Quality management to facilitate product introduction across borders Online publication date: Mon, 23-Mar-2020
by Promporn Wangwacharakul; Martina Berglund; Ulrika Harlin
International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management (IJPQM), Vol. 29, No. 2, 2020
Abstract: This paper explores how quality management (QM) can be used to mitigate managerial challenges in new product introduction (NPI) across national borders. A longitudinal case study involving one Swedish and one Chinese company was conducted. The data were collected through 35 semi-structured interviews and five workshops with employees and managers of several functions before, during and after NPI in a product development project. Several managerial challenges in the cross-cultural collaboration were revealed. The study demonstrated that lack of understanding of cultural differences negatively affected the NPI process and product quality, but these challenges could be handled by a QM approach. Therefore, this paper proposes QM to help mitigate managerial challenges in cross-cultural NPI. The paper contributes to earlier research on the application of QM and the NPI field by suggesting QM as a means to bridge cultural gaps and facilitate NPI across borders.
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