Quality performance and organizational culture

Abstract

For many years culture has been claimed as an important component of organizational success in general and TQM and quality improvement in particular. This study examined management culture and quality performance in a sample of New Zealand manufacturing organizations. The culture was measured using the Organizational Culture Inventory, and quality performance was measured using questions from Leading the Way: A Study of Best Manufacturing Practices in Australia and New Zealand. Different management cultures were found to have correlations with quality indicators such as: warranty claims, percent defectives, ratio of quality inspectors to direct production workers, and delivery in full on time. No significant correlations were found between the organizational cultures and cost of quality, or with supplier quality. We suggest that through understanding these relationships between culture and quality, managers may be able to develop more effective and competitive organizations.