Fit for purpose? Exploring competence in quality management
International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences
ISSN: 1756-669X
Article publication date: 16 September 2019
Issue publication date: 16 September 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use competence theory to explore the fit between actual competencies of quality management (QM) practitioner and the perception of QM competence needs in organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a cross-case quantitative study design featuring a survey of QM practitioners (n = 249) within eight large Swedish organisations. The research instrument was a questionnaire covering seven themes within QM. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics.
Findings
The results show that while the perception of formal QM competence may seem sufficient, the evolving nature of QM requires knowledge, skills and attitudes that are also apt for more external and explorative perspectives. There is a bias towards competence for exploitative QM rather than explorative QM. Organisational logics preserving and possibly reinforcing a perceived “competence lag” in organisations are identified and described.
Originality/value
Few empirical studies within QM explore the competencies required for QM practices. This paper contributes to QM research in providing arguments for adopting the competence theory as a foundation for organising current and future QM work.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express gratitude for the support from the Swedish Quality Management Academy and the organisations participating in this study. Further, we are grateful for the financial support from the Production Area of Advance at Chalmers University of Technology and the HELIX Competence Centre at Linköping University.
Disclosure: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding: This study was partly funded by The Swedish Quality Management Academy (SQMA), a research body within the Swedish Institute for Quality, SIQ.
Citation
Martin, J., Elg, M. and Gremyr, I. (2019), "Fit for purpose? Exploring competence in quality management", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 317-333. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-06-2018-0054
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited