Knowledge Management and the Effectiveness of Innovation Outcomes: The Role of Cultural Barriers

In this paper we propose a conceptual model to test the moderating effect of cultural barriers on the link between knowledge strategies and innovation using healthcare organizations. In order to study the tie (knowledge-innovation) and the effects of the moderating variable (cultural barriers), the resource-based view is followed. It has been generally accepted that both explicit and tacit knowledge play a basic role in organizational innovation. However, there are few research works that study the relationship between knowledge management strategy and the effectiveness of the innovation process. On the other hand, the extant research on this relationship has yielded inconclusive results. Our paper revisits this research topic based on data of knowledge management strategy, Knowledge base, cultural barriers and innovation outcomes from a sample of Spanish hospitals

La teoría de los dos factores en la satisfacción del cliente

En este trabajo se testa la teoría de los dos factores en la satisfacción del cliente, aplicando el método del incidente crítico en un único sector y servicio: el de las copisterías, y a un único segmento de mercado: el de los estudiantes de Empresariales. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren la necesidad de desarrollar una nueva teoría que explique la asociación de las dimensiones de los productos y/o servicios a la satisfacción e insatisfacción del cliente

La reestructuración de plantillas al amparo de la reforma laboral-2012: consecuencias sobre la cultura organizacional

La situación de crisis por la que atraviesa Europa desde hace años ha provocado un aumento considerable de los procesos de reestructuración empresarial, muchos de los cuales implican un redimensionamiento de plantillas al amparo de las nuevas oportunidades que ofrece la reforma laboral de 2012. Todo proceso de reestructuración perturba el sistema de valores asentado en el seno de la organización y, por consiguiente, provoca efectos telúricos sobre los cimientos que basamentan la cultura organizacional. Precisamente, en este trabajo se pone de manifiesto que las facilidades que ofrece la reforma laboral para acometer procesos de reestructuración y redimensionamiento de plantillas provoca consecuencias directas sobre los valores en los que se sustenta la cultura organizativa, afectando así a la posibilidad de aplicar ciertas prácticas orientadas al desarrollo de los recursos humanos en la empresa.The crisis situation that Europe is facing since several years ago has resulted in a significant increase in corporate restructuring processes, many of which imply downsizing. This is being accomplished under cover of the new opportunities provided by the 2012 labor reform. Every restructuring process disrupts the system of values within the organization and therefore causes telluric effects on the foundations that shape organizational culture. Precisely, this work reveals that the facilities the labor reform offers to undertake restructuring and downsizing processes it provokes direct consequences on the values that sustain the organizational culture, and hence, affect to the possibility of applying certain practices oriented to the development of the human resources within the company

Motivation and benefits of implementation and certification according ISO 9001 – the Portuguese experience

The aim of the research is to analyze the different aspects associated with the motivation and benefits of certified ISO 9001 companies in Portugal. A total of 426 certified Portuguese companies were surveyed. The response rate was equal to 61.03 percent. Our results suggest that the main motivation for certification were “improvement of quality”, “improvement of company image”, “marketing advantage”, “give empowerment to workers / capturing workers knowledge” and “cost reduction”. The main benefits that Portuguese companies have gained from the referred certification have been, among others, the improvement of “procedures”, beneficial effect on the “company’s image”, the improvement of quality products/services, increase of the “customer satisfaction”, improvement of “on-time delivery”; improvement the “morale” of workers’ increase in productivity and decrease of “production costs”, among others. The surveyed firms belong only to the Minho region of the north of Portugal. This paper aims to provide a contribution to the research related to the motivation and benefits associated to the quality management systems. The selection of the motives and benefits were validated through statistical analysis and the relationship between expected and perceived benefits was discussed

Gestión de calidad total en empresas españolas: Un análisis cultural y de rendimiento

The aim of this research paper is to find out a number of aspects related to the implementation of Total Quality Management in Spanish companies. The study has been structured around three major questions: what type of quality culture exists in the companies which have been analysed, what connections lie between the TQM factors and performance, and what are the best TQM practices? A sample of 113 Spanish companies which have implemented TQM programmes was used: A variety of validation and control procedures, including extensive pretesting, confirmation of identities, test of internal reliability of the items on the questionnaire, a test of convergence validity of performance measures, etc. In addition, 27 firms were visited and a total of 39 interviews were carried out with TQM executives. The most significant results confirm the existence of different quality cultures and different levels of performance in these companies.L'objectif de cette recherche est de connaftre une série d'aspects qui sont en relation avec I'implantation de la Gestión de Qualité Totale dans les entreprises de notre pays. L'étude a été structurée á partir de la formulation de trois grandes questions: quelle sorte de culture de qualité il y a dans les entreprises espagnoles analysées?; quelles relations existent parmi les divers facteurs d'implantation de TQM, et le rendement?; quelles sont les meilleures méthodes en Gestión de Qualité Totale? On a étudié 113 entreprises espagnoles qui ont implanté TQM, utilisant différentes méthodes de validation et contróle, comprenant un pré-test extensif, une confirmation des identités, un test de fiabilité et consistence interne des items du questionnaire, un test de validation de convergence des mesures de rendement, etc. En plus, on a visité 27 entreprises et on a réalisé 39 entretiens personnels á des managers responsables de TQM. Les résultats les plus significatifs con- firment l‘existence de différentes cultures de qualité et différents niveaux de rendement

La influencia de la cultura organizativa en el rendimiento de los programas de Gestión de la Calidad Total

This paper aims to examine the relationships between different types of cultures and effectiveness in Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation. Using Cameron’s framework, we have tested the connection between a quality culture taxonomy and TQM programme performance using data from a survey carried out with 113 Spanish companies that have implemented TQM systems. A structural equation modelling is proposed to assess the links between both types of constructs using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique. The most substantial results confirm, in the sample analysed, the relationship between quality culture types and the TQM programme performance, and there being different influence levels of the quality cultures.Este artículo examina las relaciones entre los diferentes tipos de cultura y la efectividad en la implantación de la Gestión de la Calidad Total (GCT). Utilizando el modelo de Cameron, hemos testado la relación entre una taxonomía de culturas de calidad y el rendimiento de un programa de GCT en una muestra de 113 empresas espanolas ˜ que tienen implantados sistemas GCT. Se propone un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para evaluar las relaciones entre ambos tipos de constructos utilizando para ello la técnica Partial Least Squares (PLS). Los resultados en la muestra utilizada confirman las relaciones entre los tipos de culturas de calidad y el rendimiento de los programas GCT, así como la existencia de diferentes niveles de influencia de estas culturas de calidad

The estimation of the return on firms’ investments – as to ISO 9001

The aim of this paper was to estimate the return on investment in QMS (quality management systems) certification undertaken in Portuguese firms, according to the ISO 9000 series. A total of 426 certified Portuguese firms were surveyed. The response rate was 61.03 percent. The different payback periods were validated through statistical analysis and the relationship between expected and perceived payback periods was discussed. This study suggests that a firm’s sector of activity, size and degree of internationalization are related to the length of the investment in QMS certification recovery period. Furthermore, our findings suggest, that the time taken to obtain the certification is not directly related to the economic component of the certification. The majority of Portuguese firms (58.9%) took up to three years to recoup their investment and 35.5% of companies said they had not yet recovered the initial investment made. The recoup of investment was measured by the increase in the number of customers and consequent volume of deliveries, improved profitability and productivity of the company, improvement of competitive position and performance (cost savings), reduction in the number of external complaints and internal defects/scrap, achievement of some important clientele, among others. We compared our work to similar studies undertaken in other countries. This paper provides a contribution to the research related to the return on investment for costs related to the certification QMS according to ISO 9000. This paper provides a valuable contribution to the field and is one of the first studies to undertake this type of analysis in Portugal