Outcome of quality management practices. Differences among public and private, manufacturing and service, SME and large organisations

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe differences among public and private, manufacturing and service and SMEs and large organisations regarding the outcome of quality management (QM) practices. Design/methodology/approach: This study looks at the scores for different criteria (or practices) from quality award applicants in Sweden between 1992 and 2010. Findings: The service industry outperforms the manufacturing industry. Furthermore, and perhaps unsurprisingly, large organisations are ahead of small and medium enterprises in the race for quality progress. In general, when comparing public with private organisations, private organisations do better, and the practice of process management seems to be easier for private firms. Research limitations/implications: This study suggests that process management, as it is currently described and evaluated, needs to be revised and improved to better fit organisations. Practical implications: Organisations, in general, score worse on business results than in all other criteria. This study proposes that quality managers must focus even more on how to achieve results and improve results in order to justify QM. Originality/value: This study proposes that researchers and managers need to change their mind-set regarding service organisations in relation to manufacturing organisations, and that manufacturing organisations in particular need to see how successful service organisations work with leadership aspects, information and analysis, and business planning; how they obtain committed co-workers, and how they work with their customers