An exploration of organizational readiness factors for Quality 4.0: an intercontinental study and future research directions

Antony, Jiju, Sony, Michael, McDermott, Olivia, Jayaraman, Raja, & Flynn, David. (2021). An exploration of organizational readiness factors for Quality 4.0: an intercontinental study and future research directions. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, doi: 10.1108/IJQRM-10-2021-0357

Abstract

Quality 4.0 incorporates the role of automation and digitization and provides competitive advantage for organizations by enhancing customer experience and increase profitability. The purpose of this study is to critically examine the organizational readiness factors for the successful implementation of Quality 4.0 implementation and assess their importance. This study applies a quantitative research methodology to examine readiness factors of Quality 4.0 in organizations by 147 senior management professionals in various organizations including manufacturing and service companies in America, Asia and Europe participated through an online survey. The readiness factors for Quality 4.0 were critically ranked amongst manufacturing and service organizations by senior management professionals from three continents. Five significant reasons for non-adoption of Quality 4.0 were lack of resources, inability to link Quality 4.0 with the corporate strategy and objectives, lack of understanding of benefits, high initial investment and the current quality management strategy and methods are already delivering good results hence unsure of the need for Quality 4.0. The handling of big data in quality management was the most important factor for adopting Quality 4.0, irrespective of the size and nature of the organization. More accuracy and less errors and improved decision-making the factors of adopting Quality 4.0 in service sector were not significant for manufacturing sector. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) reported that costs and time savings over the long run were not so significant.

Publisher

Emerald

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CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IE

cbn

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Biomedical Engineering (Scholarly Articles)