Quality management: a compulsory requirement to achieve effectiveness

Abstract

Quality management (QM), knowledge management (KM), and organisational culture make up critical resources for sustained competitive advantage of the organisation. Individually, each contributes to perceived organisational effectiveness (POE). A review of the literature suggests that alignment between these factors is of paramount importance to increase the overall effectiveness of the organisation and that there might be several paths for the organisation to achieve this goal. Therefore, our research aims to determine which combinations of the following organisational resources and capabilities (QM, KM, Values, and Values Fit) should be included to achieve a better POE. To examine joint effects of several factors, configuration theory logic was adopted. The analysis was relying on complementarity between qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 73 cases were analysed by a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). This analysis suggested that alignment between QM and KM, on the one hand; and among QM, values, and value fit, on the other hand, is key to improve POE. Our findings indicate that QM is a crucial condition of POE. These results offer interesting and useful implications for both academics and managers.