Comparing Quality Management Practices between US and Mexico

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Comparing Quality Management Practices between US
and Mexico
Ganesh Babu Pavalarajan John Lim Chun
Shen Mahour Mellat Parast University of
Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Industrial and
Management Systems Engineering
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Presentation Outline

• Introduction
• Problem Definition
• Methodology
• Analysis
• Conclusions
• Limitations

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Introduction

• Quality management has been regarded as the
  second industrial revolution (Kanji, 1990).
• It focuses on continuous improvement and customer
  satisfaction.
• Started from engineering activities (statistical
  quality control).
• Developed managerial concept (JIT).

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Quality Management

• Is a fuzzy concept since the concept of quality
  is not well-established.
• Different scholars and practitioners define
  quality differently.
• There are a variety of definition and models for
  quality management.
• However, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
  Model (MBNQA) is the most agreed upon model for
  quality management.

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MBNQA

• Has been disseminated as an interdisciplinary
  approach to quality management (Wilson and
  Collier, 2000)
• An argument about the applicability of MBNQA for
  quality management (Bleakley, 1993 Fuchsberg,
  1992 Naj, 1993)
• Used as a model for quality management practices
  (Evans and Jack, 2003 Flynn and Saladin, 2001
  Ford and Evans, 2000 Pannirselvam and Ferguson,
  2001).
• Used as a framework for quality management study
  in the international context (Rao et al., 1999
  Lee et al., 2003).

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Quality Management Constructs

• Quality Leadership
• Quality Information and Analysis
• Strategic Planning Process
• Support of Human Resource Development
• Quality Assurance of products and services
• General Matters (Social Responsibility)
• Quality Results
• Customer Focus and Satisfaction

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Research on MBNQA

• Most research on MBNQA model has been conducted
  in the US (Evans and Jack, 2003 Flynn and
  Saladin, 2001 Ford and Evans, 2000 Pannirselvam
  and Ferguson, 2001).
• The research shows that Leadership drives the
  whole system.
• There is not much understanding of the
  applicability of MBNQA in other regions in the
  world.

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The Problem

• How MBNQA works in other regions?
• Is there an agreement on MBNQA criteria across
  countries?
• What are the differences and similarities?
• The approach is to compare Quality Management
• across the countries.

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Problem Definition

• To study the relationship between
• the Quality management practices
• across the companies in USA and
• Mexico

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Methodology

• Methodology adapted in this project is Survey
  Research.
• Questionnaire prepared based on the constructs of
  MBNQA.
• The consistency of the instrument is high
  (reliability higher than 0.88)
• Sample size US 258 and Mexico 113.

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Analysis

• Analyzed the data using the SPSS software.
• Investigated Correlation of each construct.
• Utilized Levenes test for testing equality of
  variance.
• Used T-test, Welch and Brown test for testing the
  equality of means.
• Linear and Multi variable Regression analysis is
  used to develop models.

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Hypotheses

• Group Comparison
• There is no difference between quality
  management practices between US and Mexico.
• Regression Analysis
• Determine what quality management practices
  explains (attribute to ) Quality Results and
  Customer Satisfaction in US and Mexico.

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Group Statistics
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Correlations
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Levenes and T-test
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Test of Equality of Means
Result shows significant difference between
general matters of quality (social
responsibility) between the US and Mexico.
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Regression Model
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Quality Results as dependent variable

• Mexico
• QR 0.95 0.41QAP 0.30GM 0.21SQ 0.18SHRD
• Relations of Quality Result with other constructs
  of MBQNA
• USA
• QR 7.69 0.39SQ 0.20QL 0.212QIA 0.161GM
• Relations of Quality Result with other constructs
  of MBQNA

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Customer satisfaction as dependent variable

• Mexico
• CFS 0.91 0.91GM 0.6QAP 0.46SPP
• Relations of Customer Satisfaction with other
  constructs of MBQNA
• USA
• CFS 0. 302 0.71SPP 0.68GM 0.29QAP 0.26SQ
• Relations of Customer Satisfaction with other
  constructs of MBQNA for USA

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Conclusion

• There is no difference between the quality
  management practices between the US and Mexico
  based on the Malcolm Baldrige criteria. However,
  there is significant difference in general
  matters (social responsibility).
• Hypotheses supports that quality management
  practices are universal and context-free. This is
  in line with Spencer (1994) which indicated that
  quality management recommendations tend to be
  universal

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Conclusion

• Regression analysis revealed supplier quality is
  an important predictor of quality results in both
  setting. This is in line with the recent trends
  in supply chain management which challenges the
  scope of quality management .
• Our findings supports the fact that the soft side
  of quality management, such as supplier quality,
  social responsibility and strategic planning of
  quality are important predictors of quality
  results in the US and Mexico.

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Limitations

• The difference between sample sizes between two
  groups may affect the selection of stronger
  tests.
• Result cannot be generalized to other regions
  around the world.
• The issue of Multi-Co-linearity (correlation
  between independent variables).

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Recommendations

• It is appropriate to study quality management
  practices in different contexts and regions
  around the world.
• Further research can be carried out considering
  the social aspect of quality management like
  social responsibility. More attention should be
  given to the cultural setting and how national
  culture will affect quality management practices.

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Acknowledgement

• We are Thankful to
• Dr. S. Subba Rao
• Dr. T.S. Raghunathan
• Department of Information Systems and Operations
  Management,
• University of Toledo.

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Thanks
Questions ?....