Managing for quality in the high-tech environment

Summary form only given. An analysis of the seminal work of four quality leaders (Crosby, 1984; Deming, 1982; Ishikawa, 1988; and Juran, 1988, 1989) produced three distinct constructs of quality achieving manager: promoting customer-focused quality, facilitating team-based improvement, encouraging systems thinking. If quality leaders are correct in their assumptions then these behaviors should be correlated with the quality level of goods and services produced by the work group. This research examines the relationship of employee perceptions of managerial behavior and work group results, accounting for the employee's perceptions of the organizational context. The results suggest that real differences in the quality achievement of different work groups in this environment is less likely a function of differences in manager behavior than in other factors (e.g., employee performance). Or, that the manager behavior does make a difference, but not on the dimensions suggested by the quality literature. Producing high-quality goods and services is a complex phenomenon and that a work group manager's behavior may or may not be sufficient for impacting work group results. Quality professionals advocate certain management practices as leading to higher levels of quality. While the results of this study do not prove that these practices are not universally applicable, it does indicate that they may not be as universally effective as the quality literature portrays.