Digital transformation drives product quality improvement: An organizational transparency perspective

Abstract

Digital transformation has become an increasingly important driving force for firms' quality improvement. In this study, we propose a theoretical model for quality improvement from the organizational transparency theory perspective and empirically analyze how collaboration in quality activities improves product quality. The results indicate that this type of collaboration enhances product quality by increasing the quality of information disclosure. First, firms that partially collaborate in quality activities are of better quality than those that do not collaborate. When the quality culture is low, increasing the participation of the firm's top management in quality activities can enhance the mediating role of quality information disclosure. Second, the products of firms that fully collaborate in quality activities are of lower quality than those of firms that partially collaborate in quality activities. Finally, when the quality culture is at a high level and top management is highly involved in quality activities, the mediating effect of quality information disclosure is enhanced.