动组织文化演变的三种驱动力——组织任务环境变化、组织内部环境变化和组织成员参与程度,通过结构方程模型就三种驱动力对组织文化演变的作用及三种驱动力之间的关系进行实证研究。研究结论表明,组织内部环境变化对组织文化演变起正向作用,组织任务环境变化对组织文化演变起负向作用,组织员工参与程度通过组织内部环境变化这一中介变量,对组织文化演变起正向作用。     

双元文化、创新战略与科技企业创业绩效:一个知识流的视角

运用组织双元理论、战略管理理论和认知学习理论,构建了一个基于知识流动过程的双元文化机制、创新战略与科技企业创业绩效的关系框架,通过介入网络结构和领导调节因子来观察双元性三种前因机制的共同作用过程。对长江三角洲科技园区的283家小微创业型科技企业进行了实证调查,采用SPSS和AMOS软件进行统计分析,结果表明:双元文化通过改善企业创新战略的均衡实施来提高其创业绩效,其对突破及利润导向的战略行为均有正向影响;网络关系强度和权力距离在双元文化与创新战略之间产生调节作用,网络关系强度对利润导向行为产生正向调节,权力距离对利润导向行为的影响不显著,它们对突破导向行为均呈负向调节。研究将双元视角引入到组织与战略关系研究当中,对信息时代下的中国科技企业创业创新有一定的指导意义。     

Mergers: enhancing human resources management

The health care industry is experiencing merger mania, but the majority of its current leadership underestimates the importance that significant differences in corporate culture and employee morale play among physicians and others in implementing such organizational objectives as enhancing access, reducing cost, and improving quality of care. The key human resources management issues are discussed that are too often overlooked and frequently sidetracked in the formation of powerful health networks now so prevalent in almost every metropolitan region. The authors conclude that in America's intensely competitive managed care environment, there are a number of critical human resources management ingredients that deal makers need to achieve from these mergers in order to ensure their perceived objectives: (1) paying far greater attention to variations in corporate culture and employee morale; (2) reducing total salary and fringe benefit costs; and, (3) concurrently recruiting and maintaining a qualified and stable workforce that focuses more decisively on clinical-fiscal concerns so as to improve quality of patient care at a lower cost.     

A Corporate Culture Pattern to Manage Business Ethics

Within the general frame of proposals for an adequate management of business ethics, this paper is based on the vision of corporate culture as a pattern to achieve such purpose. If we consider ethics as a specific value of corporate culture, we may resort to the mechanism of cultural change and implementation in order to manage ethics. Despite the difficulties it entails in terms of time and money investment, this procedure is one of the safest ways to reach ethical values which are known, shared and then practiced by all the members of a corporation, whatever the category. From this central standpoint, and basing ourselves on our own proposal for the management of culture, we shall describe which specific steps must be taken in order to achieve a set of ethical values which are both realistic and furthermore shared by all collaborators of an organization. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Organizational Stages and Cultural Phases: A Critical Review and a Consolidative Model of Corporate Social Responsibility Development

Based on a stakeholder-oriented conceptualization of corporate social responsibility (CSR), this paper offers a multi-dimensional, dynamic perspective which integrates moral, cultural and strategic aspects of the CSR development process, together with its organizational implications. Therefore, the authors link existing stage models of CSR development with stakeholder culture and social responsiveness continuums and provide a consolidative model which highlights a seven-stage development process towards CSR, articulated around three cultural phases (i.e. CSR reluctance, CSR grasp and CSR embedment). In a context in which literature on CSR development and implementation tends to be overly segmented, this consolidative model integrates organizational values and culture together with management processes and operations. In its emphasis on the importance of the organizational context and characteristics in analyses of organizations' CSR development, the proposed consolidative model offers novel research perspectives and highlights the relevance of adopting a phase-dependent approach.     

Success through culture change in a Japanese brewery

The birth, growth and subsequent decline of Asahi Brewery is described up to the appointment of a new president of the company and the introduction of a new management concept. This brought a change in strategic direction and the development of new products. Changes in corporate culture at the top and middle level of management encouraged change in employee culture. Improvements of organizational structure and programmes are described and principles for change in corporate culture are extrapolated.     

The impact of environmental characteristics on TQM principles and organizational performance

One recurrent theme within the literature on total quality management (TQM) is the study of its effect on organizational performance. Nonetheless, most research has focused on analyzing the relationships between the implementation of different elements and several types of performance. This paper incorporates the effect of organizational environment as a variable for explaining the impact of TQM on business results. The model is tested using structural equations, employing a survey of quality managers in 273 Spanish firms. The causal analysis results show that dynamism, munificence and complexity influence the degree of implementation of the main TQM principles. The most relevant effects emerge as a result of the environmental dynamism, and the least effects are due to munificence. Similarly, the dimensions of TQM have an impact on different types of performance. The model can be used by organizations to assess their level of TQM success depending on specific environmental characteristics.     

Innovation, cultural values, and the management of change in British hospitals

This paper describes the results of a study of innovation in the management teams of 27 UK hospitals. It is argued that the content of innovations provides an accurate representation of the underlying cultural values of the management teams, and the cultural values which they seek to purvey within the wider organizational settings. The authors propose that values in action (as opposed to espoused values) are manifest in the range of innovations introduced by top management within organizations. Using a typology of organizational culture, they categorize the innovations introduced by the management teams, in order to map their underlying cultural values. The results indicate predominant orientations of hospital management teams towards rational goal and hierarchical values in the current context of health care in Britain. Internal climate and service innovations were relatively infrequent, suggesting that the hospitals were dominated by management concern for control rather than flexibility. The costs of such cultural strategies in health service settings are discussed.     

产品模块化对组织绩效的影响：中国情境下的实证研究

产品模块化问题越来越引起学术界和企业界的重视,但是理论上关于产品模块化能否提升组织绩效以及其作用机制尚不清晰。在理论推演的基础上,通过实证研究探讨了产品模块化对组织绩效的不同影响机制。研究发现,产品模块化除了直接影响企业的短期绩效外,还会通过提高企业的门槛能力和重要性能力来提升短期绩效水平;另一方面,产品模块化通过提高技术创新水平来提升企业的未来性能力进而影响增长绩效。创新之处在于,对之前学者的研究模型做了进一步的整合与发展,证明了处于经济转型的中国情境下,产品模块化对企业短期绩效和增长绩效的不同影响机制。最后讨论了本研究对当前管理实践的启示和未来研究方向。     

Knowledge management in consultancy-involved process improvement projects: cases from Chinese SMEs

Abstract

Knowledge management (KM) is considered as an effective strategy to improve organizational performance. In its application to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), resource constraints mean that exploitation of knowledge from external sources is often needed. This study explores practical KM issues encountered by Chinese SMEs when working with management consultants to introduce new business improvement practices. A comparative case study is conducted focusing on two consultancy-involved process improvement projects in Chinese manufacturing SMEs. The case results suggest a clear KM strategy is needed at the outset of the project and SME managers and employees need to play a proactive role in the learning and adoption of new knowledge. The research is novel in that it is the first study to explore knowledge management and the notion of liminality within the context of consultancy-involved Chinese SME improvement projects. The paper culminates with two research propositions that require further empirical study.