1. |
|
|
2. |
- Larsson, Johan, et al.
(author)
-
Leadership Values for Quality and Health - How does McGregor's X and Y Theory Influences Methodologies and Outcomes?
- 2005
-
In: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Quality Management for Organisational and Regional Development : QMOD 2005. - Luleå. ; , s. 691-702, s. 691-702, s. 691-702
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During the last years the Swedish working life has been characterized by increased levels of sickness absenteeism, stress related health problems and a deterioration of the psychosocial work conditions. Since there are clear local variations concerning health at different workplaces, it is often stated that differences in working environment and work organizational factors constitute an important explanation. Several researchers emphasizes that leadership with a focus on developing human resource practices is a necessary component of high organizational performance. The purpose of this article is to explore if there are patterns in leadership values and methodologies connected to health outcomes and quality aspects. McGregor�s X and Y hypotheses plus three other hypotheses are used as a base for the analyses. Data has been collected by in-deep interviews with the leaders, questionnaires to both leaders and all employees, and human resource accounting figures. The leader views are mirrored with the employee views, by comparing qualitative and quantitative results in a step wise analyses process. Case study organizations are four public and four private organizations in northern Sweden. The study main findings are that leaders with more X hypotheses get lower results concerning employee judged leadership and quality aspects, and to some extent also lower results concerning health outcomes. Clear differences between the studied organizations are noted. One interesting result is that one organization (C1) positively distinguishes concerning quality and health aspects. A conclusion in this study is that Y oriented leaders work more intense with the TQM values continuous improvements, base decisions on facts, co-worker commitment and leadership commitment.
|
|
3. |
- Eriksson, Henrik, 1973, et al.
(author)
-
Effects of In-Company Quality Awards on Organizational Performance
- 2003
-
In: Total quality management (Print). - : Informa UK Limited. - 0954-4127 .- 1360-0613. ; 14:2, s. 235-242
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices and improved performance has been frequently discussed in the literature. In this paper, the costs and the effects of in-company quality awards on performance are discussed and analysed. The paper covers a survey of Swedish companies that use or have used in-company quality awards to stimulate TQM efforts and thereby to improve performance. The study cannot show any strong evidence of improved performance for units that applied for the in-company quality award. However, in contrast to units that have not applied, some units that have applied for the in-company quality award considered that the results related to performance have improved greatly. One large positive effect perceived by the participating units was increased customer orientation while the largest costs were put on the description of activities and the improvement work itself.
|
|
4. |
- Fundin, Anders, et al.
(author)
-
Challenges and propositions for research in quality management
- 2018
-
In: International Journal of Production Economics. - : Elsevier B.V.. - 0925-5273 .- 1873-7579. ; 199, s. 125-137
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- From its inception, the field of quality management (QM) has been characterised by practice-driven development. Although QM has reached maturity as a field of research based on empirical enquiry, its practitioners still struggle to adapt QM implementations to reap their benefits. This study aims to identify their challenges to better understand how contemporary QM research addresses them. We propose approaches to bridge the potential relevance gaps between research and practice. A Delphi study of QM practitioners in Swedish private and public organisations, several of which operate globally, generated 49 challenges. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to cluster these challenges into themes, and the literature was reviewed to investigate how each theme has been addressed in QM research. The empirical investigation identified three themes related to future QM challenges—organisations’ adaptability to rapid changes in the business environment, quality as a strategic concern for business owners, and managerial ownership of quality. By analysing these challenges, six propositions for future research were proposed to reduce potential relevance gaps. Future research should focus on how to make QM a strategic concern for owners, and explore how it can contribute to organisational ambidexterity and adaptability. Research should also determine how context influences the way QM is applied, and investigate how it can improve organisational learning and innovation. Finally, research should indicate how top managers can adopt the responsibilities of quality managers, and explore the ways the principal values of QM can be better integrated into organisations.
|
|
5. |
-
INNOTRACK: Concluding technical report
- 2010
-
Editorial collection (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The track structure, rails, switches and crossings account for more than 50% of maintenance and renewal costs for the rail industry. To improve the competitiveness of rail transportation, the cost-efficiency of these areas needs to be addressed.This the background to INNOTRACK, an integrated research project funded by the European Commission’s 6th research framework pro- gramme. Running from September 2006 to December 2009, INN- OTRACK has developed a multitude of innovative solutions in the areas of track substructure, rails & welds, and switches & crossings. The solutions have been assessed from technical, logistics and life cycle cost point of views.This Concluding Technical Report of INNOTRACK includes an overview of the project. It further details implementable results, and clusters them into ”highlight” areas. In addition, the book acts as a ”key” to the vast amount of information from INNOTRACK: All sections refer to project reports where more information can be found.
|
|
6. |
- Elg, Mattias, 1968-, et al.
(author)
-
The Future of Work for Quality Management – Challenges in the Digitalized Era
- 2018
-
Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Purpose Digitalization provides both challenges and opportunities for Quality Management (QM). The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges induced by digitalization on current QM practices, in order to uncover the potential of how QM may support digitalization in organizations. This issue is addressed through an analytical framework that stresses two dimensions: first exploration and exploitation of digitalized QM processes and second value creation, which is performed by the customer or in interaction facilitated by the provider. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on a cross-case study design with interview data collected from 33 quality management professionals in four large Swedish organizations. Findings Six different challenges and corresponding roles are proposed for QM: The gardener involved in the design of the many different currently utilized technologies; the bridge-builder - a role that connects implemented digitalized solutions that enable the movement from human-to-human to a human-to-digital interface; the assistant a contributor to better value in the customer sphere for already implemented digitalized solutions; the architect including planning, designs, and reviews together with many different stakeholders; the connector focusing on the continuous management of value-in-use and open up for opportunities for continuous interaction and value-adding; and explorer drawing attention towards the challenges of the existing power structures. Originality/value This paper contributes with empirical evidence on challenges induced by digitalization, an area often discussed but not as often studied empirically. Further, the study identifies challenges of digitalization affecting both exploitative and explorative practices throughout an organisations value-creation process.
|
|
7. |
- Eriksson, Henrik, 1973, et al.
(author)
-
Exploring Quality Challenges and the Validity of Excellence Models
- 2016
-
In: International Journal of Operations & Production Management. - 0144-3577 .- 1758-6593. ; 36:10, s. 1201-1221
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: The purpose is to identify and explore important quality-related challenges facing organizations, and how current excellence models incorporate these challenges.Methodology: The article is based on a Delphi study in Swedish organizations, 49 challenges were generated and ranked according to importance. The top 10 ranked challenges were compared to the principles of four excellence models.Findings: The excellence models seem to still be relevant since their content matches many of the challenges identified. The MBNQA and the SIQ models were found to have the most comprehensive coverage, while the ISO model had limited coverage.Research Limitations/Implications: Three areas for further research were identified: 1) how QM can evolve in different contexts with varying needs in terms of adaptive and explorative capabilities, 2) the interfaces of QM and sustainability, and ways to understand how customers and stakeholders can be active contributors to improvements and 3) the roles of the owners and board of directors in QM, and how to organize and distribute responsibilities of the QM work.Practical and Social Implications: Three important challenges could be addressed in upcoming revisions of excellence models: 1) making QM a strategic issue for company owners; 2) involving customers in the improvement activities; and 3) developing processes that are robust, while still easily adaptable.Originality/Value: The Delphi study has identified upcoming challenges in the QM area based on input from 188 quality professionals.
|
|
8. |
- Eriksson, Henrik, 1973, et al.
(author)
-
Organisational performance improvement through quality award process participation
- 2005
-
In: International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 0265-671X .- 1758-6682. ; 22:9, s. 894-912
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose - The purpose of the study is to describe the activities initiated based on participation in a quality award process and with the intention to improve performance.Design/methodology/approach - This study presents a case study of three organisations that have participated in the Swedish Quality Award process. The cases were selected in order to clarify how this award process could be used to improve organisational performance.Findings - Several examples of activities on how to improve organisational performance are provided. Specifically, the areas of customer orientation, process orientation, continuous improvement, committed leadership and participation by everyone have been improved due to the initiated activities. Furthermore, the studied organisations have been successful in their development and communication of visions, and in their empowerment of employees.Research limitations/implications - An interesting area of further research would be to compare different methodologies for performance improvement with one another.Practical implications - Findings from the case studies, and of importance for organisations applying for quality awards, indicate that, if the goal is to get lasting results, it is not sufficient to participate in a quality award process only once. Instead one should participate in the process several times, with enough time in between the applications in order to complete as many as possible of the improvement projects resulting from the evaluations.Originality/value - It is the authors' intention that the guidelines presented in the paper might be helpful for organisations considering a participation in a quality award process.
|
|
9. |
- Eriksson, Henrik, 1973
(author)
-
Organisational value of participating in a quality award process : a Swedish study
- 2004
-
In: TQM Magazine. - : Emerald. - 0954-478X .- 1758-6887. ; 16:2, s. 78-92
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- One way for organisations to support total quality management, and hence try to increase customer satisfaction is to participate in a quality award process. The purpose of this study is to explore the organisational value of participating in a quality award process. The study is based on interviews at 29 organisations that have participated in the process of the Swedish Quality Award. The main conclusion is that most of the organisations consider the process orientation, customer orientation and improvement work to have been improved as a result of the participation in the quality award process. However, there are also obstacles to surmount in order to benefit fully from the process: difficulties in finding resources within the organisation to perform mandatory work and implement identified improvements, and difficulties in applying the circumstantial model used in the quality award process.
|
|
10. |
- Schmidt, Bernard, 1981-, et al.
(author)
-
Context Awareness in Predictive Maintenance
- 2016
-
In: Current Trends in Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety<em></em>. - Cham : Springer. - 9783319235974 - 9783319235967 ; , s. 197-211
-
Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Maintenance of assembly and manufacturing equipment is crucial to ensure productivity, product quality, on-time delivery, and a safe working environment. Predictive Maintenance approach utilizes the condition monitoring (CM) data to predict the future machine conditions and makes decisions upon this prediction. Recent development in CM leads to context aware approach where in parallel with CM measurements also data and information related to the context are gathered. Context could be operational condition, history of machine usage and performed maintenance actions. In general more obtained information gives better accuracy of prediction. It is important to track operational context in dynamically changing environment. Today in manufacturing we can observe shift from mass production to mass customisation. This leads to changes from long series of identical products to short series of different variants. Therefore implies changing operational conditions for manufacturing equipment. Moreover, where asset consist of multiple identical or similar equipment the context aware method can be used to combine in reliable way information. This should allow to increase accuracy of prediction for population as a whole as well as for each equipment instances. Same of those data have been already recorded and stored in industrial IT systems. However, it is distributed over different IT systems that are used by different functional units (e.g. maintenance department, production department, quality department, tooling department etc.). This paper is a conceptual paper based on initial research work and investigation in two manufacturing companies from automotive industry.
|
|