Quality Improvement Decisions Research Articles

Quality Improvement Decisions in Service Supply Chains with Collaborative and Free-Riding Behaviors

The dominant position of a member within a service supply chain plays a crucial role in fostering a willingness to improve service quality. Consequently, this study examines a service supply chain comprising a supplier and an integrator, aiming to investigate the influence of four different power structures, namely, supplier-led, integrator-led, supplier–integrator power balance, and supplier–integrator centralized decision, on the decision-making process for service quality improvement by members. The findings highlight that the optimal willingness to improve service quality in a service supply chain is not necessarily infinitely close to 100%, and is influenced by factors such as revenue share, cost, effect, and dominant position. In cases where the collaborative improvement effect is weak, even the dominant member may display a limited willingness, rendering centralized decision-making meaningless. If the collaborative improvement effect surpasses the combined independent improvement effects, the dominant position can help strengthen willingness, although it may not always result in higher profits. Conversely, a power-balanced scenario can be advantageous in achieving the highest profit for the entire supply chain.

Pricing and Quality Improvement Decisions in the End-of-Life Vehicle Closed-Loop Supply Chain Considering Collection Quality

This article investigates the effects of end-of-life vehicle (ELV) collection quality on pricing and quality improvement decisions for different recycling modes by considering the discrepant heterogeneity of ELVs due to individual utilization and component degradation. This article examines the pricing and quality improvement decisions within an ELV closed-loop supply chain with heterogeneous collection quality that includes one manufacturer and one retailer. Stackelberg game models are formulated to examine the equilibrium solution in relation to three recycling modes (ELVs are recycled by the manufacturer, retailer, and third-party). We study the pricing and quality improvement decisions of ELV recycling to probe the influential mechanism of ELV collection quality under different recycling scenarios. The numerical experiment provides empirical guidance for ELV recycling management practices. Results show that wholesale and retail prices decrease with increasing ELV collection quality. In addition, there is a positive correlation between collection quality and the overall performance of the ELV supply chain. This article enhances better understanding on pricing and quality improvement decision-making in relation to ELV collection quality and helps participants in the closed-loop supply chain to determine the best recycling mode.

Impact of cost sharing on quality improvement and profits under uncertain demand: The case of a textile and garment supply chain.

The study explores the strategic pricing and quality improvement decisions under uncertain demand in a three-layer textile and garment supply chain. According to whether the fabric manufacturer (FM) invests in quality or not and whether the garment manufacturer (GM) or garment retailer (GR) is willing to share the costs or not, five game models are constructed to investigate the impact of different members' cost sharing on the optimal decisions and profits. By conducting a theoretical and numerical analysis, we find that: (1) The GM's or GR's cost sharing plays a positive effect on the quality improvement, as for whose cost sharing performs better in improving the quality depending on the proportion of cost sharing, and the quality improvement is highest with both members share the costs simultaneously. (2) The FM receives the highest profit when both members share the costs simultaneously, however, whose cost sharing is more profitable for the FM is also related to the proportion of cost sharing; in short, the FM always benefits from the cost sharing, no matter one member does this or two members do this. (3) The GM (GR) gains the highest profit when only the GR (GM) shares the costs, and the results indicate that if one member has shared the costs, whether the other member engaging in cost sharing could benefit the former depending on their proportions. Specifically, when the GM (GR) chooses to share the costs and the proportion is relatively low, the GR(GM) joining in cost sharing is beneficial to the former; otherwise, is harmful.

Inventory competition and quality improvement decisions in dual-channel supply chains with data-driven marketing

The digital dual-channel supply chain (DSC) is getting more and more difficult to ignore. This study develops a data-driven DSC, including an online manufacturer and an offline retailer with stochastic demand. Then it discusses the effects of the selling price, wholesale price, stock-out-based substitution rate, Data-Driven Marketing (DDM), and two channels’ sensitivity of product quality on the optimal decisions (quality improvement effort, online inventory level, and offline order quantity), and the optimal expected profits. It also analyzes the coordination of the manufacturer’s buyback contract. This work is mainly concluded as follows: (1) Increases in DDM quality can increase inventory levels in both channels and efforts to enhance quality, but they can also lower customer return rates, which makes sense. However, it is not always true that DDM quality positively affects the total supply chain expected profit. (2) The decline of one channel’s stock-out-based substitution rate can raise its inventory level but decrease the inventory level of the competitive channel. Contrarily, the selling price of one channel is adversely connected with the inventory level of the competitive channel, which extends some existing studies under a decentralized decision. (3) The increase of sensitivity of product quality can lead to the growth of quality improvement efforts (consistent with previous literature) and the reduction of consumer return rate. (4) The manufacturer’s buyback contract can well coordinate both members under stochastic demand for Pareto-optimality. Finally, this study proposes some managerial implications and further research directions.

From measures to action: can integrating quality measures provide system-wide insights for quality improvement decision making?

BackgroundQuality improvement decision makers are left to develop an understanding of quality within their healthcare system from a deluge of narrowly focused measures that reflect existing fragmentation in care and...

Inventory competition, artificial intelligence, and quality improvement decisions in supply chains with digital marketing

This research examines the synergistic influence of inventory competition, artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, and digital marketing intensity on quality improvement decisions within contemporary supply chains. With a focus on enhancing product and service quality, we investigate the intricate relationships among these variables. A quantitative approach involving 380 supply chain professionals reveals that heightened inventory competition, increased AI adoption, and robust digital marketing significantly contribute to quality enhancement initiatives. The study builds upon prior research by empirically validating these connections and offers practical insights for supply chain practitioners. The findings underscore the strategic imperative of organizations to strategically balance these factors to optimize their quality management strategies, fostering customer satisfaction and competitiveness. While offering valuable contributions, the study acknowledges limitations in terms of self-reported data and a specific respondent group. Future research could extend this investigation to diverse industries and geographical contexts. In the end, this study sheds light on the complex interplay that exists between inventory competition, the use of AI, digital marketing, and judgments about quality improvement. As a result, a road map has been provided for efficient quality management of supply chains in the digital age.

Motivation to Improve Job Quality in Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises

Frontline workers represent some of the most critical employees in an organization yet often experience low job quality (e.g., low pay, low autonomy, low job security). Some organizational leaders choose to intentionally improve job quality while others do not. Research provides little evidence about what drives organizational leadership to increase job quality through high quality human resource management practices. This is especially true for research on small to medium-sized enterprises (SME). We use a qualitative approach based on interviews with senior leaders, HR leaders, frontline supervisors and frontline employees across 10 organizations to increase understanding of the motivational factors behind improved job quality for front-line workers in SMEs. Our findings indicate that factors beyond the external and organizational environment play a key role in job quality improvement decisions. Specifically, leaders are motivated to improve job quality based on their personal values (i.e., doing the “right thing” the “right way” and a belief in basic human rights), their understanding of employees’ lives, and the knowledge of “how” to improve job quality. Through this inquiry, we contribute to research on human resource management practices in SMEs, research on job quality for low-wage and frontline workers, and research on managerial HR philosophy.

Updating Lead and Copper Rule Sample‐ Site Selection: Best Practices From an Innovative Pilot Program

Key TakeawaysUsing records research, geospatial analysis, and focused customer outreach, Cal Water's pilot program improved the accuracy of its Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) sample‐site selection.Following best practices to review and update a system's sample‐site selection program can ensure that lead‐and‐copper data reflect high‐risk sites.Effective lead‐and‐copper sampling plans allow water utilities to make critical corrosion‐control and water quality improvement decisions to protect public health.Updating LCR sampling plans will be necessary for continued compliance with the forthcoming LCR Revisions.

Fuzzy assessment analysis and key improvements to a production system

PurposeThe framework of Six Sigma Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control was applied in this study, and various tools and techniques were used at different stages to implement lean measures to ensure quality. The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision-making framework that assesses key quality performance to ensure that practitioners improve quality and control by modeling and optimizing production processes.Design/methodology/approachA model of a quality performance index system was established. The weights of factors and sub-factors, which were estimated using an FAHP, were used as a reference for the decision maker under fuzzy uncertainly to make a decision, and thus, results present the bottlenecks in processes. Furthermore, any other factors that may affect the key process bottlenecks must be considered. The critical to quality characteristics were determined, and factor levels were set. The interaction between the factors was analyzed, their significance was studied using the Design of experiments and the parameters were predicted. Finally, quality improvement decisions were made through failure mode and effects analysis.FindingsThe implementation results of this research prove that the proposed model could successfully determine the key processes and focus on the improvement of critical quality factors under limited resources.Originality/valueThis study establishes a set of performance appraisal methods for production systems, which can be used for improving productivity and quality.

Continuous Improvement of Employee Engagement: Impact on Quality Management System

Abstract Purpose – During the last years, quality management system has been implemented to foster organizational, cultural and management changes. Moreover, based on the employee engagement processes and the results, an idea was developed to promote and encourage employees for proactive quality improvement decisions. However, the complicated nature of quality management system did not support expected results. Firstly, the employees do not relate their quality activities as a possibility to increase effectiveness of entire organization. Secondly, the introduction of quality management system for employees is associated with appearance of complementary control actions (Mickaitis et al., 2009). This paper aims at focusing on the employee engagement and its impact on the quality management system. Methodology/approach – This research meets the need to improve organization employee engagement into quality management system. The goal of the research is to create an employee engagement into quality management system model in order to determine the relationship between the employee behaviour and employee engagement in the quality management system, as well as to evaluate its applicability in the case of local government institutions. In order to test empirically constructed model a survey was conducted on a sample of 336 employees of a local government institution. The constructed model and the survey variables were based on the theory of planned behaviour. Findings – The result of the study is an employee engagement into quality management system model for the measurement an organization employee engagement impact on quality management system. From the planned behaviour theory point of view, research results show the strongest link between employee engagement and quality management system. The fact of the subjective wellbeing weakly affects employee behaviour and its impact on the quality management system. From a practical point of view, the model has been constructed from validated constructs and is valid for the measurement of employee engagement impact on quality management system. Research limitations/implications – The results of this study cannot be generalized, since the research data was collected from local government institutions perspective. The research can be interpreted as a pilot study. Originality/value – The model of employee engagement impact on quality management system contributes for the better understanding of planned behaviour theory impact on quality management. Keywords – Employee engagement, quality management system, planned behaviour theory. Paper type – Research paper DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.74.4.22119

When remanufacturing meets product quality improvement: The impact of production cost

Remanufacturing as well as quality improving innovations are important activities to improve sustainability. However, when coexisting in one company, their interaction is not clear. On the one hand, past research found a positive impact of remanufacturing on product quality. On the other hand, remanufacturing was shown to be negatively affected by an industry’s technology trajectory of quality improvements.Using a stylized model of endogenous product quality improvement and remanufacturing we find that the main driver of the contradicting results is the change in manufacturing costs caused by improving product quality. A strong increase in manufacturing costs due to product quality improvement may induce the firm to take up remanufacturing when introducing the new product. Conversely, a small impact of product quality improvement on manufacturing costs reverses this effect and may indeed lead the firm to cease remanufacturing when introducing the new product. We find that the latter outcome is never beneficial from an environmental point of view, while the former always is. With endogenous product quality improving innovation we then characterize conditions where a remanufacturing manufacturer would take a different product quality improvement decision than a non-remanufacturing manufacturer. We observe that remanufacturing stifles (stimulates) product quality improvement when manufacturing cost of quality improved products are low (high). Neither of the two results are exclusively beneficial or detrimental from an environmental perspective and we characterize the conditions under which product quality improvement is preferable.

The impact of strong and balanced organizational cultures on firm performance

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the relationship between organizational culture and performance. It concerns the aspects of culture related to culture strength and unbalance and its impact on introvert and extrovert firm performance, controlling for business environment and size.Design/methodology/approachBased on the competing values model (CVM), culture strength is measured as the intensity of the culture values driving the company. The cultural unbalance is measured by the sum of absolute deviations of organizational members’ culture perceptions across the four archetypes (adhocracy, clan, hierarchy and market) imposed by CVM from the individual “average” shared cultural value. Evidence is drawn upon a sample of 1,305 employees of 114 Greek firms.FindingsThe findings indicate a strong positive relationship between culture strength and internal performance (innovation competence and human relations) as well as firm outcomes (profitability, growth and reputational assets). On the contrary, culture unbalance exerts a negative influence to market position, growth and innovation competence.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the nature of the association between culture strength, unbalance and firm performance would enable academics and practitioners to reflect critically on the core culture values which shape employee involvement and formulate leaders’ quality improvement decisions and actions, so as to achieve sustainable competitive advantage at the organizational level.Originality/valueThis research provides supporting empirical evidence for the culture–performance link by identifying the principle culture value characteristics (strength and unbalance), which exert both direct and interaction effects on the introvert and extrovert aspects of firm performance.

Quality Improvement in Nursing Homes: Alignment Among Leaders Across the Organizational Chart.

This article describes nursing home (NH) leaders' involvement in quality improvement (QI) decisions, with an emphasis on the concept of alignment in QI decisions across leaders. We used a qualitative approach and semistructured interviews to collect data from a convenience sample of 39 NH leaders, including corporate/executive-level leaders and facility-level leaders. Thematic analysis was used to inductively capture key patterns in data. Variations in alignment emerged as a major theme to describe the interface and interaction among facility- and corporate/executive-level leaders around QI decision making and implementation of QI decisions. For this study, alignment refers to the extent of shared understanding, beliefs, motivations, and implied or explicit agreement among leaders in regards to: (a) goals, values, priorities, and expectations for quality or QI (and/or applicable resources); and (b) expectations for leaders to carry out QI decisions made by other leaders. This study offers new insights into the complexities associated with leadership alignment toward improving NH quality. The findings provide a glimpse into leaders' involvement in QI based on their position on the facility's organizational chart and extend our understanding of the centrality of the concept of alignment in promoting QI. These findings may inform future research on facility- and corporate/executive-level leader interactions and how these interactions impact quality outcomes.

An analysis of contract form for supply chains with quality improvement

AbstractThis study examines different contract forms for the supply chain with quality improvement decision and retailer price decision. We consider three types of quality improvement: cost consuming, cost identical, and cost saving, which correspond to the cases in which quality improvement leads to an increment, no change, and a decrease in production cost, respectively. We compare the performance of two types of quality contracts: (1) pay‐before‐performance contract, under which the supplier receives monetary support from the buyer before exerting quality improvement effort; and (2) pay‐after‐performance contract, under which the supplier receives monetary compensation based on the outcome of effort. We find that the performance of each contract depends on the types of quality improvement. Further, the pay‐after‐performance contract leads to close‐to‐perfect contract efficiency and dominates the pay‐before‐performance contract from the supplier's perspective in most cases. However, this result does not apply in two extended cases: when there are multiple competing suppliers, the pay‐before‐performance contract can dominate the pay‐after‐performance contract if quality improvement is cost consuming; and when the buyer can exert sales effort, neither contract can achieve close‐to‐perfect efficiency in most cases.

An Empirical Study of Customer Spillover Learning About Service Quality

Spillover learning is defined as customers' learning about the quality of a service (or product) from their previous experiences with similar yet not identical services. In this paper, we propose a novel, parsimonious and general Bayesian hierarchical learning framework for estimating customers' spillover learning. We apply our model to a one-year shipping/sales historical data provided by a world-leading third party logistics company and study how customers' experiences from shipping on a particular route affect their future decisions about shipping not only on that route, but also on other routes serviced by the same logistics company. Our empirical results are consistent with information spillovers driving customer choices. Customers also display an asymmetric response such that they are more sensitive to delays than early deliveries. In addition, we find that customers are risk averse being more sensitive to their uncertainty about the mean service quality than to the intrinsic variability of the service. Finally, we develop policy simulation studies to show the importance of accounting for customer learning when a firm considers service quality improvement decisions.

Pay-for-performance policy and data-driven decision making within nursing homes: a qualitative study

IntroductionHealth systems globally and within the USA have introduced nursing home pay-for-performance (P4P) programmes in response to the need for improved nursing home quality. Central to the challenge of administering...

Application of a linear regression model to assess the influence of urbanised areas and grazing pastures on the microbiological quality of rural streams.

Faecal coliform (FC) bacteria were used as a proxy of faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) to assess the microbiological pollution risk for eight mesoscale catchments with increasing lowland influence across north-east Scotland. This study sought to assess the impact of urban areas on microbial contaminant fluxes. Fluxes were lowest in upland catchments where populations are relatively low. By contrast, lowland catchments with larger settlements and a greater number of grazing populations have more elevated FC concentrations throughout the year. Peak FC counts occurred during the summer months (April-September) when biological activity is at its highest. Lowland catchments experience high FC concentrations throughout the year whereas upland catchments exhibit more seasonal variations with elevated summer conditions and reduced winter concentrations. A simple linear regression model based on catchment characteristics provided scope to predict FC fluxes. Percentage of improved grazing pasture and human population explained 90 and 62% of the variation in mean annual FC concentrations. This approach provides scope for an initial screening tool to predict the impact of urban space and agricultural practice on FC concentrations at the catchment scale and can aid in pragmatic planning and water quality improvement decisions. However, greater understanding of the short-term dynamics is still required which would benefit from higher resolution sampling than the approach undertaken here.

The Relationship between Quality Improvement and Health Information Technology Use in Local Health Departments

This research examined if there is a relationship between engagement in quality improvement (QI) and health information technology (HIT) for local health departments (LHDs) controlling for workforce, finance, population, and governance structure. This was a cross-sectional study that analyzed data obtained from the Core questions and Module 1 in the NACCHO 2010 Profile of LHDs. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and logistic regression analyses were conducted. Findings suggest that LHD engagement in QI has a relationship with utilization of HIT including electronic health records, practice management systems, and electronic syndromic surveillance systems. This study provides baseline information about the HIT use of LHDs. LHDs and their system partners (hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and primary care providers) that utilize HIT as part of their QI decision making may have an easier time of using data to support evidence-based decision making and implementing the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 in order to achieve population health for all.

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Older Persons' Transitions in Care (OPTIC): a study protocol.

BackgroundChanges in health status, triggered by events such as infections, falls, and geriatric syndromes, are common among nursing home (NH) residents and necessitate transitions between NHs and Emergency Departments (EDs). During transitions, residents frequently experience care that is delayed, unnecessary, not evidence-based, potentially unsafe, and fragmented. Furthermore, a high proportion of residents and their family caregivers report substantial unmet needs during transitions. This study is part of a program of research whose overall aim is to improve quality of care for frail older adults who reside in NHs. The purpose of this study is to identify successful transitions from multiple perspectives and to identify organizational and individual factors related to transition success, in order to inform improvements in care for frail elderly NH residents during transitions to and from acute care. Specific objectives are to:1. define successful and unsuccessful elements of transitions from multiple perspectives;2. develop and test a practical tool to assess transition success;3. assess transition processes in a discrete set of transfers in two study sites over a one year period;4. assess the influence of organizational factors in key practice locations, e.g., NHs, emergency medical services (EMS), and EDs, on transition success; and5. identify opportunities for evidence-informed management and quality improvement decisions related to the management of NH – ED transitions.Methods/DesignThis is a mixed-methods observational study incorporating an integrated knowledge translation (IKT) approach. It uses data from multiple levels (facility, care unit, individual) and sources (healthcare providers, residents, health records, and administrative databases).DiscussionKey to study success is operationalizing the IKT approach by using a partnership model in which the OPTIC governance structure provides for team decision-makers and researchers to participate equally in developing study goals, design, data collection, analysis and implications of findings. As preliminary and ongoing study findings are developed, their implications for practice and policy in study settings will be discussed by the research team and shared with study site administrators and staff. The study is designed to investigate the complexities of transitions and to enhance the potential for successful and sustained improvement of these transitions.