The Relationship Between Quality Management and Marketing – Study of the Current Situation

Abstract

Theoretical background: This paper considers the interdisciplinarity of quality science. In the first part of the work, a set of important disciplines supporting qualitative research was defined, focussing on management science and marketing. It is noticed that the studies have been conducted to examine the relationships among quality management and marketing performance. However, the literature is short of studies relating to the ordering, classification and categorization of current research results, which integrates the concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM) with the basics of marketing management. Purpose of the article: The study used the method of systematic literature review in order to recognize the relationship between the selected area of quality science, i.e. quality management, and the selected discipline supporting quality science, i.e. marketing management. Research methods: A four-stage research process was applied, defining the purpose of the research as the ordering (classification) of the research, in which the issues of TQM and marketing management were referred to. A collection of literature (n = 1,649) was selected using the Web of Science database. Bibliometric analysis was used, indicating the distribution of the number of publications and the analysis of the number of citations. Content related analysis referring to the recognition of occurrences, here working with keywords, was conducted. Main findings: As a result, four clusters were distinguished and taking into account the significance expressed in terms of the number of repetitions of individual words in a given cluster, four thematic areas of research were specified in which the integration of knowledge in the field of marketing with quality management is visible, i.e. (1) customer driven quality management, (2) the quality of design, (3) quality of conformance, and (4) the cost of quality management. The last part of the paper focuses on significant changes in the quality management strategy related to the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution and the importance of managing quality in a global, interdisciplinary approach.