| 1. |
- Martin, Jason, 1969-
(författare)
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Quality Management Competencies-in-use : exploring competence and practice perspectives on quality management work
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Quality management is an established, widespread and well-researched management concept. Yet, surprisingly little research can be found on understanding the potential for action that is required in order to perform quality management work. The field of quality management has a strong emphasis not only on a customer and supplier focus (external), but also on a process focus (internal). This creates a constant challenge in the way in which quality management is conceived and realised. Another challenge is reflected in current research that describes the need for conceptual change in quality management due to extensive ongoing changes in society and the business environment. The nature and pace of technological development, coupled with changes in social behaviour, continuously bring out new customer needs and new ways for customers to interact with the producers of goods and services. This requires adaptive and innovative approaches for organisations, in order to stay competitive and relevant.This thesis uses competence-based and practice-based perspectives to better understand the requirements placed on quality management in meeting these challenges. It investigates what quality management work is and what properties must exist, in terms of competence and practice, in order to make quality management work possible. The purpose of this thesis is, therefore, to explore how the theoretical perspectives of competence and practice can contribute to an increased understanding of what is required to perform quality management work. Three research questions are posed and answered. The first research question concerns the nature of quality management work and how its key factors may be characterised; the second research question deals with competencies of quality management and how these are interrelated with quality management work; the third research question concerns how the interplay between quality management competencies can be understood. The research questions are answered by interpreting the findings of five papers included in the thesis, using a conceptual framework.The results of the thesis suggest two main directions of quality management work: expansive and adaptive quality management work. Expansive work is characterised by explorative practice, radical change to existing processes or the development of new processes, a logic of development, an orientation towards development and innovation, a striving to increase external efficiency and a striving to increase process variation. Adaptive work is characterised by exploitative practice, incremental change to existing processes, a logic of performance, an orientation towards goals and productivity, a striving towards internal efficiency and a striving to decrease process variation. Quality management competencies relate to quality management work in combining role dependency and discretion. Role dependency signifies the potential and capability to assume multiple role-responsibilities. Discretion is the ‘freedom of movement’ for quality practitioners to engage in practices and choose quality management work directions according to task and situation. The interplay between quality management competencies is understood as the combined effects of two competence antecedents: individual and/or collective dispositions to change and learning. This thesis extends research on quality management by increasing our knowledge and understanding of the requirements needed, not only to select and perform existing quality management practices, but also to adopt and engage in practices where emergence is accommodated by ambidexterity.
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| 2. |
- Smeds, Magdalena, Teknisk licentiat, 1990-
(författare)
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Exploring Tampering : Towards an Understanding of Why Improvement Efforts Sometimes Fail
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ever-increasing competition together with increasing and changing customer demands place high demands on organisations to maintain and improve their current products and services while also developing and renewing their offerings. However, research claims that many improvement efforts carried out in organisations fail. A line of research in quality management focusing on process improvement proposes that tampering, i.e. attempts to solve problems without targeting the fundamental causes of the problem, may be one reason why some attempts to improve fail. This dissertation focuses on faulty identification of causes of problems, as well as responses to such problems made by individual employees in their day-today work.The purpose of this dissertation is to enhance knowledge on tampering as a means to understand why attempts to improve sometimes do not lead to the desired results. This dissertation also answers the research questions How is tampering manifested in various types of approaches to identifying and responding to problems? and How can customers cause employees to take tampering actions? Studying how tampering is manifested in different ways depending on how a problem is interpreted and consequently the approach taken to respond to the problem can enhance knowledge about which interpretations and actions may lead to tampering. In this dissertation, approaches are viewed as alternative courses of actions available to employees when responding to problems. Four different types of approaches are studied: inaction, workaround, local improvement and system change. In addition, possible connections between customers and tampering are discussed and in this dissertation, it is proposed that the customer may have a negative impact on employees’ improvement efforts. In addition to answering the two research questions, a contemporary understanding of the tampering concept is proposed.Three studies have been conducted: a narrative literature review, a qualitative interview study and a case study with data collection through interviews, observations and a document study. This dissertation includes five appended papers. To answer the first research question, the main findings from the papers have been analysed by applying flexible pattern matching. The flexible pattern matching process was conducted by developing a theoretical framework of approaches, summarising the findings from the papers, and then comparing the findings to the theoretical framework to identify similarities and differences. To answer the second research question, examples of tampering were studied where the customer affected which problem was to be remedied or how.The analysis in the first research question results in five manifestations of tampering in various approaches to identifying and responding to problems. Actions proposed to cause tampering are passivity/wait-and-see, symptomatic response, locally focused response, disproportionate vision and vicious spiral of firefighting. The analysis in the second research question shows multiple examples of customer-induced tampering. Customers do not tamper with an organisation’s processes, but may express demands or concerns about perceived problems or how to execute a process that the organisation complies with. The saying ‘the customer is always right’ seems to be applied especially when the demand is placed by customers who are considered particularly important for relational or economic reasons.This dissertation contributes to research on quality management in general and improvement efforts through employees approaches as well as the customers role in identifying and responding to problems in particular. This dissertation and the appended papers explore the concept of tampering, and suggest that there is a need for a revitalisation and a broader understanding of the concept in order to increase its applicability in contemporary contexts. This dissertation also explores the previously under-exploredperspective on how customers can cause organisations to take measures that – from a process perspective – create process deterioration.
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| 3. |
- Johansson, Elisabeth, 1983-
(författare)
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Managing Quality in a Service Context
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In recent years, service organizations have had to increase the number of offerings they provide. These organizations face difficulties in changing their internal processes to provide high-quality offerings. With the increase in demand for delivered services and competitive organizations from low-cost countries, service organizations currently face several issues. Today’s service organizations combine products and services into a solution to improve their competitiveness. These organizations experience changes in customer expectations depending on what they offer. That is, expectations, demands, and wishes change depending on the offering that a customer uses. Thus, service organizations need to know how expectations for quality change based on offerings and how they can work to change certain emphasized quality aspects. Hence, the aim of this licentiate thesis is to contribute to the knowledge of how to manage quality in a service context.This licentiate thesis is based on three different studies. One study is based on a number of self-assessment studies conducted at 138 Swedish service organizations using a total of more than 5,000 respondents. In the second study, data was collected over a five-year period through a literature review, interviews, a document study, and observations to capture the quality profile and associated interventions. The second study was conducted in a service organization in the public transportation industry. In the third study, a literature review was performed to provide theoretical propositions for developing a conceptual model. The conceptual model was built on theories from product quality, service quality, service logic, and solutions.The findings revealed that a service organization could change the performance level of a quality principle if the correct interventions are used. Furthermore, a service organization immature in quality management emphasizes one or two quality principles and, after the initial phase focuses on other principles as well. Therefore, if a service organization wants to change its quality profile pattern, it must change its emphasis on certain norms and principles. A further finding is the proposed solution’s quality concept and its six quality dimensions: (i) reliability, (ii) flexibility, (iii) consistency, (iv) empathy, (v) approachability, and (vi) tangibility. Furthermore, a model connecting the empirical findings in a quality concepts model is proposed. This model shows that the need exists to change work activities if the service organization changes strategic direction, that is, changes the number of offerings offered.
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| 4. |
- Martin, Jason, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Närhet på distans : En guide för ledarskap på distans med stöd av digitala arbetssätt
- 2023
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Det du nu läser är en guide tänkt att användas som ett stöd och en vägledning till dig som i arbetet leder eller deltar i aktiviteter på distans med stöd av digitala arbetssätt. Guiden är utvecklad av forskare och organisationer i flera forskningsprojekt som studerar möjligheter och utmaningar i ledarskap på distans med stöd av digitala arbetssätt. Guiden vänder sig i första hand till er som är chefer och ledare med ansvar för att planera och genomföra aktiviteter på distans med stöd av digitala arbetssätt, men den kan även läsas av medarbetare och andra funktioner i era organisationer. En central del i guiden är ”verktygslådan” där vi, utifrån våra egna forskningsresultat samt med stöd av tidigare forskning, har satt ihop ett urval av praktiska verktyg som kan användas för att möjliggöra ett effektivare ledarskap på distans. Guiden och verktygen i verktygslådan tar avstamp i vardagsnära situationer och aktiviteter som vi i våra forskningsprojekt sett innehåller stor potential att förbättra hur arbete på distans med stöd av digitala arbetssätt kan organiseras och ledas. Vi visar vanligt förekommande arbetssätt och verktyg och ger konkreta och praktiska tips på hur ni kan arbeta tillsammans för att kunna uppnå bättre resultat, lära och utveckla både för individer och för organisationen samt bidra till bättre hälsa och välbefinnande. Guiden kan ses som en palett av arbetssätt och verktyg som ni antingen kan pröva direkt och/eller ha som underlag för diskussion i syfte att ta fram egna, skräddarsydda arbetssätt. Använd den som inspiration och hjälpmedel för att utveckla ditt ledarskap och medarbetarskap samt ditt sätt att leda och möjliggöra digitala aktiviteter på distans. Om du vill testa någon eller några av de verktyg och arbetssätt som presenteras i guiden tillsammans forskare så hör av dig till Jason Martin (jason.martin@liu.se) eller Andreas Wallo (andreas.wallo@liu.se) på Linköpings universitet.
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| 5. |
- Martin, Jason, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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The Many Meanings of Quality –Towards a definition in support of sustainable operations
- 2020
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and purpose The concept of quality accommodates a range of perspectives. Over the years, various conceptual definitions of quality have reflected the evolution and trends marking the history and development of quality management. The current and widely accepted understanding of the concept of quality focusses on customer centred notions, where meeting or preferably exceeding customer needs and expectations defines what quality is. However, with the advent of more holistic and integrated conceptualisations (e.g. “Quality 4.0” and “Quality 5.0”), emphasising the inclusion of a wider range of stakeholders and with quality also geared towards achieving societal and environmental sustainability, it can be argued that customer centred notions of quality may be somewhat misaligned, overly narrow and ill-served for current and future societal needs. Customer centred notions on quality are, by definition, subjective and relative and this paper argues that more holistic approaches to sustainable quality calls for a need to further explore objective and possible absolute notions of quality. The purpose of this paper is thus to elaborate on the underpinnings of the concept of quality and extend the conceptual understanding of quality more apt for holistic and integrative interpretations of quality.Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper based on a literature review aiming for a conceptual reconfiguration that revises the current perspectives and understanding on quality. Cases from various sectors are used to illustrate the perspectives brought forward. Findings An integrated conceptual framework offering an expanded view on the foundations for the concept of quality is presented. This framework incorporates two dimensions for understanding quality; the subjective/objective dimension and the individual/societal (multi-actor) dimension. Derived from these dimensions, four major perspectives for perceiving and understanding quality are presented. The paper argues that any sustainable and viable notion on the practical realisation of actual quality, or quality-in-use, must be based on the relation and balance between four major perspectives.
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| 6. |
- Smeds, Magdalena, Teknisk licentiat, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
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Dont just do something stand there : Countermeasures for avoiding tampering in practice
- 2021
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Decision-making and problem solving are central parts of managers’ working day, yet shortcomings such as making subjective or biased decisions and decisions based on incomplete data are reported. Attempting to resolve non-problems by changing a system perceived to have caused a problem is sometimes denoted as tampering. The purpose of this paper is to explore possible countermeasures for proposed types of tampering, namely overcompensation, derailing, disagreement, overruling and escalation. All tampering types studied require different countermeasures. Common countermeasures are to focus on problem identification, not attempt to find solutions too quickly and involve employees with first-hand knowledge on the problem.
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