Quality Management Perspective Research Articles

Process, structural, and outcome quality indicators of nutritional care in nursing homes: a systematic review

BackgroundThe quality of nursing homes (NHs) has attracted a lot of interest in recent years and is one of the most challenging issues for policy-makers. Nutritional care should be considered an important variable to be measured from the perspective of quality management. The aim of this systematic review is to describe the use of structural, process, and outcome indicators of nutritional care in NHs and the relationship among them.MethodsThe literature search was carried out in Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science. A temporal filter was applied in order to select papers published in the last 10 years. All types of studies were included, with the exception of reviews, conference proceedings, editorials, and letters to the editor. Papers published in languages other than English, Italian, and Spanish were excluded.ResultsFrom the database search, 1063 potentially relevant studies were obtained. Of these, 19 full-text articles were considered eligible for the final synthesis. Most of the studies adopted an observational cross-sectional design. They generally assessed the quality of nutritional care using several indicators, usually including a mixture of many different structural, process, and outcome indicators. Only one of the 19 studies described the quality of care by comparing the results with the threshold values. Nine papers assessed the relationship between indicators and six of them described some significant associations—in the NHs that have a policy related to nutritional risk assessment or a suitable scale to weigh the residents, the prevalence or risk of malnutrition is lower. Finally, only four papers of these nine included risk adjustment. This could limit the comparability of the results.ConclusionOur findings show that a consensus must be reached for defining a set of indicators and standards to improve quality in NHs. Establishing the relationship between structural, process, and outcome indicators is a challenge. There are grounds for investigating this theme by means of prospective longitudinal studies that take the risk adjustment into account.

Perspectives on supply chain quality management research

This study focuses on reviewing the current understanding of supply chain quality management research field in order to critically provide a systematic view about the existing relevant literature, and identify shortcomings and further research directions that should be explored. The Creswell’s methodology [1] in doing literature review is followed to conduct this study. As a result, three prevailing perspectives in supply chain quality management are (a) Supply chain management & quality management perspective in which the factors affecting supply chain quality management, integration, coordination, and sharing in supply chain, etc are done. But the sufficient investigation in entire supply chain as well as industry, barriers or facilitators, the role of other functions, quality of the supply chain, upstream-oriented quality activities, and organization learning within partners in the supply chain are less concerned; (b) Supply chain management & Lean perspective, prior studies identify factors affecting on supply chain performance and firm’s competitive advantages, benefits, characteristics, principles, practices and basic techniques for Lean supply chain management, etc. They have less interests in the entire supply chain investigation, Lean service, barriers or facilitators of supply chain quality management performance; and (c) Supply chain management & Innovation perspective, recent studies investigate factors affecting supply chain innovation, barriers or facilitators, developing innovation frameworks and approaches or strategies, etc. But they reveal limitations in the integration of supply chain strategies with innovation strategies and business strategies, barriers of innovation process, and how to cope with challenges and differences of various types of innovation. Overall, most of the existing researches on three mentioned perspectives mainly investigate within the manufacturing sector in developed countries, and they gives much attention to supply chain fulfillment; few studies focus on supply chain development and lack the combination.

Identifying helpful quality-related reviews from social media based on attractive quality theory

Social media provides customers with platforms on which to express usage experiences, opinions, preferences and expectations of product quality. Thus, a large number of reviews available on social media become an effective information source for quality management. In this study, we attempt to identify reviews that are helpful from the perspective of total quality management, called Helpful Quality-related Reviews (HQRs). First, we propose a definition and taxonomy of HQRs based on attractive quality theory. Then, we construct a Helpful Quality-related Review Identification (HQRI) model to mitigate the information overload represented by social media reviews. The HQRI model incorporates an imbalanced data classification method and a multi-label classification method based on the characteristics of HQRs. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the HQRI model in terms of six performance metrics in comparison with three state-of-the-art methods. Finally, we employ the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic generation model and word clouds to analyse and present the topics, specific manifestations, customer behaviours and related product components mentioned in HQRs.

Application of healthcare protocols for the patients with severe exacerbation of bronchial asthma based at a specialized clinic from the perspective of quality management

The aim of this work was to determine the optimal strategy for the treatment of patients with severe exacerbation of bronchial asthma based at a specialized clinic from the perspective of quality management as a basis for a universal therapeutic scheme taking account of the social status of the patient and localization of the medical facility. The study included 100 patients with bronchial asthma (BA) admitted to the Allergic Department of Regional Clinical Hospital. Those of group 1 were given systemic glucocorticosteroids (SGCS) parenterally or inhalation glucocorticosteroids (IGCS) through a metered dose inhaler. Patients of group 2 received SGCS parenterally or IGCS through a nebulizer. Examination included determination of external respiratory function, pulse oximetry, and ECG. Both modalities improved the patients’ clinical conditions within the first 4 hours, with the use of bronchodilators and IGCS through the nebulizer in combination with SGCS producing the most pronounced effect on peak expiratory flow rate. The per patient cost of medication therapy in group 1 was 131.5 rubles/day compared with 199.7 rubles in group 2. The cost of the complete treatment course was 1577.44 and 1797.78 rubles respectively. However, the number of one bed-days spent in the hospital for patients of group 2 was smaller than in group 1 which accounted for the cost of the complete treatment course 27 573.60 and 37 431.64 rubles respectively (р=0,04). It is concluded that the optimal therapeutic modality for the patients with severe exacerbation of bronchial asthma includes the use of bronchodilators and IGCS through a nebulizer in combination with SGCS. It not only improves clinical and functional characteristics of the patients but also reduces their hospital stay and the total cost of the treatment.

The quality and performance nexus of the community-based ecotourism enterprises at Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda: a total quality management perspective

ABSTRACTCommunity-based ecotourism enterprises (CEEs) are emerging as mechanisms for integrated and sustainable conservation of wildlife in developing countries. As such, they are substantially supported by local and international organizations promoting integrated conservation and development. However, the performance of CEEs remains inadequate. This paper evaluates the influence of quality improvement on the performance of CEEs, from a total quality management (TQM) perspective. Data were collected from three CEEs neighboring Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda. The findings revealed critical TQM practices for CEEs’ performance, including training, benchmarking, employee empowerment, performance measurement and adapting the TQM philosophy in the CEE’s vision. In addition, this study makes a new contribution to the application of TQM in small and medium organizations. It identifies benchmarking and employee empowerment as two new dimensions of TQM practices, which are critical for the performance of small and medium organizations. To improve the performance of CEEs, we call for an integrated approach in the application of the proposed TQM practices at every stage of CEEs’ functioning.

Strategi Kepemimpinan Pendidikan dalam Pengembangan MAN Propinsi DIY Perspektif Total Quality Management (TQM)

To date, the management of educational empowerment particularly in madrasah (Islamic schools) is still struggling in finding its precise form. The madrasahs are commonly managed base on merely the managers’ personal experience, without proper scientific conception. This happens due to unhealthy condition in which the managers are repressed and burdened by complicated bureaucratic matters. On the other hand, they are also required to compete in ever growing critical society. The main purpose of this research is to obtain the description of the Islamic educational empowerment strategies based on the Total Quality Management perspective, particularly in light of the educational leadership toward the development of the Madrasah Aliyah Negeri (State Islamic Senior High Schools) in the Province of Yogyakarta. Three methods of data gathering are employed in this research, namely in depth interview, participant observation, and documentation. The results show that, in empowering the Madrasah Aliyah, the leaders 1) rely on personal experience obtained from previous workplace, either being teacher or school principal; 2) perceive comparative study involving educational stakeholders, such as school committee, supervisors, and educational staff at Province level, as an effective tool in developing the madrasahs; 3) attend trainings or workshops held by the ministry of education; and 4) read books related to managerial tasks. Overall, the Total Quality Management can be observed through continuous improvement, culture change, reversed organization, costumers-organization good relationship, focus on costumers and the quality of teaching-learning process.

Quality through accreditation

PurposeThe paper concerns the three main accreditation standards for business schools: EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA. The purpose of this paper is to analyse these standards for accreditation from a quality management standpoint.Design/methodology/approachThe study is a conceptual review and analysis of the three standards mentioned above from the perspective of quality management. The constant comparative method from the grounded theory approach has been used to generate categories from the two major quality award models, which are then compared with the criteria of the accreditation models.FindingsThe findings show the conceptual quality implications of the three main accreditations. The accreditation models are in line with the tenets of quality management but have a greater focus on production and to a somewhat lesser extent on the people.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation is that the study is only conceptual. Furthermore, the study is limited to the models of quality management and accreditation that have been analysed. Although these are the most common, there are others that could have been included. The research implication mainly lies in an increased conceptual understanding for the quality implications of business school accreditation.Practical implicationsThe results of the study will be useful for managers of business schools undergoing or contemplating entering into an accreditation process.Originality/valueThe number of business schools undergoing accreditation is increasing rapidly. Thus, increased knowledge of the conceptual implications of such processes should be valuable.

Critical success factors of aerospace sub-tiers performance

The aerospace supply chain environment has become increasingly competitive, and tier-2 and tier-3 companies have been pressured to reach excellent performance levels. Thus, this paper aims to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) in performance improvement and their level of influence. For this purpose, this research proposes a set of CSFs of aerospace sub-tiers performance, considering the supply chain and quality management perspectives, internal aspects and stakeholder expectations. A CSF conceptual model is elaborated based on a qualitative analysis of the literature, the authors' collective experience and a questionnaire submitted to tier-2 and tier-3 aerospace companies. Thus, this study offers a valuable approach to confirm the CSFs that influence aerospace sub-tiers performance and allows them to identify strengths and opportunities in their processes, so that they can develop action plans to improve their performance.

Development of a Self-Assessment, Performance Measurement and Quality Insurance Repository Case of Two Higher Education Institutions in Morocco

The self-assessment repositories are used in a perspective of quality management. They are intended to guide higher education institutions in building their training offer and enable the evaluation and performance measurement based on explicit and consistent objectives. These are essential tools for posterior training evaluation, facilitating a development based on changes affecting the science and socio economic fields.The self-assessment thus enables a diagnosis, and identification of the strengths and possible improvement actions.The purpose of this is to increase the institutional progress capacity and evolution through a self-reflection.In this regard, the aim through this article is the development of a self-assessment repository for the training institutions adapted to the Moroccan higher education specificities. To do this, we first recalled the state of the art in terms of the main standards and benchmarks used as the basis of our research: ISO 29990, ISO 9001, AERES repository, NF Training Service, Aqi- Umed, CTI self-assessment Guide and eduqua Manual 2012. We underlined, then, the self-assessment issues in higher education and the major elements that feed the interest and approach adopted in the case of our study. We presented the proposed repository, including the evaluation axes and criteria, and explained the choice for modifing certain references or criteria related to the particularity of Moroccan context and the appropriate evaluation methodology in order to reach results and thus allow the evaluator to find the required information and help its analysis and objective judgment.

A new quality management perspective for biodiversity conservation and research: Investigating Biospecimen Reporting for Improved Study Quality (BRISQ) and the Standard PRE-analytical Code (SPREC) using Natural History Museum and culture collections as case studies

The aims of this paper are to debate and raise awareness about the use of systematic, interconnected approaches for biodiversity collection curation by exploring the multi-disciplinary relevance of quality management tools developed by clinical biobanks. An appraisal of their best practices indicated the need for improved sample and process chain annotation as a significant number of historical collections used in medical research were of inadequate quality. This stimulated the creation of a new discipline, biospecimen science to develop quality management tools for clinical biobanks, two of which, Biospecimen Reporting for Improved Study Quality (BRISQ) and the Standard PRE-analytical Code (SPREC) report critical information about samples and process chain variables. Unprecedented advances in molecular-genetic and in silico technologies applied across the tree of life require international conservation networks to generate and share knowledge. This is used in biodiversity and systematics research, and to address the accelerating loss of species, including the sustainable use of bioresources. This review investigates the application of BRISQ and SPREC for biodiversity research and conservation using natural history, museum and living culture collections as case studies. The distinction between preservation and conservation is discussed with regard to process and storage treatments and how they impact on the usability of biospecimens and cultures. We conclude: (i) more rigorous approaches are needed for the quality management of biospecimens, bioresources and their associated sample and processing data to assure their fitness-for-purpose; and (ii) biospecimen science tools developed by clinical biobanks can be adapted to future-proof the quality of biodiversity collections and the reliability of molecular data generated from their use.

Towards a contingency theory perspective of quality management in enabling strategic alignment

The aim of this paper is to explore the role of Quality Management (QM) theory and practice using a contingency theory perspective. The study is grounded in the role of QM in improving strategic alignment within Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) using Contingency Theory rather than adopting best practice approaches. An inductive theory building research methodology was used involving multiple case analyses of five SMEs, involving repeat interviews (n=45), focus groups (n=5) and document analysis. From the findings, it was found that Contingency Variables (strategy, culture, lifecycle and customer focus) and their respective typologies were found to interact with QM practices in helping to shape strategic alignment between the SMEs and their environments. This shaping process based on contingency approaches occurred in a manner unique to each SME and their respective environments rather than in an overarching best practice manner.

SU‐F‐T‐248: FMEA Risk Analysis Implementation (AAPM TG‐100) in Total Skin Electron Irradiation Technique

Purpose:Total Skin Electron Irradiation (TSEI) is a radiotherapy treatment which involves irradiating the entire body surface as homogeneously as possible. It is composed of an extensive multi‐step technique in which quality management requires high consumption of resources and a fluid communication between the involved staff, necessary to improve the safety of treatment. The TG‐100 proposes a new perspective of quality management in radiotherapy, presenting a systematic method of risk analysis throughout the global flow of the stages through the patient. The purpose of this work has been to apply TG‐100 approach to the TSEI procedure in our institution.Methods:A multidisciplinary team specifically targeting TSEI procedure was formed, that met regularly and jointly developed the process map (PM), following TG‐100 guidelines of the AAPM. This PM is a visual representation of the temporal flow of steps through the patient since start until the end of his stay in the radiotherapy service.Results:This is the first stage of the full risk analysis, which is being carried out in the center. The PM provides an overview of the process and facilitates the understanding of the team members who will participate in the subsequent analysis. Currently, the team is implementing the analysis of failure modes and effects (FMEA). The failure modes of each of the steps have been identified and assessors are assigning a value of severity (S), frequency of occurrence (O) and lack of detection (D) individually. To our knowledge, this is the first PM made for the TSEI. The developed PM can be useful for those centers that intend to implement the TSEI technique.Conclusion:The PM of TSEI technique has been established, as the first stage of full risk analysis, performed in a reference center in this treatment.

Operational process improvement in medical TQM: a case study of human error in using devices

Preventing human error in healthcare is a difficult challenge, with multiple approaches to developing prevention methods and tools. The purpose of this article was to construct a method for preventing human error in medical device use from the perspective of Total Quality Management (TQM). Drawing on cases of errors made when using medical devices, error mechanisms were identified. Considering aspects of humans, medical devices, and interactions between these, we investigated error behaviours, as well as their inducing factors and situations. The methods of eliminating those factors causing medical error behaviours were proposed based on the behavioural mechanism of the error. The findings indicate that TQM is an effective way to reduce medical errors.

PENGELOLAAN MADRASAH DALAM PERSPEKTIF MANAJEMEN MUTU TERPADU (Studi Di MI Plus Al Islam Dagangan Madiun)

This study aims to discuss about the school (madrasah) management and the result of excellent school management on the integrated quality management perspective. It was a qualitative research with interview, observation, and documentation in collecting the data. The result of this research were: 1. the management of MI Plus Al Islam, Dangangan Madiun was including (a) Human resource: the principle management with firm, open, solid team, and focus on customer services quality, (b) student management: Islamic religion and values teaching in everyday life, local content for the development of students’ skill and creativity, (c) graduate competence standard: creating their own quality standardbased on SWOT analysis, without disobeying the government regulations. The quality is designed by strengthening the local content, self-development, and life skill education. (d) Funding management and institutional independence, including: fixed and non-fixed donors, canteen management, and varied payment system. 2. The quality management result was a solid team work and cooperation among management aspects and totally wholehearted services quality, selective and strict acceptance system to produce a quality teachers, improvement strategy and new breakthroughs on education quality improvement with fixed and non-fixed donors, as well as an optimal canteen management as a form of entrepreneurship and funding source for the school independence. Keywords: school management; integrated quality management; quality standardbased.

How communicative leadership influences co-workers’ health – a quality management perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe leaders’ views on how Communicative Leadership influences co-worker health by comparing their opinions with the health-related values within Quality Management.Design/methodology/approachA multinational manufacturing organization that has been working with Communicative Leadership for several years was investigated. Twenty-one managers trained in Communicative Leadership were interviewed and asked about their views on how their communication influences both the well-being of their co-workers and the working environment. Various communication behaviors and communication methodologies emerged from the interviews and were then analyzed versus the health-related Quality Management dimensions.FindingsThe result shows concrete communication behavior and methodologies that influence co-worker well-being and the working environment positively and negatively. Another result is a description of the prerequisites for managers to be able to communicate in a way that influences co-worker well-being and the working environment. The analysis of the communication behaviors and communication methodologies versus the health-related Quality Management values shows that several of the health-related Quality Management dimensions were present.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of this research is that it is just managers’ view that has been investigated and analyzed.Practical implicationsManagers acting and behaving in accordance with the communicative behaviors and methodologies described in the results can influence co-worker health and the working environment in a positive way. The level of awareness of the prerequisites could help managers to influence co-worker well-being and create a good working environment.Originality/valueThe connection between Communicative Leadership and health-related Quality Management values is rarely made. This research can contribute to greater understanding in both areas.

Prioritizing Quality of Product and Service Dimensions With Respect to a Product-Service System in the Public Transport Sector

The purpose of this paper is to propose and demonstrate a method to evaluate product-service system (PSS) offerings based on the quality of product and service dimensions through the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP). Drawing from the attention- based view, product and service dimensions from literature, this study proposes a framework to prioritize quality dimensions using the FAHP method. The study uses data collected from public transport providers and their equipment suppliers. It gets priority vectors of product and service dimensions for three PSSs — product-related, use-related, and result-related contract. The study finds some dimensions more relevant for the product-related, use-related, and results-related contract and recommends accordingly. The method considers the expectations of various stakeholders and provides a strategic quality management perspective while designing the PSS offering considering an example from public transportation.

Evaluation of Safety, Quality and Productivity in Construction

This paper examines the success indicators of construction projects, safety, quality and productivity, in terms of their implications and impacts during and after construction. First safety is considered during construction with a focus on hazard identification and the prevention of occupational accidents and injuries on worksites. The legislation mandating safety programs, training and compliance with safety standards is presented and discussed. Consideration of safety at the design stage is emphasized. Building safety and the roles of building codes in prevention of structural failures are also covered in the paper together with factors affecting building failures and methods for their prevention. Quality is introduced in the paper from the perspective of modern total quality management. Concepts of quality management, quality control, quality assurance and Six Sigma and how they relate to building quality and structural integrity are discussed with examples. Finally, productivity concepts are presented with emphasis on effective project management to minimize loss of productivity, complimented by lean construction and lean Six Sigma principles. The paper concludes by synthesizing the relationships between safety, quality and productivity.

System reliability maximization for a computer network by finding the optimal two-class allocation subject to budget

In the real world, a computer/communication system is usually modeled as a capacitated-flow network since each transmission line (resp. facility) denoted by an edge (resp. node) has multiple capacities. System reliability is thus defined to be a probability that d units of data are transmitted successfully from a source node to a sink node. From the perspective of quality management, system reliability is a critical performance indicator of the computer network. This paper focuses on maximizing system reliability for the computer network by finding the optimal two-class allocation subject to a budget, in which the two-class allocation is to allocate exactly one transmission line (resp. facility) to each edge (resp. node). In addition, allocating transmission lines and facilities to the computer network involves an allocation cost where the cost for allocating a transmission line depends on its length. For solving the addressed problem, a genetic algorithm based method is proposed, in which system reliability is evaluated in terms of minimal paths and state-space decomposition. Several experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can be executed in a reasonable time and has better computational efficiency than several popular soft computing algorithms.

An Integrated Text Analytic Framework for Product Defect Discovery

The recent surge in the usage of social media has created an enormous amount of user‐generated content (UGC). While there are streams of research that seek to mine UGC, these research studies seldom tackle analysis of this textual content from a quality management perspective. In this study, we synthesize existing research studies on text mining and propose an integrated text analytic framework for product defect discovery. The framework effectively leverages rich social media content and quantifies the text using various automatically extracted signal cues. These extracted signal cues can then be used as modeling inputs for product defect discovery. We showcase the usefulness of the framework by performing product defect discovery using UGC in both the automotive and the consumer electronics domains. We use principal component analysis and logistic regression to produce a multivariate explanatory analysis relating defects to quantitative measures derived from text. For our samples, we find that a selection of distinctive terms, product features, and semantic factors are strong indicators of defects, whereas stylistic, social, and sentiment features are not. For high sales volume products, we demonstrate that significant corporate value is derivable from a reduction in defect discovery time and consequently defective product units in circulation.

Management of the Educational Risk Factors in Roma Schools

The paper presents a recent research study on the management of risk factors in educational units with Roma students (Roma schools) - as risk factors in education are considered obstacles in achieving school performances. The research aimed to investigate from the quality management perspective the strategies of the school units for addressing a series of the educational risk factors with a focus on “Roma pupil's population”, one of the 15 risk factors identified in Romania by RAQAPE (The Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance on Pre-University Education) and stated by the Ministerial Order 6517/19.12.2012.