The Impact of Quality Management Orientation on Maintenance Performance: A Critique
Introduction
The orientation or the set of values and norms of a business with regards to its customers, processes, and quality is a relevant factor that heavily influences the ability of a business to prevail in a competitive scenario. Likewise, this paper will discuss and critique a study that look at the relationship between maintenance performance and the quality management orientation.
Analysis
The objective of the study by Maletic, D., Maletic, M., and Gomiscek (2014) was to examine the relationship between the maintenance performance and the quality management orientation and strengthen the literature regarding this matter. Through this examination, a particular business or institution may be able to adjust or reconsider its quality management orientation in order to achieve the most optimum maintenance performance provided that there is a correlation or a relationship among the two variables. The quality management orientation operates under several parameters including its customers, processes, and quality. Among the focus of the study was the quality management orientation with regards to its organizational culture. The paper had noted that the orientation of a business that takes note of the human factors, in essence the culture within a place, is a soft yet important element for success that many overlooks. The organizational culture that considers the growth of the employees as fundamental was also noted to be of importance. Furthermore, the involvement of the management was also regarded as a relevant part of the quality management orientation.
The main findings of the study is that a management quality orientation correlates with maintenance performance positively. This means that the improvement of the management quality orientation positively affects the maintenance performance while negligence in this area will mean poor maintenance performance. Hence, businesses and other institutions should focus on their orientation since their relationship is clearly correlated. However, this is a correlation and not a causal study. Thus, there are many other factors that can affect maintenance performance aside from the management quality orientation (Maletic, D., Maletic, M., & Gomiscek 2014).
Gaps, Limitations and Weaknesses
Among the gaps that can be observed in the study is that it fails to take into account methods by which quality management orientation may be improved. The study had outlined the different norms and values that they believe to have relevant impacts on the operations or maintenance performance of an organization or business that included customer orientation and process orientation, and the culture of the organization itself. However, there was no mention of how these variables may be altered to benefit the organization. Additionally, how do these individual factors contribute was also vague. The degree by which these variables or dimensions affect the maintenance performance was not clear.
In terms of applicability, the study contributes to the existing literature in affirming that there is a positive correlation between maintenance performance and management quality orientation. Thus, allowing a more generalized view of the relationship. However, this study cannot be used on its own to generalize since the data it used was isolated and did not represent a much greater part of the world.
The methodology was likewise insufficient in terms of measuring the dimensions or variable separately. They were measured as a whole and did not provide a more comprehensive view on the subject matter.If the study could have done this, then it will be easier for companies to realize what particular dimension they need improvement based on its influence.
Implications
In the field of quality management, this study can possibly help to recognize the flaws within an organization and fix them. For instance, if there are shortcomings with the quality management orientation or any of its dimensions, the quality management may be able to recognize this and make corresponding actions since it had been further emphasized that it is correlated with maintenance performance. It vanishes doubts that efforts put on the quality management orientation will not influence the whole business or organization. In short, this study can help organizations become directed to improving their quality management orientation because there are data that supports this strategy. This can likewise be beneficial for industry practitioners since they are part of the area that will be provided with attention. Operations is among the dimensions of quality management orientation and improving this dimension may also mean conditioning industry practitioners to be more productive and efficient. This may be done with programs that improve their skills, thus, making them more marketable in a labor market.
Lastly, policy makers or the government will have an idea of how they can improve their policies so that the economy will stabilize. The economy stabilizes and provides room for growth when local companies are successful in making the demands for their products or services high. It seems like inducing transactions by improving the maintenance performance of many companies is among the way by which this may be done. Policy makers can also utilize fiscal and monetary policies to aid companies and lower interest rates in their products or goods, making the market more active since people are now more confident to make purchases. This study further allows local companies to pave the way for a global trade as long as the government facilitate lowering the exchange rates and ultimately benefits the standard of living of a country (International Monetary Fund 2001).
Bibliography
International Monetary Fund, 2001. Global Trade Liberalization and the Developing Countries. [Online] (updated Jan. 2008) Available at: <https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2001/110801.htm#i> [Accessed 31 Jul. 2016].
Maletic, D., Maletic, M., & Gomiscek, B., 2014. The Impact of Quality Management Orientation on Maintenance Performance. International Journal of Production Research, 52 (5), pp. 1744-1754.
