Title: The impact of soft TQM and hard TQM on innovation performance: the moderating effect of organisational culture

Authors: Kanagi Kanapathy; Chiok Sook Bin; Suhaiza Zailani; Ali Haj Aghapour

Addresses: Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Malaysia ' Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Malaysia ' Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Malaysia ' Graduate School of Management, Multimedia University, Malaysia

Abstract: Literature increasingly recognises the importance of organisational culture when implementing operations management practices. This paper examines the relationships among quality, innovation, and organisational culture under a moderation model. The research model is constructed based on well-established theories of competing values framework (CVF) and total quality management (TQM). A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 106 ISO 9000-certified manufacturers where data were collected from senior managers with sufficient knowledge. Partial least square analysis indicates that: 1) innovation is influenced mainly by adopting soft (organisational) TQM elements and secondarily hard (process) TQM elements; 2) innovation organisational culture has a stronger moderating influence on process-related TQM than on organisational TQM, although its interactions are mostly insignificant. Therefore, practitioners are advised to emphasise the organisational aspect of TQM rather than process-related practices when assessing the innovation performance of an organisation. The findings recommend firms to have a balanced view on cultures in organisations.

Keywords: competing values framework; CVF; innovation performance; moderation; partial least squares; modelling; total quality management; Malaysia; soft TQM; hard TQM; process-related TQM; organisational TQM; organisational culture; operations management; ISO 9000.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2017.082831

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2017 Vol.20 No.4, pp.429 - 461

Received: 27 Jul 2015
Accepted: 19 Sep 2015

Published online: 13 Mar 2017 *

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