Journal of Operations Management · 2007 · 491 citations · 125 references
Total Quality ManagementCustomer SatisfactionSupply Chain PerformanceFirm PerformanceClient-supplier RelationshipsQuality Management SystemsManagementLogisticsSupply ChainProcess ManagementProduct QualityQuality ControlSupply Chain DesignSupply Chain ManagementStrategic ManagementOperations ManagementSupplier ManagementMarketingSupply ManagementSupplier RelationshipBusinessImproved Product QualitySupplier Quality Management
Researchers are increasingly exploring quality management within supply chains, noting that SCM includes both internal and external practices such as supplier quality management and customer focus. The study investigates how supplier quality management and customer focus improve firm performance, replicating and extending prior relationships and examining antecedent and mediating practices. Using survey data from U.S. firms, the authors replicated and extended prior QM–performance relationships from Kaynak (2003).
Abstract As competition moves beyond a single firm into the supply chain, researchers are beginning to explore quality management (QM) in a supply chain context. The literature suggests that supply chain management (SCM) consists of internal practices, which are contained within a firm, and external practices, which cross organizational boundaries integrating a firm with its customers and suppliers. Supplier quality management and customer focus are two QM practices that are also clearly in the domain of SCM. In this study we investigate how these two supply chain management‐related quality practices lead to improved performance and examine the practices that precede and mediate those relationships. In doing so, we replicate and extend the relationships among the QM practices and their effects on firm performance suggested in Kaynak [Kaynak, H., 2003. The relationship between total quality management practices and their effects on firm performance. Journal of Operations Management 21, 405–435] using survey data gathered from firms operating in the U.S. The inclusion of customer focus and supplier quality management in the QM model supports the importance of internal and external integration for quality performance. Implications of the results for researchers and practitioners are discussed, and further research implications are suggested.
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