The secret ingredient? Uncovering the effect of organizational culture on quality management: a literature review

Abstract

Purpose

Although the debate about the interplay between quality management and organizational culture is long established, extant knowledge about their link is not consistent. This article attempts to fill such a gap by integrating current perspectives and insights through a literature review.

Design/methodology/approach

A domain-based literature review has been conducted, which followed the Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews. The knowledge core consisted of 76 items, which were analysed through bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis. An interpretive approach was taken to articulate the study findings.

Findings

The current scholarly debate unfolds through four research streams, which emphasize the need for joint optimizing quality management and organizational culture embracing a longitudinal perspective. Similarly, the theoretical roots inspiring reviewed contributions are distributed in four clusters, which rely on the assumption that organizational excellence derives from the harmonization of quality management and organizational culture.

Practical implications

Quality management necessitates a supportive organizational culture to set the ground for excellence. At the same time, it modifies the inner traits of the organizational culture. Such cultural changes should be carefully handled to ensure a dependable quality orientation. Achieving organizational excellence involves mastering the interplay between quality management and organizational culture.

Originality/value

This article delivers an unprecedented systematization of the scientific literature. It identifies the main research streams through which the debate on quality management and culture evolves, shedding light on the main conceptual roots inspiring recent scholarly advancements. Alongside overcoming the fragmentation of the extant debate, this review enables the envisioning of an agenda for further developments.

Citation

Palumbo, R. and Douglas, A. (2024), "The secret ingredient? Uncovering the effect of organizational culture on quality management: a literature review", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 195-268. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-03-2023-0077

Introduction and study rationale

Quality management is one of the most important sources of competitive advantage for a firm (Powell, 1995). Quality management broadly encompasses the system of organizational actions and techniques intended to achieve business excellence and reliability (Flynn et al., 1994). Generally speaking, business excellence involves the realization of high-quality outputs which are fully consistent with the expectations of internal and external stakeholders (McAdam et al., 2019). From this standpoint, quality management entails a reconfiguration of organizational processes and practices (Gunasekaran et al., 2019) to generate a broad, deep and diffused commitment towards the enhancement of stakeholders' satisfaction (Kanji, 1990).

Although literature framing quality management in the business setting is vibrant (Chiarini, 2020), evidence of the organizational and management factors enabling continuous quality improvement is inconsistent (Aquilani et al., 2017). Nevertheless, scholars argue that successful quality management relies on the capability to evenly combine tangible (hard) and intangible (soft) organizational dimensions in the pursuit of excellence (Escrig-Tena et al., 2018). This is in line with earlier theorization of quality management which maintains that, alongside a focus on process improvement and reliability, employees' involvement, engagement and fulfilment are critical to set the ground for excellence (Anderson et al., 1994).

Inter alia, organizational culture significantly affects the implementation of quality management (Rad, 2006), facilitating the harmonization of the hard and the soft components of the business (Naor et al., 2008). Undertaking an anthropomorphic view of the firm, organizational culture refers to “… the shared set of (implicit and explicit) values, ideas, concepts, and rules of behaviour”, prompting people to function as a cohesive social group and to perpetuate such cohesiveness (Hudelson, 2004, p. 345). Organizational culture envisions the firm as a form of human expression and embodies the unconscious mind of the business (Deshpandé and Webster, 1989). Culture inherently shapes individual behaviours and attitudes within the firm, dictating either the success or the failure of quality management (Giménez Espín et al., 2013). In line with these considerations, organizational culture empowers us to understand the reason why things happen as they do within the firm (Deshpandé et al., 1993). Whilst scholarly interest in this research topic is consolidated (van Donk and Sanders, 1993), literature addressing the interplay between organizational culture and quality management is discordant (Wu, 2015). Three distinct schools of thought can be identified. The first one maintains that organizational culture is a driver to quality (Patyal and Koilakuntla, 2018). However, it is not clear which attributes of the organizational culture facilitate or hinder organizational excellence. Evidence is disparate, with several studies emphasizing the contribution of a hierarchical culture on advancing quality management through control (Shortell et al., 1995) and others stressing that employees' empowerment and engagement should be sought in order to realize excellence through flexibility and creativity (Ababneh, 2021). The second school of thought advocates that the quality orientation of the firm shapes the organizational culture (Araujo et al., 2019), carving the shared set of values and assumptions which can be retrieved in a workplace oriented towards excellence (Mas-Machuca et al., 2021). Third, a contingency perspective assumes that fitness should be achieved between organizational culture and quality management to pave the way for business excellence (Krajcsák, 2018).

In sum, fragmentation characterizes the scholarly debate on quality management and organizational culture, preventing us from fully acknowledging the contents and the direction of the relationship between these two phenomena. This is a major knowledge gap, which persists even though the organizational culture's implications on quality management (Jung et al., 2008) – and, vice versa, the effects of quality management on organizational culture (Dimitrantzou et al., 2022) – have been widely acknowledged by scholars and practitioners (Gallego and Gutiérrez Ramírez, 2023; Tuckman, 1994). This article intends to fill such a gap, systematizing through an interpretive approach the extant literature focusing on the interplay between quality management and organizational culture. As compared with earlier reviews on this topic, which focus on particular sectors (Bloor, 1999), quality management techniques (Haffar et al., 2022) or organizational contexts (Sony et al., 2020), this study adopts a broad perspective, providing an integrative representation of the interplay between organizational culture and quality management. Coherently with these arguments, the following research question inspired this literature review:

RQ.

How are organizational culture and quality management related?

The article is organized as follows. The next section reports the study protocol followed to collect, screen and select relevant scientific contributions. Then, the research findings are reported, which inspire a systematization of current scholarly knowledge about the study domain, as argued in the discussion. Finally, conclusions are reached, emphasising the distinctive contribution of this literature review to theory and practice.

Methods

A domain-based literature review has been undertaken to answer the research question. Domain-based reviews focus on a substantive research topic, which represents the landmark around which the effort of systematization is accomplished (Palmatier et al., 2018). Drawing on the introduction, our study domain involved the interplay between organizational culture and quality management, which has been acknowledged as a compelling research topic in the management literature (Zu et al., 2010). To ensure the reliability and dependability of this review, a structured research protocol was followed. The Scientific Procedures And Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) was adhered to, which permitted the full replicability of the study design (Paul et al., 2021). Using the SPAR-4-SLR protocol disclosed several advantages as compared with alternatives, such as the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). First, SPAR-4-SLR has been specifically conceived for social sciences (Sreenivasan and Suresh, 2022), while PRISMA finds its most common application in the field of medicine and health care (Moher et al., 2010). Second, since it is based on a rigid and easily replicable protocol, the SPAR-4-SLR increased the transparency of this research, adding to its robustness (Kumar et al., 2022). Third, it has been noted that “… PRISMA is a shorter protocol as it includes four phases, while SPR-4-SLR is a more holistic approach, including all the processes up to reporting the results” (Tsiotsou and Boukis, 2022, p. 51). Lastly, yet importantly, the SPAR-4-SLR protocol advanced the rigour of the study methodology, enabling a dependable justification of the rationale behind review decisions (Lim et al., 2022).

A hybrid approach was implemented to conduct this literature review, which, in line with the purpose of mapping and systematizing the study domain, consisted of two components (Palumbo et al., 2022). On the one hand, a bibliometric analysis permitted the research streams characterizing the scholarly debate about the interplay between quality management and organizational culture to be highlighted and its founding roots to be discovered. On the other hand, an interpretive approach was embraced to delve into the research streams and discover their theoretical roots, advancing the knowledge of the study domain. Sticking to the SPAR-4-SLR protocol, the review was articulated in three stages, namely: (1) assembling; (2) arranging; and (3) assessing. An overview of these stages is given below.

Assembling

The assembling stage was aimed at compiling the database of items to be considered for inclusion in our literature review. It consisted of two steps. First, an effort was made to craft the search string which was most fitting with the study purpose. Second, the most suitable source to accomplish the literature review was identified. A preliminary screening of relevant literature was conducted to formulate a search string which was both comprehensive and coherent with the study aims. In line with the purpose which inspired the literature review, the search string was articulated in two parts, which addressed the two subjects of our research: organizational culture and quality management. It was decided to avoid the inclusion of specific quality management techniques in the search string, such as Total Quality Management (TQM) or Lean Six Sigma (LSS), in order to avoid contamination of the study aim, which broadly referred to quality management. The asterisk (*) was used to minimize the risk of exclusion of potentially relevant items due to the spelling of the factors which were targeted by this literature review. The search string agreed by was:

(“organi* cultur*”) AND (“quality manage*”)

Different sources are available to collect items for literature reviews. Alongside the two most widely used citation databases, e.g. Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science (WoS™) and Elsevier's Scopus®, alternatives have appeared recently, such as Dimensions.ai (Martín-Martín et al., 2021; Singh et al., 2021). The search string was implemented on these three sources to identify the most relevant and comprehensive source. The search string was run for “topic” in WoS™, for “title, abstract, and keywords” in Scopus®, and for “title and abstract” in Dimensions.ai. The search was accomplished on February 12th, 2023. No temporal limitations for collecting records were set. However, to enhance the replicability of the research, only scientific contributions which were published within 2022 were admitted. Journal articles, book chapters, and proceedings were included, whilst notes, letters, and other contributions which did not undergo the double-blind peer review rule were omitted. Altogether, WoS™ generated 431 items, Scopus® 2,009 items, and Dimensions.ai 1,290 items. The datasets extracted from the three sources were carefully examined and no relevant missing data affecting the integrity of individual sources were identified. Since Scopus® yielded the largest number of records, it was used as the main source for accomplishing the literature review. The items were stored in an electronic worksheet, and they were coded as per authors, title, publication year, source, and keywords in order to accomplish screening activities.

Arranging

The exclusion and inclusion criteria guiding the screening of collected items were defined. A language limitation was set, which enabled the replicability of the literature review to be enhanced. Only articles written in English were admitted. Altogether, 47 contributions were excluded based on the language criterion. Three exclusion criteria were formalized drawing on the aims of this literature review. The records which did not concomitantly focus on organizational culture and quality management and addressed only one of these topics were discarded as off topic. Besides, those items which included references to organizational culture and quality management, but did not comprehensively investigate their interplay in the pursuit of organizational excellence were discarded as off scope. Lastly, the contributions which focused on quality management techniques, but did not provide adequate insights to advance what is known about the link between organizational culture and quality management initiatives were discarded as off focus. The abstracts of retrieved contributions were independently screened by the authors, applying the criteria described above. Once the individual screening was completed, results were compared, and consensus reached as to the inclusion of relevant contributions. It was agreed to exclude 1,607 articles. Conversely, no agreement could be reached on 109 articles. Therefore, a third independent scholar proficient in the study domain was involved to settle this disagreement. As a result, 64 items were removed from the dataset. In sum, 291 articles were initially selected for this literature review.

The full text of the articles initially selected for this literature review were collected. A further round of analysis was undertaken to remove contributions which did not significantly address the study aims, that is to say unveiling the link between organizational culture and quality management. After individual analysis, a meeting was held to agree the final list of articles to be included in this literature review. It was agreed to exclude a further 206 items, which were found to inadequately contribute to the advancement of the study domain. Hence, the knowledge core on which this literature review relied consisted of 85 relevant contributions.

Assessing

In line with the hybrid nature of this literature review, the assessing stage was twofold. Initially a bibliometric analysis was undertaken, which had two concurrent aims. On the one hand, it outlined the streams characterizing the extant scholarly debate. On the other hand, it identified the main conceptual roots on which current literature is established. To achieve the first aim, the 85 items selected for the assessing stage underwent a bibliographic coupling, which illuminated the “hot” topics in the study domain (Glänzel and Czerwon, 1996). Two documents are bibliographically coupled when they cite one or more common references (Kessler, 1963). Drawing on bibliographic coupling counts, the similarity between investigated items is calculated. Items are assigned to clusters based on their similarity values. In sum, bibliographic coupling “… links documents that reference the same set of cited documents” (Boyack and Klavans, 2010, p. 2391). The visualization of similarity technique was used and the analysis conducted through VOSviewer (van Eck and Waltman, 2010). The minimum cluster size for bibliographic coupling was set at 8 and the minimum citation link strength was set at 5 (Waltman and van Eck, 2012). This methodology was conducive to retrieving consistent and tight clusters, providing a compelling and faithful representation of the state of the scholarly debate. Altogether, 76 items were found to be bibliographically coupled, contributing to four research streams. To accomplish the second aim, these items underwent a co-citation analysis, which was aimed at computing the similarity between pairs of referenced contributions relying on co-citation counts and building clusters based on similarity values (Boyack and Klavans, 2010). Therefore, co-citation sheds light on the cognitive similarity of reviewed items and elicit the common sources from which they take nourishment (Yun, 2022). It was run through VOSviewer and targeted the 100 citations with the highest total link strength. It allowed the identification of three main clusters, embedding the conceptual roots of this literature review. The combined use of bibliographic coupling and co-citation has been extensively implemented in previous studies (e.g. Casprini et al., 2020; Ferreira, 2018). It enabled the development of a comprehensive map of the scientific debate about the interplay between organizational culture and quality management (Boyack and Klavans, 2010).

An interpretive approach was used to systematize the records rendered by bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis. Sticking to the approach recommended by Tranfield et al. (2003) a non-standardized reporting structure was used to delve into the findings. Open coding was implemented to systematize the different clusters obtained from bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis. Furthermore, axial coding was arranged to find associations across the clusters and work out a comprehensive overview of the scholarly debate. After an individual analysis, perspectives were shared, disagreements on the interpretation of the clusters overcome, and a final report prepared, which inspired the study findings. Figure 1 includes a flowchart which represents the main steps of the literature review and graphically describes the process of items' collection and screening.

Research findings

Publication years of reviewed items ranged from 1993 to 2022. As highlighted in Figure 2, about 4 in 10 contributions have been published in the 5 years preceding this research (39.5%). More than 40 different sources were considered in the analysis. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, the TQM Journal, the International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, and the International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management were the sources of a third of the items included in this literature review (32.9%). Most scientific contributions presented the results of empirical research (80%), with the majority involving the implementation of quantitative methodologies (73.4%). Theoretical advancements covered a limited part of the dataset (17.1%). Asia was the most researched continent (39.5%), followed by Europe (15.8%), North America (15.8%), and Oceania (6.6%).

On average, reviewed contributions were cited 39 times (σ = 55.5) at the time of this review, ranging from a minimum of 0 citations to a maximum of 268 citations. Most items were co-authored by at least two authors (µ = 2.6; σ = 1.3, ranging from a minimum of 1 author to a maximum of 6 authors). Items authored by a single author represented about a fifth of the dataset (21%). Table 1 displays an overview of the reviewed scientific contributions, providing a synopsis of their bibliographic data, methods, and findings.

The results of bibliographic coupling

Figure 3 graphically depicts the results of the bibliographic coupling, which delivered 4 clusters. As previously discussed, the clusters embed different research streams contextualizing organizational culture to quality management. Table 2 summarizes the clusters' contents, describing the key themes addressed within and across them. The blue cluster consisted of 16 items, which were published between 2015 and 2022. They make sense of the relationship between organizational culture and quality management, shedding light on their interplay for the achievement of business excellence. The red cluster consisted of 26 items, which were published between 2010 and 2022. It delves into the link between organizational culture and quality management, indicating that they should be aligned to achieve excellence.

The green cluster consisted of 26 items published between 1993 and 2021. It maintains that the continuous joint optimization of organizational culture and quality management boosts the long-term viability of the firm. Lastly, the yellow cluster consisted of 8 items published between 2001 and 2020. It embraces a longitudinal perspective, stressing that cultural attributes and quality management should be harmonized according to an evolutionary perspective. An interpretive overview of the clusters is presented below.

The blue cluster–unveiling the interplay between culture and quality management

Scholars agree that organizational culture is a valuable source of competitive advantage: it enacts a context which is supportive to quality management and expedites the accomplishment of business excellence (Ali et al., 2017). Nevertheless, evidence of how organizational culture and quality management interact is discordant (Cebekhulu and Ozor, 2022). Two main perspectives can be uncovered in the scholarly debate. On the one hand, organizational culture is conceived of as a contingency factor moderating the successful implementation of quality management by enacting a workplace which either advances or curbs commitment towards excellence (Lasrado and Kassem, 2020). However, previous studies found limited evidence of the moderating role of organizational culture. Whilst organizational culture has been found to enhance hard quality management practices, which primarily involve technical and information-processing issues (Shuaib and He, 2023), there is no support of its effects on soft practices, which focus on intangible factors boosting quality orientation at the individual and collective levels (Kanapathy et al., 2017). Despite inconsistent evidence, a positive organizational culture is essential to drive excellence, since it prepares the ground for learning and development across the organization (Maswadeh and Al Zumot, 2021).

On the other hand, organizational culture and quality management have been claimed to be directly related, being synergic in paving the way for excellence (Fok et al., 2022a). Even though the debate on the nature of the link between organizational culture and quality management is rich, the literature is not unanimous in addressing its contents and direction (Fok et al., 2021). Inter alia, Hilman et al. (2019) argued that quality management has positive implications on organizational culture, prompting people to put greater efforts into their work. The positive effects of quality management on culture depend on the employees' awareness of quality issues, which nurture their readiness to accommodate quality improvement practices (Isnaini et al., 2021). Alternatively, Sinha and Dhall (2020) maintained that organizational culture increases the employees' propensity to put quality management into action. An organizational culture upholding the values of openness, collaboration, participation, and trust establishes an engaging and empowering atmosphere (Valmohammadi and Roshanzamir, 2015), which propels forward the introduction of quality management (Sinha et al., 2016). This advances internal (Shuaib and He, 2021) and external performances (Golrizgashti et al., 2022), adding to the long-term viability of the firm (Fok et al., 2022b).

The red cluster–aligning culture and quality management

The assumption that it is not possible to articulate a definitive relationship between organizational culture and quality management underpins the red cluster (Gambi et al., 2015). Different values, artifacts, and symbols usher disparate approaches to quality management (Aziz and Morita, 2016), which relies on the internal or external orientation inspiring strategic decisions, as well as on the focus on control or flexibility that shapes management actions (Alofan et al., 2020). A balanced combination of heterogeneous cultural approaches is needed to set the conditions for a fully-fledged implementation of quality management practices (Buhumaid, 2022). This calls for an alignment between organizational culture and quality management (Willar et al., 2016), acknowledging that the underlying cultural orientation of the firm deeply affects the outcomes of quality management (Ababneh, 2021).

A hierarchical culture based on internal orientation and control is coherent with the managerial purpose to exploit sources of competitive advantage and augment organizational performance through quality management (Giménez Espín et al., 2022). It is generally coupled with a rational cultural orientation accompanying the focus on control with an external outlook (Patyal and Koilakuntla, 2016). Rationalization reflects the desire to reduce the costs of conformity and nonconformity, setting a work environment which praises predictability and consistency (Dimitrantzou et al., 2022). However, an excess of control might have side effects on quality, reducing the employees' locus of control and generating neuroticism (Krajcsák, 2018). An extremely hierarchical and rational organizational culture disempowers people (Haffar et al., 2013b) and undermines the effective implementation of quality management (Coelho et al., 2022).

Previous research emphasized that organizational excellence requires valuing people and encouraging them to have an active role in advancing organizational performance (Chang et al., 2019). From this standpoint, attention to detail and outputs should be coupled with respect for employees, who should be empowered to partake in continuous quality improvement (Baird and Harrison, 2017). Consistent with these arguments, the literature argued that organizations should commit people to quality, enacting a supportive culture through an emphasis on creativity and innovation (Ng and Hempel, 2020). This involves shifting from control to flexibility in handling internal dynamics and in managing interdependencies with external stakeholders (Panuwatwanich and Nguyen, 2017).

Combining adhocratic and group cultures is positively related to the implementation of hard and soft quality management (Haffar et al., 2022). Such a combination energizes the organizational setting (Haffar et al., 2013a), leveraging personal valence and self-efficacy (Knapp, 2015) to engage people in the design and implementation of quality improvement initiatives (Haffar et al., 2019). It enacts a quality culture permeating the entire firm and fostering both individual and collective focus on excellence (Giménez Espín et al., 2013). This culture embeds an open system perspectives (Fonseca, 2015), which enables: (1) greater team orientation and cohesiveness (Firbank, 2010); (2) openness in communication and social exchanges (Kleijnen et al., 2014); (3) diffused commitment to knowledge sharing and cross-fertilization (Chión et al., 2019); and (4) strong solidarity to overcome conflicts and fragmentation nurtured by the existence of multiple organizational subcultures (Tenji and Foley, 2019).

The green cluster–jointly optimizing organizational culture and quality management

Quality management initiates a unique culture within the organization, whose implications on excellence are ambiguous (Al-Dhaafri et al., 2016). Ambiguity primarily derives from the coexistence of a focus on control, which is aimed at reliability, and a concern for empowerment, which nurtures a normative, affective and continuance commitment to quality (Casey, 1999). Ambiguity is especially challenging when the promise of empowerment disguises an intensification of control to enhance operational predictability and minimize errors (Tuckman, 1994). This makes the organization rigid, compromising its flexibility and impoverishing performances when unpredictable management challenges are faced (Araujo et al., 2019). The inability to jointly optimize quality management with organizational culture generates drawbacks on organizational excellence (Carvalho et al., 2019). Side effects are even more dangerous when the organization shows a strong and pervasive culture which is not fully aligned with the philosophy underlying quality management. In these circumstances, a strong culture is conducive to quality ideology, but it does not necessarily stimulate a collective effort towards organizational excellence (Lewis, 1996a).

It is argued that the success of quality management relies on tailored interventions on the organizational culture (Rad, 2006). A pluralist perspective should be adopted for this purpose, which enables joint optimization of quality management and organizational culture (Prajogo and McDermott, 2005). It involves enriching the consolidated organizational culture with a concern for continuous improvement to overcome ambiguities (Lewis, 1996b), and fortifying weak cultural values which are consistent with the tension towards business excellence (Yong and Pheng, 2008). In jointly optimizing quality management and organizational culture, attention should be paid to subcultures (Kim et al., 1995). Rather than being silenced, they should be aligned with the dominant constructive values upholding quality improvement (Corbett and Rastrick, 2000). Hence, a cohesive culture should be nurtured through shared values, artifacts, and symbols (Snyder et al., 2016). Such a culture should be firm specific (Roldán et al., 2012), providing continuous stimuli to quality improvement (van Donk and Sanders, 1993).

This is consistent with the understanding of the firm as a community of people, whose expectations should be duly contemplated when quality management is implemented (Lewis, 2002). An open culture empowering and engaging people fills the gap between the individual and the organization (Fu et al., 2015), imbuing the workplace with mutual respect, teamwork, and integration (Baird et al., 2011). This facilitates social exchanges and information sharing (Philip and McKeown, 2004) and advances the employees' job satisfaction (Klein et al., 1995), encouraging them to partake in endeavours aimed at boosting organizational performance (Gore, 1999). Alongside paving the way for a supportive workplace (Chung et al., 2010), this nurtures a collective mindset aimed at sustaining the long-term quality orientation of the firm (Khalil and Muneenam, 2021). Promoting solidarity (Green, 2012), curbing individualism (Kaluarachchi, 2010), and encouraging risk taking behaviours (Jung et al., 2008) enable the joint optimization of organizational culture and quality management, setting the conditions for business excellence.

The yellow cluster–harmonizing culture and quality management longitudinally

The joint optimization of quality management and organizational culture is a marathon rather than a sprint. The compatibility between quality management and organizational culture should be ensured in the long term, taking into account the hard and soft sides of organizational dynamics (Patyal et al., 2019). Setting an environment which is conducive to organizational excellence entails balancing different cultural values, approaches, and orientations, catalysing the contribution of both control and flexibility in the design and implementation of quality management initiatives (Zu et al., 2010).

Organizational cultures endorsing flexibility have been considered the best starting point for quality management. Group cultures sustain core quality management interventions. Besides, adhocratic cultures promote infrastructural quality (Patyal and Koilakuntla, 2018). The contamination of group and adhocratic organizational cultures with rationality fosters the continuance of quality management, stimulating error minimization (Stock et al., 2007) and the continuous improvement of organizational processes (Maroofi, 2012). In the long term, a hierarchy culture focusing on internal dynamics and aiming at control is expected to corroborate quality orientation, formalizing and embedding it in organizational dynamics. However, it should avoid blame for error, which is thought to reduce the employees' commitment to organizational excellence (Wakefield et al., 2001). Engaging employees in co-producing quality improvement interventions overcomes reproaching them for errors and augments job satisfaction (Sahney et al., 2010), aligning the pursuit of business excellence with the evolving needs of the workforce (Trivellas and Dargenidou, 2009).

The results of co-citation analysis

Figure 4 graphically displays the results of the co-citation analysis. As previously reported, the 100 cited references with the greatest total strength of co-citation links were included in the analysis. Altogether, 4 different clusters were retrieved, which articulates the conceptual roots on which the scholarly debate investigating the interplay between organizational culture and quality management relies. Table 3 summarizes the main contents of such clusters, providing an overview of the foundations inspiring the contributions included in this literature review.

The red cluster included 29 items published between 1981 and 2013. It advances the need to revisit the theory and the practice of quality management, taking a more contingent view of the firm (Sousa and Voss, 2002). It acknowledges the critical role played by culture in the implementation of quality management initiatives (Buch and Rivers, 2001). Organizations overlooking cultural dynamics in arranging programmes and interventions aimed at continuous quality improvement have been claimed to find relevant challenges and high barriers in their journey towards business excellence (Abdolshah and Abdolshah, 2011). To overcome such issues, the soft side of quality should be addressed (Wilkinson, 1992), paying particular attention to culture, which is an integral component of the firm and a secret ingredient for excellence (Denison and Mishra, 1995). The competing values framework by Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1981) represents the most widely used approach to delve into the distinguishing features of organizational culture.

The green cluster consisted of 24 items published between 1986 and 2018. It is built on the assumption that quality management is fundamental to enacting a distinctive and durable source of competitive advantage for the firm (Powell, 1995). However, the impact of quality management on organizational performance and excellence relies on culture, which acts as a contextual factor accommodating individual and collective efforts towards continuous improvement (Sila, 2007). Furthermore, quality management ushers a momentous transformation of the organizational culture, reshaping core and espoused values in a perspective of business excellence and reliability (Kujala and Ullrank, 2004). Hence, quality management and organizational culture should be matched to set the conditions for continuous quality improvement and excellence (Anderson et al., 1994; Barney, 1986).

The blue cluster was composed of 24 items which were published between 1981 and 2017. It questions the relationship between quality management and culture, pointing out the ambiguities that characterize their interplay (Green, 2012). Although quality management and organizational culture are strongly linked, their relationship is not unequivocal, as it is characterized by mutual influences (Ebrahimi and Sadeghi, 2013). The implementation of quality management calls for the adaptation of the organizational culture, which should embrace openness and empowerment to engage people in excellence in a perspective of Total Quality Management (Samson and Terziovski, 1999). However, the modification of values, artifacts, and symbols might engender power conflicts and struggles, which put organizational reliability and focus on quality under stress (Tata and Prasad, 1998). Awareness of the complicated relationship between quality management and organizational culture should be achieved, combining both of them in a quality culture (Srinivasan and Kurey, 2014).

The yellow cluster involved 23 items published between 1977 and 2014, emphasizing the importance of cultural values in attaining organizational excellence. Although specific organizational cultures have been maintained to be most likely to unleash the competitive advantage of the firm (McDermott and Stock, 1999), an effort should be made to spatially combine different cultural orientations, emphasizing both the contributions of control on internal reliability and efficiency and the implications of flexibility on resource development and employees' empowerment (Quinn and Rohrbaugh, 1983). Quality management advances organizational cultures, embedding business excellence as a key value inspiring strategic decisions and management actions (Prajogo and Sohal, 2003). To fully accomplish the positive implications of quality management on business excellence, a congruence should be achieved between the extant organizational culture and the firm's quality orientation, setting the conditions for a shared and consistent commitment towards quality improvement (Denison and Spreitzer, 1991).

Discussion

Figure 5 delivers an integrative representation of the study findings. In doing so, it acknowledges the distinctive contributions derived from the clusters which were obtained from the bibliographic coupling and the co-citation analysis. Drawing on the results of the co-citation analysis, the research streams populating the scientific debate about the interplay between quality management and organizational culture takes inputs from four main conceptual sources. Consistently with the insights obtained from the red cluster, the first source relies on a contingency-based view of the firm. Alongside representing a distinctive trait of the firm, organizational culture can be conceptualized as a contingent factor. It moderates the effectiveness of quality management, impoverishing its implications when cultural rigidity obstructs flexibility and boosting the commitment towards business excellence when people are encouraged in undertaking efforts toward continuous quality improvement. As highlighted in the green cluster, the second source is consistent with a resource-based view of the firm. It assumes that a quality culture aimed at achieving and preserving business excellence nurtures competitive advantage, contributing to the distinctiveness, relevance, and inimitability of the bundle of resources available to the firm. The third source embraces a Total Quality Management perspective, which is emphasized in the blue cluster. Successful quality management is based on the ability to achieve compatibility between the hard and soft sides of business excellence, which should be concomitantly addressed to facilitate the strengthening of the quality culture. Finally, taking stock from the yellow cluster, the fourth source upholds a configurational view of the firm, arguing that quality management and organizational culture should be viewed as two tiles of the effectiveness puzzle. Change management initiatives aimed at making them fit each other are essential to set the conditions for viable business excellence.

Drawing on these conceptual roots, the scholarly debate addressing the interplay between quality management and organizational culture unfolds through four main streams, which were elicited through the bibliographic coupling analysis. As reported in the blue cluster, one of the most relevant concerns for scholars and practitioners involves unveiling the contents and understanding the course of the relationship between these two constructs. Whilst inadequate evidence has been found confirming the role of culture as a contingent factor influencing the achievement of business excellence, scholars claim the existence of a direct link between quality management and organizational culture. More specifically, two different approaches can be unearthed in the scholarly debate. The first approach argues that organizational culture nurtures the implementation of quality improvement, encouraging firms to commit efforts and resources to enhancing their ability to satisfy the expectations of relevant stakeholders. The second approach maintains that quality management reverberates on the organizational culture, reshaping the values, artifacts, and symbols that inspire individual and collective actions in a perspective of business excellence and reliability. In sum, quality management and organizational culture are tied by a mutual connection, which makes them interdependent.

The second and the third research streams, which are embodied by the red and the green clusters, elaborate on these considerations, pointing out the need for alignment and joint optimization between quality management and organizational culture. Interventions aimed at advancing the core and infrastructural components of quality management should be harmonized to the extant organizational culture. An emphasis on control and internal orientation sets the conditions for process improvement. A concern for flexibility and internal orientation empowers people and stimulates their commitment to advancing business excellence. Control and external orientation boost the exchanges between the firm and external stakeholders, paving the way for reliability. Lastly, flexibility and external orientation enhance the organizational responsiveness to the stakeholders' evolving expectations, improving the long-term viability of the firm. Joint optimization can be achieved by enacting a quality culture across the firm, which concomitantly relies on innovation and reliability, as well as on knowledge exploration and exploitation to advance organizational performance.

Even though it is not possible to identify an unequivocal and clear-cut interaction between quality management and organizational culture, the yellow cluster envisions a timewise interpretation of their interplay. Quality management kicks off with a clan culture, which enables employees and empowers them to actively participate in the design and implementation of continuous improvement initiatives, co-creating business excellence. A shift towards adhocracy is needed to take advantage of employees' empowerment and put creativity at the service of quality improvement. Adhocratic cultures combine flexibility and an external orientation, enacting a fertile ground for enhancing both the core and the infrastructural components of quality. An effort aimed at rationalizing the organizational culture is required to strengthen the individual and collective commitment to business excellence, focusing on reliability and stakeholders' satisfaction. Finally, hierarchical cultures permit the full exploitation of the quality advancements realized in the previous steps, targeting continuous process improvement. Nevertheless, in order to preserve the employees' creativity and energies to enact a new round of quality improvement, the adoption of a hierarchical culture should not disempower people and limit their action. The firm's ability to enact such cultural transition is rooted in the implementation of a quality culture, which represents the secret ingredient for accomplishing business excellence.

Several limitations affected this literature review. Firstly, Scopus® was used as the data source to collect relevant scientific contributions. While this decision might have reduced the comprehensiveness of the research, the large coverage of this dataset and the cross-checks accomplished to verify its dependability ensure the validity of the review. Secondly, attention was generally paid to quality management. Therefore, the research findings cannot be immediately applied to specific quality management techniques, such as Lean Six Sigma and Total Quality Management. Nonetheless, the study findings provide interesting considerations, which can be generalizable to different quality techniques. Lastly, the interpretive approach used to systematize the results of this literature review might have affected the objectivity of the findings' report. However, it permitted the delving into the reviewed contributions, enabling the delivery of a fresh contribution to theory and practice.

The study implications are twofold. From a conceptual perspective, the interplay between quality management and organizational culture should be addressed undertaking four different theoretical perspectives. Merging contingency and resource-based views permits a nuanced interpretation of the intertwining of quality management and organizational culture. Besides, coupling the Total Quality Management perspective with a configurational approach stresses that business excellence can be achieved only if firms are able to balance their quality management initiatives with their cultural orientation. Rather than being used independently, such conceptual perspectives should be harmonized in a comprehensive and integrated conceptual framework, which led us to frame the interplay between organizational culture and quality management as an idiosyncratic attribute of the firm, which should be carefully managed and addressed to achieve a viable orientation towards business excellence.

From a management perspective, the study findings highlight that it is not possible to adopt a fix-it approach to handle the interplay between quality management and organizational culture. Conversely, joint optimization of these two constructs should be sought. A longitudinal perspective should be embraced to accommodate quality management with the extant organizational culture and to deal with the contamination of consolidated cultural values with the focus on business excellence. Managers should make an effort to discover the micro-level determinants of the joint optimization of quality management and organizational culture. This involves acknowledging the multiple subcultures populating the firm and investigating how they either undermine or facilitate the implementation of quality management initiatives. Furthermore, attention should be paid to the manifold implications of quality management on the organizational culture, avoiding the stiffening of the firm around a hierarchical and rational culture and promoting an adhocratic perspective to stimulate continuous improvement.

The study findings illuminate three main avenues for further development. Empirical analysis should be devoted to better understand how quality management and organizational culture interact to determine organizational success. This involves designing longitudinal studies, which will overcome the limitations of cross-sectional approaches, which are still the most recurring methodological outline taken by scholars involved in this study domain. Moreover, the distinctive characteristics of the quality culture should be carefully investigated since it has been argued to be the secret ingredient for business excellence. On the one hand, theoretical advancements are required to pinpoint the components that build a quality culture. On the other hand, exploratory research is needed to contextualize such conceptual insights into practice. Last, but not least, additional efforts are needed to understand the influence of the institutional field and the national culture on the organizational orientation to business excellence. In an increasingly globalized world, institutional and national variables seem to lose relevance. However, since they deeply affect the cultural orientation of people and groups within the organization, their influence on the organizational readiness to embrace excellence should be comprehensively examined.

Conclusions

This literature review attempted to systematize the current scholarly debate examining the relationship between quality management and organizational excellence. For this purpose, a literature review consisting of a bibliometric analysis and an interpretive systematization of retrieved scientific contributions was undertaken. The interplay between quality management and organizational culture is characterized by ambiguity, which derives from their deep-rooted intertwinement. Achieving business excellence requires a joint optimization of these two factors. Quality management initiatives should be harmonized with the extant organizational culture, stimulating employees' willingness and readiness to partake in the continuous improvement of organizational processes. Simultaneously, a change of the organizational culture is necessary to overcome resistances and obstacles and so enact a quality culture which facilitates the journey of the firm towards business excellence.

Figures

Figure 1

The flow diagram depicting the items' collection, analysis, and inclusion

Figure 2

The distribution of reviewed items per publication year

Figure 3

The results of bibliographic coupling

Figure 4

The results of co-citation analysis

Figure 5

An integrative overview of the study findings

Table 1

The items included in the literature review (n = 76)

Authors	Cluster	Title	Year	Source title	Cited by	Research setting	Country	Study aims	Study design	Study methods	Main findings
Ali G.A., Hilman H., Gorondutse A.H	Blue	The effect of entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, total quality management and organizational culture on the SMEs performance: A theoretical framework	2017	Journal of Business and Retail Management Research	10	N/A	N/A	The article attempts to explain how an entrepreneurial and a market orientation affect organizational performance	Conceptual	The article derives its arguments from an extensive literature review	The conceptual model proposed by the authors assume that quality management significantly enhance organizational performance; however, their effect is moderated by the extant organizational culture, which might prevent the organizational orientation towards excellence
Cebekhulu B., Ozor P	Blue	THE INFLUENCE OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND ERP SYSTEMS ON ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE AND PERFORMANCE	2022	Proceedings on Engineering Sciences		Public sector organizations	South Africa	The article investigates the implication of quality management practices on organizational performance, contemplating the role of organizational culture	Empirical–quantitative	Data were collected from 117 respondents; structural equation modelling was used to collect relevant evidence	Organizational culture was not found to significantly influence the relationship between quality management and organizational performance
Fok L., Morgan Y.-C., Zee S., Mock V.E	Blue	The impact of organizational culture and total quality management on the relationship between green practices and sustainability performance	2022a	International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management		Manufacturing and service companies	United States	The article examines the direct and indirect effects of organizational culture and quality management on sustainability performance	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 441 companies; structural equation modelling was implemented	Organizational culture and quality management practices have been found to interact, elevating the green practices and, consequently, the sustainability performance
Fok L., Zee S., Morgan Y.-C.T	Blue	Green practices and sustainability performance: the exploratory links of organizational culture and quality improvement practices	2022b	Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management	1	Manufacturing and service companies	United States	The article investigates the implications of organizational culture and quality improvement practices on the relationship between green practices and sustainability performances	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 330 respondents; structural equation modelling was used to collect relevant evidence	Organizational culture and quality improvement practices have a synergic effect on organizational performance; they enable the combination of excellence and sustainability, paving the way for resilience
Fok L.Y., Morgan Y.-C., Zee SM.L	Blue	A multi-industry study of sustainability, total quality management, organizational culture, and performance	2021	International Journal of Operations and Quantitative Management	3	Manufacturing, retail, healthcare and service industries	United States	The study investigates the impact of green initiatives on sustainability performance, acknowledging the role of organizational culture and quality initiatives	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 331 respondents; multivariate analysis of variance and correlation analysis were concomitantly used to obtain evidence	Organizational culture and quality management affects the implications of green orientation on sustainability performance; the role of culture and quality management is affected by the institutional field and contingent variables
Golrizgashti S., Bidhandi H.M., Safari M., Hodaei H	Blue	A causal structure between total quality management, organisational culture, knowledge management, supplier integration and supply chain performance–an FMCG case study	2022	International Journal of Integrated Supply Management	1	Manufacturing and service companies	Iran	The article proposes a conceptual model which relates quality management to supply chain performance, taking into consideration organizational culture	Empirical quantitative	Primary data were collected from investigated companies; partial least square structural equation modelling was implemented	Quality management paves the way for an enhancement of supply chain management performances; however, its implications are boosted by a favourable organizational culture
Hilman H., Ali G.A., Gorondutse A.H	Blue	The relationship between TQM and SMEs' performance: The mediating role of organizational culture	2020	International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management	27	Manufacturing sector	Saudi Arabia	The article examines the association between quality management and organizational performance, handling organizational culture as a mediating variable	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 364 small and medium-sized enterprises; partial least square structural equation modelling was run	Organizational culture has been found to mediate the relationship between quality management and organizational performance; a supportive organizational climate should be enacted to enhance the contribution of quality management to organizational performance
Isnaini D.B.J., Danilwan Y., Mansur D.M., Ilyas G.B., Murtini S., Taufan M.Y	Blue	Perceived Distribution Quality Awareness, Organizational Culture, TQM on Quality Output	2021	Journal of Distribution Science		Manufacturing and service companies	Indonesia	The study examines the implications of quality management on organizational culture, taking into consideration the role played by individual quality awareness and organizational culture	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 129 respondents; partial least square structural equation modelling was used	The effects of quality management on organizational performance are nurtured by a diffused awareness and responsiveness to quality, which enact a supportive organizational culture
Kanapathy K., Bin C.S., Zailani S., Aghapour A.H	Blue	The impact of soft TQM and hard TQM on innovation performance: The moderating effect of organisational culture	2017	International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management	38	Manufacturing sector	Malaysia	The study examines the relationships between quality management and innovation, contemplating organizational culture as a moderating variable	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 106 respondents; partial least square structural equation modelling was implemented	The study findings do not support the moderating role of organizational culture in the relationship between quality management and innovation performance; nevertheless, it is argued that lack of fit between quality management initiatives and organizational culture compromises achievable results
Lasrado F., Kassem R	Blue	Let's get everyone involved! The effects of transformational leadership and organizational culture on organizational excellence	2021	International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management	9	Manufacturing and service companies	United Arab Emirates	The article investigates the dynamic relationship between transformational leadership, organizational culture, and organizational excellence	Empirical quantitative	The article investigates the dynamic relationship between transformational leadership, organizational culture, and organizational excellence	Organizations which rely on transformational leadership are capable to implement an inclusive and empowering organizational climate, which fosters the achievement of organizational excellence
Maswadeh S., Al Zumot R	Blue	The effect of total quality management on the financial performance by moderating organizational culture	2021	Accounting	2	Transportation industry	Jordan	The article investigates the relationship between quality management and financial performances investigating the moderating role of organizational culture	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 72 respondents; multiple linear regressions were used to test the hypotheses	Organizational culture was found to significantly moderate the relationship between quality management and financial performances; more specifically, a culture which is oriented towards learning and development is conducive to organizational excellence
Shuaib K.M., He Z	Blue	Impact of organizational culture on quality management and innovation practices among manufacturing SMEs in Nigeria	2021	Quality Management Journal	5	Manufacturing sector	Nigeria	The study examines the influence of organizational culture on quality management initiatives and innovation practices	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 570 small and medium-sized companies; partial least square path modelling was run	Organizations should embrace a sound organizational culture to foster the impact of quality management on innovation performance; clan and market cultures are considered to be more effective in advancing the positive implications of quality management initiatives
Shuaib K.M., He Z	Blue	Mediating effect of organisational learning and moderating role of organisational culture on the relationship between total quality management and innovation among manufacturing companies in Nigeria	2022	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence		Manufacturing sector	Nigeria	The article examines the impact of quality management on innovation, taking into consideration the role played by organizational culture	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 459 respondents; partial least squares path modelling was run	Although organizational culture creates a positive atmosphere in the company, it has not been found to moderate the relationship between quality management initiatives and innovation performance
Sinha N., Dhall N	Blue	Mediating effect of TQM on relationship between organisational culture and performance: evidence from Indian SMEs	2020	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence	8	Automotive industry	India	The paper examines the relationship between organizational culture, quality management, and organizational performance	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 120 respondents; structural equation modelling was used to obtain evidence	Although organizational culture has not been found to have effects on organizational performances, it does so through the mediating role of quality management initiatives
Sinha N., Garg A.K., Dhingra S., Dhall N	Blue	Mapping the linkage between Organizational Culture and TQM: The case of Indian auto component industry	2016	Benchmarking	29	Automotive industry	India	The article investigates the implications of organizational culture on quality management	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 150 companies; structural equation modelling has been implemented to obtain evidence	The implementation of quality management initiatives is boosted by an organizational culture which is open, authentic, proactive, and based on trust
Valmohammadi C., Roshanzamir S	Blue	The guidelines of improvement: Relations among organizational culture, TQM and performance	2015	International Journal of Production Economics	162	Pharmaceutical industry	Iran	The article intends to make sense of the relationship between organizational culture, quality management, and organizational performance	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 209 senior managers; structural equation modelling was implemented	Even though both organizational culture and quality management positively affect organizational performance, culture has been argued to enact a positive climate, which facilitates quality management and indirectly advances organizational performance
Al-Dhaafri H.S., Al-Swidi A.K., Yusoff RZ.B	Green	The mediating role of TQM and organizational excellence, and the moderating effect of entrepreneurial organizational culture on the relationship between ERP and organizational performance	2016	TQM Journal	35	Police departments	United Arab Emirates	The study investigates the moderating effect of an entrepreneurial organizational culture on the effect of quality management on organizational performance	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 320 respondents; Partial Least Square structural equation modelling was used to analyse data	Although culture was not found to influence the relationship between quality management and organizational performance, quality management initiatives might enact a unique within the company
Araújo R., Santos G., da Costa J.B., Sá J.C	Green	The quality management system as a driver of organizational culture: An empirical study in the Portuguese textile industry	2019	Quality Innovation Prosperity	43	Textile industry	Portugal	The study intends to investigate how a quality culture influences the performance of an organization	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from a questionnaire delivered to 60 companies; descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlations were implemented	An organizational culture focused on error detection is expected to undermine organizational performance, whilst an orientation to creativity adds to organizational success
Baird K., Hu K.J., Reeve R	Green	The relationships between organizational culture, total quality management practices and operational performance	2011	International Journal of Operations and Production Management	252	Service and manufacturing sector	Australia	The study investigates if and how organizational culture is associated with quality management and their implications on performance	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 364 companies; multiple regression analysis were used	Quality management is fostered by an organizational culture which is conducive to teamwork and respect for people; similarly, cultures oriented to innovation and outcomes facilitate quality management; however, it does not necessarily improve operational performances
Carvalho A.M., Sampaio P., Rebentisch E., Carvalho J.Á., Saraiva P	Green	Operational excellence, organisational culture and agility: the missing link?	2019	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence	54	N/A	N/A	The study conceptually investigates the relationship between organizational culture and operational excellence programmes, examining how they affect organizational performances	Conceptual	Unsystematic literature review prompting a theoretical advancement	To achieve excellence, organizations should pay attention to a fit between the extant culture and operational excellence initiatives and should enact an agile cultural capacity leading to constant change
Casey C	Green	“Come, Join Our Family”: Discipline and Integration in Corporate Organizational Culture	1999	Human Relations	42	Technology industry	United States	The article analyses the “new culture” enacted by the implementation of quality management initiatives	Empirical qualitative	Field research, involving in-depth interviews and participant observation	The “new organizational culture” enacted by quality management is ambivalent; on the one hand, it entails the emergence of a team-family culture, which is based on empowerment and cooperation; on the other hand, it might generate greater attention to discipline and control, which can create obsessive compulsion to work
Chung Y.-C., Hsu Y.-W., Tsai C.-H	Green	Research on the correlation between implementation strategies of TQM, organizational culture, TQM activities and operational performance in high-tech firms	2010	Information Technology Journal	13	High-tech companies	Taiwan	The study examines how the organizational culture influences the execution of quality management initiatives	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 73 companies; analysis of variance was used to collect evidence	Organizational culture has been found to significantly affect the implementation of quality management initiatives, creating an organizational context which facilitates the enhancement of individual and collective performance
Corbett L.M., Rastrick K.N	Green	Quality performance and organizational culture: A New Zealand study	2000	International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management	73	Manufacturing sector	New Zealand	The article investigates the relationship between the management culture and the quality performance of organizations	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 21 companies; Spearman's Coefficient of Rank Correlation was computed to collect evidence	Organizations which manage to create a dominant and homogeneous culture which is oriented towards quality achieve better results in terms of organizational performance; a “constructive” culture based on employees' empowerment, creativity, and social support is expected to greatly contribute to organizational performance
Fu S.-L., Chou S.-Y., Chen C.-K., Wang C.-W	Green	Assessment and cultivation of total quality management organisational culture – an empirical investigation	2015	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence	24	Companies participating to the Taiwanese National Quality Award	Taiwan	The study examines how an organizational culture imbued with a quality orientation paves the way for business excellence	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 182 people working for seven companies; descriptive statistics and contingency tables were used to collect evidence	Organizational culture serves the purpose of filling the gap between the organization and the individual, enacting motivation and commitment to continuous improvements aimed at achieving quality and excellence
Gore E.W	Green	Organizational culture, TQM, and business process reengineering: An empirical comparison	1999	Team Performance Management: An International Journal	19	Mid-level professional staff	Luxembourg and United States	The article examines the interplay between organizational culture and quality management	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 220 mid-level professionals; factor analysis and contingency tables were used to obtain evidence	Quality management is assumed to create an organizational culture leading companies to continuously learn and improve, thus advancing organizational performance
Green T.J	Green	TQM and organisational culture: How do they link?	2012	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence	74	N/A	N/A	The article intends to shed light on the factors determining the failure of quality management, investigating the role of organizational culture	Conceptual	The study is based on an unsystematic literature review and advances a conceptual framework to understand the implication of culture on quality management and organizational performance	Quality management initiatives should be fully compatible with the organizational culture to generate implications on organizational performance; to boost performance, the organizational culture should be rooted in solidarity, integration, consensus, and psychological intensity
Jung J., Su X., Baeza M., Hong S	Green	The effect of organizational culture stemming from national culture towards quality management deployment	2008	TQM Journal	33	Multinational companies	United States	The paper analyses the relationship between organizational culture and the performance achieved through the implementation of quality management initiatives	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 186 managers; factor analysis and regressions were run	Power distance has been found to enhance the quality performance achieved by organizations, being an influential factor affecting the success of quality management initiatives; similarly, uncertainty avoidance stimulates quality management, whilst individualism constrains it
Kaluarachchi K.AS.P	Green	Organizational culture and total quality management practices: A Sri Lankan case	2010	TQM Journal	29	Health care	Sri Lanka	The article examines how the organizational culture influences the implementation of quality management initiatives	Empirical qualitative	Direct observations, short-time interviews, participative observations, in-depth interviews, and document analysis were concomitantly used to collect data	The success of quality management relies on the existence of a supportive culture, which is nurtured by low power distance, low individualism, and low masculinity
Khalil M.K., Muneenam U	Green	Total quality management practices and corporate green performance: does organizational culture matter?	2021	Sustainability	5	Health care	Pakistan	The study investigates the role played by organizational culture in influencing the relationship between quality management and green performances of the organization	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 369 respondents; Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling was used to collect data	The implementation of quality management initiatives which focus on strategic planning, human resource management, and information analysis facilitate the establishment of an organizational culture which is oriented towards quality and which leads to better organizational performance
Kim P.S., Pindur W., Reynolds K	Green	Creating a new organizational culture: The key to total quality management in the public sector	1995	International Journal of Public Administration	20	Public sector entities	N/A	The paper examines which kind of changes the organizational culture should undergo in order to facilitate the success of quality management	Conceptual	The article relies on an unsystematic review of the literature	The success of quality management initiatives should be accommodated by a process of cultural change; on the one hand, subcultures which do not consist with a quality orientation should be carefully handled; on the other hand, employees' empowerment is needed to engage people in continuous improvement
Klein A.S., Masi R.J., Weidner C.K., II	Green	Organization Culture, Distribution and Amount of Control, and Perceptions of Quality: An empirical study of linkages	1995	Group and Organization Management	60	Service sector	United States	The article investigates the relationship between organizational culture and service quality, analysing implication on performances	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 823 people employed in 159 companies; principal component analysis and regressions were used to test the hypotheses	Organizational culture has been found to exert a strong effect on quality management; the organizational culture should be based on leading by example and on empowering employees to have control over their job
Lewis D	Green	The organizational culture saga–from OD to TQM: A critical review of the literature. Part 2 - applications	1996b	Leadership and Organization Development Journal	21	N/A	N/A	The article conceptually examines the relationship existing between quality and organizational culture	Conceptual	The article is based on an unsystematic review of the literature, which brings to theoretical advancements	Organizations which implement quality management initiatives face some cultural ambiguities, they concomitantly assume that employees should be carefully and properly directed and controlled and they should be more responsible, accountable, and flexible in accomplishing their job
Lewis D	Green	The organizational culture saga–from OD to TQM: A critical review of the literature. Part 1 - concepts and early trends	1996a	Leadership and Organization Development Journal	20	N/A	N/A	The article intends to track the interest in organizational culture triggered by the pervasive quality orientation undertaken by organizations across the world	Conceptual	Unsystematic review of the literature leading to conceptual advancements	Attention should be paid to strong organizational cultures, which are not necessarily conducive to better organizational performance. In fact, strong cultures can bring to ideologism, which prevent employees' empowerment and engagement in quality management
Lewis D	Green	Five years on – the organizational culture saga revisited	2002	Leadership and Organization Development Journal	41	N/A	N/A	The article discusses the “saga” of organizational culture, focusing on how it interplays with quality management	Conceptual	The article provides a critical analysis and a conceptual advancement of the relationship between organizational culture and quality management	Since organizations do not belong to someone, but are a community of “citizens”, efforts should be taken to strengthen the organizational culture, which should lead people to be motivated at work and to perceive meaningfulness from their job; this enhances quality orientation and the focus on organizational excellence
Philip G., McKeown I	Green	Business transformation and organizational culture: The role of competency, IS and TQM	2004	European Management Journal	41	Engineering/aerospace sector	United Kingdom	The article embraces an anthropological perspective to investigate the relationship between culture and organizational transformation	Empirical qualitative	A single case study approach was taken; data were collected longitudinally through interviews	Organizational culture has been argued to shape the communication process within an organization, affecting the degree of external control and of social cohesiveness of people within the organization; in turn, communication determines the quality and quantity of information exchanges, influencing the implementation of quality improvement
Prajogo D.I., McDermott C.M	Green	The relationship between total quality management practices and organizational culture	2005	International Journal of Operations and Production Management	268	Manufacturing, construction, and service organizations	Australia	The study explores the relationship between quality management and organizational culture, identifying the factors that determine the successful implementation of quality initiatives	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 194 respondents; confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to extract relevant evidence	Organizations should seek for an alignment between organizational cultures, quality management practices, and structural dimensions; organizational excellence is boosted by the ability to accommodate different cultures to the specific quality improvement targets pursued by the company
Rad AM.M	Green	The impact of organizational culture on the successful implementation of total quality management	2006	TQM Magazine	164	Health care	Iran	The study examines the distinctive contribution of organizational culture to the success of quality management interventions	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 667 people employed in a single health care organization; forward conditional logistic regression analysis was used to collect evidence	The success of quality management initiatives is facilitated by a strong, flexible, and organic organizational culture, whilst it is hindered by a weak, mechanistic, and hierarchical culture; risk taking, open communication, and collaboration are essential to boost quality management initiatives
Roldán J.L., Leal-Rodríguez A.L., Leal A.G	Green	The influence of organisational culture on the total quality management programme performance	2012	Investigaciones Europeas de Direccion y Economia de la Empresa	30	Manufacturing and service companies	Spain	The article investigates the relationship between different types of cultures and effectiveness in quality management implementation	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 113 companies; partial least squares structural equation modelling was run	Mimicking successful cultural approach does not lead to successful implementation of quality management; companies should focus on enacting a firm-specific, creative organizational culture, which encourage people to exceed expected standards
Snyder K., Ingelsson P., Bäckström I	Green	Enhancing the study of Lean transformation through organizational culture analysis	2016	International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences	13	N/A	N/A	The article identifies and systematize approaches intended to integrate organizational culture in the study of quality management	Conceptual	A literature review was accomplished to synthesize current knowledge about the study domain	Building open cultures of work based on shared values, language, behaviours, routines, and rituals is an essential component of a successful quality management initiatives which brings towards organizational excellence
Tuckman A	Green	The Yellow Brick Road: Total Quality Management and the Restructuring of Organizational Culture	1994	Organization Studies	62	N/A	N/A	The article critically examines the implications of quality management on recrafting the organizational culture	Conceptual	The article provides a critique of quality management initiatives, emphasizing its inner contradictions	Quality management initiatives might replicate a bureaucratic culture, which constrains individual behaviour under the disguised promise of employees' empowerment
van Donk D.P., Sanders G	Green	Organizational culture as a missing in quality management	1993	International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management	26	Technology industry	Netherlands	The article attempts to establish the relationship between organizational culture and quality management	Empirical qualitative	The study relies on an illustrative case study, which was used to contextualize a conceptual advancement	Although culture is largely recognized as something critical for the success of quality management, ambiguity characterizes the understanding of the interplay between culture and quality; nevertheless, a positive organizational culture is considered to be a starting point for quality management
Yong K.T., Pheng L.S	Green	Organizational culture and TQM implementation in construction firms in Singapore	2008	Construction Management and Economics	58	Contractor companies	Singapore	Adopting an organizational culture perspective, the article investigates the relationship between cultural orientation and quality management initiatives	Empirical quantitative	An exploratory approach was taken, involving 56 respondents; descriptive statistics and analysis of variance were accomplished	When quality management initiatives are implemented, companies should either modify their organizational culture to fortify weak cultural attributes requiring fortification, or they should adapt quality management interventions to fit the extant culture
Ababneh OM.A	Red	The impact of organizational culture archetypes on quality performance and total quality management: the role of employee engagement and individual values	2020	International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management	12	Hospitality sector	Jordan	The study investigates how certain psychological states, such as employee engagement, facilitates the relationship between organizational culture and quality management	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 153 senior employees; partial least squares path modelling was used to obtain evidence	A strong organizational culture is conducive to increased commitment to quality management. Strong organizational cultures empower and engage employee, stimulating them to put their energy at the service of organizational excellence
Alofan F., Chen S., Tan H	Red	National cultural distance, organizational culture, and adaptation of management innovations in foreign subsidiaries: A fuzzy set analysis of TQM implementation in Saudi Arabia	2020	Journal of Business Research	26	Multinational companies	Saudi Arabia	The article examines how organizational culture affects the adaptation of quality management initiatives in multinational enterprises	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 126 multinational companies and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis was exploited	A supportive organizational culture facilitates the adaptation of quality management initiatives across different countries, overcoming issues related to cultural distance
Aziz R.Z.A., Morita H	Red	National culture, organisational culture, total quality management implementation, and performance: An empirical investigation	2016	International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management	15	Large and medium-sized companies	Indonesia	The study examines how organizational culture affects the degree of success of quality management initiatives	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 129 managers; multiple regression analysis were used to obtain evidence	Organizational culture has been found as an important driver of quality management initiatives. The success of quality management depends on the awareness and adaptation of quality initiatives to the organizational culture
Baird K.M., Harrison G.L	Red	The association between organizational culture and the use of management initiatives in the public sector	2017	Financial Accountability and Management	17	Public sector entities, Service and manufacturing sectors	Australia	The article investigates the relationship between organizational culture and quality management initiatives, comparing the public and the private sector	Empirical quantitative	ANOVA tests and stepwise regressions were accomplished	Although public sector entities are less likely to implement quality management initiatives, an organizational culture which emphasizes an outcome orientation and attention to details are conducive to a greater organizational concern for quality
Buhumaid M	Red	Approaching the impact of organisational culture on quality management practices using the competing values framework: the case study of Dubai government organisations	2022	International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management		Public sector entities	United Arab Emirates	The article adopts an organisational culture lens to examine the implementation of quality management in government organizations	Empirical quantitative	A survey was delivered to 402 respondents (managers and non-managers) employed by government organizations in Dubai; regression analysis was conducted to elaborate data	Different features of the organizational culture have a positive effect on quality management; a balanced mix of different cultural attributes is needed to achieve excellence in the public sector
Chang W.L., Meyer J., Merien F	Red	Organisational culture: the hidden operand in clinical laboratories	2019	International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance	1	Clinical laboratories	N/A	The study intends to investigate how organizational culture determines quality management practices	Conceptual	Theoretical advancement based on unsystematic literature review	Employees should be valued and empowerment to set the conditions for effective quality management and to accomplish organizational excellence
Chión S.J., Charles V., Morales J	Red	The impact of organisational culture, organisational structure and technological infrastructure on process improvement through knowledge sharing	2020	Business Process Management Journal	14	Food, beverage, and textile companies	Ecuador	The article investigates if and how knowledge sharing mediates the relationship between organizational culture and process improvement	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 200 companies; structural equation modelling and maximum likelihood estimation were applied to collect evidence	The effectiveness of quality management initiatives relies on the establishment of a culture nurturing knowledge exchange and cross-fertilization
Coelho C., Mojtahedi M., Kabirifar K., Yazdani M	Red	Influence of Organisational Culture on Total Quality Management Implementation in the Australian Construction Industry	2022	Buildings	2	Construction sector	Australia	The article investigates the implication of organizational culture and quality management, with a focus on Total Quality Management	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 42 respondents representing construction organizations; k-means clusters and analysis of variance were implemented	Clan and adhocracy organizational cultures facilitate the implementation of quality management initiatives, whilst a hierarchical culture obstructs it
Dimitrantzou C., Psomas E., Bouranta N., Kafetzopoulos D	Red	The role of organisational culture in total quality management adoption and cost of quality	2022	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence		Manufacturing and service companies	Greece	The study attempted to shed light on the relationship between the organizational culture and quality management interventions	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 292 companies; confirmatory factor analysis and multiple linear regressions were implemented	An organizational culture oriented towards hierarchy and development entails a greater attention paid to conforming to quality management; a rational culture is expected to reduce costs from non-conformance to quality standards
Firbank O.E	Red	Exploring the fit between organizational culture and quality improvement in a home-care environment	2010	Health Care Management Review	9	Home-care sector	Canada	The article investigates how differing organizational cultures affect the implementation of continuous quality improvement	Empirical qualitative	A multiple case study approach was taken, involving four home-care agencies operating in Quebec	A team-oriented culture, organizational commitment, employees' involvement, decentralization, and organizational progressiveness determine greater organizational readiness to implement continuous quality improvement
Fonseca L.M	Red	ISO 9001 quality management systems through the lens of organizational culture	2015	Quality–Access to Success	24	N/A	N/A	The article conceptually analyses quality management initiatives embracing the lenses of organizational culture theories	Conceptual	Unsystematic literature review prompting a conceptual improvement	Organizational cultures embracing an open system perspective are more likely to stimulate the effective implementation of quality management interventions
Gambi L.D.N., Boer H., Gerolamo M.C., Jørgensen F., Carpinetti LC.R	Red	The relationship between organizational culture and quality techniques, and its impact on operational performance	2015	International Journal of Operations and Production Management	75	Manufacturing sector	Brazil and Denmark	The article investigates if organizational culture influences the set of quality techniques used and, consequently, the organizational performance	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 250 firms; structural equation modelling was used to analyse data	Organizational culture deeply affects the set of quality techniques used; an alignment should be sought for between culture and quality management; in general, group and developmental culture benefit most from a focus on quality initiatives in terms of organizational performance
Giménez Espín J.A., Jiménez Jiménez D., Martínez Costa M	Red	Effects of the organizational culture and knowledge exploration and exploitation on results in the EFQM model framework	2022	Journal of Knowledge Management		Manufacturing sector	Spain	The article examines which type of organizational culture promotes learning competences and paves the way for organizational excellence	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 200 companies employing at least 100 people; Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling was used	A market-oriented culture is conducive towards organizational learning and ambidexterity, whilst hierarchical cultures fosters knowledge exploitation
Gimenez-Espin J.A., Jiménez-Jiménez D., Martínez-Costa M	Red	Organizational culture for total quality management	2013	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence	107	Industrial and service companies	Spain	The study investigates which organizational culture fits more with the implementation of quality management initiatives	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 451 companies and hierarchical linear regressions were exploited	To achieve positive results in terms of quality management and organizational excellence, organizations should stick to a “quality culture”, which combines adhocracy and clan traits and addresses both internal control and external orientation
Haffar M., Al-Hyari K.A., Djebarni R., Al-Shamali A., Abdul Aziz M., Al-Shamali S	Red	The myth of a direct relationship between organizational culture and TQM: propositions and challenges for research	2022	TQM Journal	3	N/A	N/A	The article attempts to shed light on the multidimensional psychological mechanisms through which an organizational culture affects quality management initiatives	Conceptual	Thorough review of the scientific literature published between 1980 and 2020	Hierarchical and market cultures have been argued to negatively affect the employees' readiness and commitment to quality improvements, whilst adhocratic and group cultures foster a focus on organizational excellence
Haffar M., Al-Karaghouli W., Djebarni R., Gbadamosi G	Red	Organisational culture and TQM implementation: investigating the mediating influences of multidimensional employee readiness for change	2019	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence	18	Manufacturing sector	Algeria	The article investigates the direct relationship between organizational culture and quality management initiatives, looking at the underlying mechanisms related to employee readiness for change	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 118 companies; multiple linear regression analysis was conducted	Supportive organizational cultures enhance the employees' readiness to change and augment their personal valence, thus enacting a greater desire to contribute to organizational excellence
Haffar M., Al-Karaghouli W., Ghoneim A	Red	The mediating effect of individual readiness for change in the relationship between organisational culture and TQM implementation	2013a	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence	34	Manufacturing sector	Syria	The study investigates how organizational culture influence quality management through the mediating role of employees' readiness for change	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 196 companies; regression analysis was run	The organizational culture should be carefully exploited to establish a supportive environment, which advances the individual readiness for change and engages people in quality improvement initiatives; adhocratic and clan cultures are especially fitting with this purpose
Haffar M., Al-Karaghouli W., Ghoneim A	Red	An analysis of the influence of organisational culture on TQM implementation in an era of global marketing: The case of Syrian manufacturing organisations	2013b	International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management	21	Manufacturing sector	Syria	The article examines the influence of the organizational culture on quality management	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 196 companies; multiple regression analysis was accomplished	Hierarchical and market cultures do not support the quality orientation of organizations, since they create a work climate which is not conducive to employees' empowerment
Kleijnen J., Dolmans D., Willems J., van Hout H	Red	Effective quality management requires a systematic approach and a flexible organisational culture: a qualitative study among academic staff	2014	Quality in Higher Education	21	Higher Education	Netherlands	The article examines similarities and differences in the approach taken by teaching departments in implementing quality management	Empirical qualitative	Semi-structured interviews were conducted in three teaching departments of a university	A culture which appreciates human relations values and openness leads to organizational excellence; quality management is facilitated by cooperation, open communications, and flexibility
Knapp S	Red	Lean Six Sigma implementation and organizational culture	2015	International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance	46	Health care	United States	The article investigates the relationship between organizational culture and quality management initiatives	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 446 human resource and quality managers; factorial multivariate analysis of variance and one-way analysis of variance were conducted	Group-oriented and developmental cultures pave the way for increased organizational concern for quality management; involvement, collaboration, and learning are quintessential for quality improvement
Krajcsák Z	Red	Successes of quality management systems through self-evaluation and commitment in different organizational cultures: A case study	2018	Management Decision	8	N/A	N/A	The paper arranges a theoretical framework shoring the relationship between organizational culture and the success of quality management	Conceptual	The article draws on secondary data related to previous case studies	Organizational culture influences the psychological states of employees and, indirectly, affects the success of quality management; whilst a clan culture creates affective commitment and self-esteem, which advance individual contribution to organizational excellence, adhocratic culture enacts self-efficacy and professional commitment
Ng I.C., Hempel P.S	Red	Organisational culture and the implementation of Six Sigma in Southern China	2020	Total Quality Management and Business Excellence	3	Quality management associations	China	The article investigates if the extant management culture influences the success of quality improvement initiatives	Mixed	A mixed-method study was conducted; individual multiple and expert interviews were accompanied with a survey questionnaire	Both hard and soft factors are core to the success of quality management; a supportive organizational culture based on information sharing, collaboration, team and person orientation is essential for the success of quality management
Panuwatwanich K., Nguyen T.T	Red	Influence of Organisational Culture on Total Quality Management Implementation and Firm Performance: Evidence from the Vietnamese Construction Industry	2017	Management and Production Engineering Review	23	Construction sector	Vietnam	The study examines the relationship between organizational culture and quality improvement	Empirical quantitative	Data from 104 respondents were collected; structural equation modelling was implemented	Effective quality management takes its roots on clan and adhocratic organizational cultures, that enact a favourable social climate for the implementation of quality improvement interventions; flexibility, balance, and internal focus are concomitantly required to achieve excellence
Patyal V.S., Koilakuntla M	Red	Relationship between organisational culture, quality practices and performance: Conceptual framework	2016	International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management	19	Manufacturing sector	India	The study develops a conceptual framework shedding light on the impact of organizational culture on quality practices	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 40 companies to test the validity of the measures conceived by the authors	Manifold cultural attributes should be embraced by organizations to achieve organizational excellence; alongside facilitating the fitness between the organizational climate and the implementation of quality initiatives, combining different cultural attributes build distinctive sources of competitive advantage
Tenji T., Foley A	Red	Testing the readiness of an organisational culture profile to a TQM implementation	2019	TQM Journal	10	Manufacturing sector	Central Europe	The article assesses organizational culture as a factor accelerating the readiness for the implementation of quality management in the workplace	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 55 employees operating in a particular organization; one-sample sign confidence interval test was implemented	The presence of organizational siloes and the fragmentation of the organizational culture in multiple subcultures negatively affect the implementation of quality management
Willar D., Trigunarsyah B., Coffey V	Red	Organisational culture and quality management system implementation in Indonesian construction companies	2016	Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management	36	Construction sector	Indonesia	The article examines the influence of the organisational culture profiles on the implementation of quality management systems	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 403 respondents; Pearson's correlation, One-Way Analysis of Variance, and structural equation modelling were used	A clan culture is considered to determine a greater organizational focus on quality management; it should be contaminated with attributes of the hierarchical and market cultures, in order to further advance organizational performance and achieve excellence
Maroofi F	Yellow	Link between organisational culture and TQM practices	2012	International Journal of Intelligent Enterprise	6	Manufacturing sector	Iran	The article investigates how organizational culture influence the implementation of quality management practices	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 492 respondents; structural equation modelling was implemented	A holistic perspective should be taken in aligning the organizational culture with quality management initiatives; a hierarchical culture is expected to prevent the achievement of organizational excellence
Patyal V.S., Ambekar S., Prakash A	Yellow	Organizational culture and total quality management practices in Indian construction industry	2020	International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management	5	Construction sector	India	The article attempts to establish the directionality of the relationship between organizational culture and quality management	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 200 firms; cluster analysis and one-way analysis of variance were run	The implementation of quality management initiatives should be consistent with the cultural orientation which is rooted in the company; group and developmental cultures enact an empowering organizational climate which advances the focus on quality
Patyal V.S., Koilakuntla M	Yellow	Impact of organizational culture on quality management practices: an empirical investigation	2018	Benchmarking	24	Manufacturing sector	India	The article investigates the implications of organizational culture on infrastructure quality and core quality management practices	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 292 firms; structural equation modelling was run	A rational culture does not facilitate the implementation of quality management; a group culture is conducive to enhance core quality practices, whilst a developmental culture paves the way for more effective quality infrastructure practices
Sahney S., Banwet D.K., Karunes S	Yellow	Organizational culture, Sri Lanka, Public sector entities, total quality management, hospitals: An administrative staff perspective in the Indian context	2010	TQM Journal	48	Higher Education	India	The article envisages a quality framework to better understand the driver of quality management initiatives	Mixed	The study consists of a literature review accompanied by a pilot study based on interpretive structural modelling	The study findings reveal that an organizational culture which emphasizes teamwork and stresses trustworthiness engages people and enhances their commitment to continuous quality improvement
Stock G.N., McFadden K.L., Gowen III C.R	Yellow	Organizational culture, critical success factors, and the reduction of hospital errors	2007	International Journal of Production Economics	154	Health care	United States	The article investigates how organizational culture can contribute to minimizing errors in accomplishing organizational activities	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 549 respondents; linear regression analysis was accomplished	Whilst a developmental culture does not lead to less errors, a group culture and a rational culture do so; a culture putting emphasis on interpersonal relations, mentoring, teamwork, participation, trust, and commitment is particularly effective to stimulate the implementation of quality management and to reduce errors
Trivellas P., Dargenidou D	Yellow	Organisational culture, job satisfaction and higher education service quality: The case of Technological Educational Institute of Larissa	2009	TQM Journal	68	Higher Education	Greece	The article investigates the implication of organizational culture on the quality of services provided	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 134 respondents; principal component analysis and multiple regressions were implemented	Attention should be paid on the alignment between the organizational culture and the needs and expectations of employees; alignment generates job satisfaction, which is conducive to better results in terms of service quality
Wakefield B.J., Blegen M.A., Uden-Holman T., Vaughn T., Chrischilles E., Wakefield D.S	Yellow	Organizational culture, continuous quality improvement, and medication administration error reporting	2001	American Journal of Medical Quality	96	Health care	United States	The article analyses how the perceived organizational culture influence continuous quality improvement and error reduction	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 264 respondents; one-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlations were run	An organizational culture which legitimizes laying blame and overlook the importance of data collection for quality improvement is likely to reduce the employees' willingness to participate in quality improvement initiatives
Zu X., Robbins T.L., Fredendall L.D	Yellow	Mapping the critical links between organizational culture and TQM/Six Sigma practices	2010	International Journal of Production Economics	234	Manufacturing sector	United States	The article examines how organizational culture affects the implementation of quality management initiatives	Empirical quantitative	Data were collected from 226 respondents; structural equation modelling was run to collect evidence	The importance of building a supporting cultural environment that facilitates the implementation of quality management is stressed; alongside flexibility- and people-oriented values, control and external oriented cultural attributes should be emphasized to enact an organizational climate which is conducive to excellence

Source(s): Authors' own creation

Table 2

A descriptive overview of the clusters retrieved from bibliographic coupling

Cluster	Label	No of items	Range of publication year	Main theme(s) addressed	Key references
Blue cluster	Unveiling the interplay between organizational culture and quality management	16	2015/2022	Although literature is consistent in claiming that organizational culture and quality management interact, the content of such relationship is ambiguous. Two main perspectives have been retrieved in the scholarly debate. On the one hand, organizational culture is understood as a contingency factor which moderates the implications of quality management. On the other hand, a direct relationship between organizational culture and quality management is assumed	Hilman et al. (2019), Lasrado and Kassem (2020) and Sinha et al. (2016)
Red cluster	Aligning culture and quality management to achieve organizational excellence	26	2010/2022	It is not possible to envision a clear-cut and unequivocal relationship between organizational culture and quality management. An alignment should be achieved between the extant organizational culture and quality management initiatives. Whilst hierarchical and rational cultures fit hard quality management initiatives, group and adhocratic cultures facilitate the successful implementation of soft quality management	Gambi et al. (2015), Giménez Espín et al. (2013), Patyal and Koilakuntla (2016)
Green cluster	Unleashing organizational performance by jointly optimizing culture and quality management	26	1993/2021	Quality management enacts a unique organizational culture. A joint optimization of quality management and organizational culture should be sought to set the conditions for organizational excellence. A pluralist perspective should be embraced to boost the openness of organizational culture and advance its adaptation to the distinguishing attributes of quality management interventions	Baird et al. (2011), Green (2012), van Donk and Sanders (1993)
Yellow cluster	A longitudinal harmonization of organizational culture and quality management	8	2001/2020	Clan and adhocratic cultures are conducive to a timely and smooth implementation of quality management initiatives. Contaminating clan and adhocratic cultures with rationality permits to consolidate the implementation of quality management. Hierarchical cultures are useful to fully catch the advantages of quality management, if actions are taken to prevent error blaming and support employees' involvement in quality improvement	Patyal et al. (2019), Sahney et al. (2010), Trivellas and Dargenidou (2009)

Source(s): Authors' own creation

Table 3

A descriptive overview of the clusters retrieved from co-citation analysis

Cluster	Label	No of items	Range of publication year	Main theme(s) addressed	Key references
Red cluster	A contingent and culture-based view of quality management	29	1981/2013	Quality management and organizational excellence are doomed to fail if inadequate attention is paid to the soft side of the firm and to the organizational culture. Quality management initiatives should be aligned to the organizational culture, which is generally understood as a contingent factor affecting the endeavours towards business excellence; the competing value framework is the most referred approach to analyse the cultural features of the firm	Buch and Rivers (2001), Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1981), Sousa and Voss (2022)
Green cluster	Coupling quality management and organizational culture to achieve durable competitive advantage	24	1986/2018	Quality management is a secret ingredient to achieve durable and distinctive competitive advantage. On the one hand, organizational culture is a contextual factor, which advances the impact of quality management on business excellence. On the other hand, quality management stimulates a transformation of core and espoused values of the firm, committing people to business excellence	Kujala and Ullrank (2004), Powell (1995), and Sila (2007)
Blue cluster	The ambiguous relationship between quality management and culture	24	1981/2017	Quality management and culture are mutually related. Although their relationship is strong, ambiguity characterizes the content and the direction of their link. The success of quality management relies on the establishment of an open and empowering quality culture across the organizations. However, change of the organizational culture triggered by quality management might enact power struggles, which undermine operational reliability	Samson and Terziovski (1999), Srinivasan and Kurey (2014), Tata and Prasad (1998)
Yellow cluster	Putting values at the service of organizational excellence	23	1977/2014	Quality management advances the culture rooted in the firm, embedding excellence as a key value inspiring strategic decisions and management actions. The design and implementation of quality management should be accommodated with changes in the organizational culture, attempting to achieve a congruence between hard and soft aspects of business excellence	McDermott and Stock (1999), Prajogo and Sohal (2003), Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983)

Source(s): Authors' own creation