An empirical examination of successive incremental improvement techniques and investment in manufacturing technology

This study tests the interactive effects of successive incremental improvement techniques (i.e. total quality management (TQM) and just‐in‐time (JIT)). In addition, observations were made with respect to how technological innovations were managed in conjunction with the implementation of TQM or JIT. A total of 83 plants belonging to the electronics industry located in the USA participated in this study. Four different manufacturing performance measures were examined. There is strong evidence that synergy exists when both TQM and JIT are implemented. Results, however, indicate that investment in manufacturing technology enhances JIT performance but inhibits TQM performance. Furthermore, findings from three‐way interaction show that shorter product development time is associated with plants using both high TQM and JIT, but only for plants that did not invest in manufacturing technology during the window period. Further analyses revealed some systematic patterns within plants that invested in manufacturing technology – many of these plants exhibit a lack of attention to quality. Although somewhat surprising, results are consistent with the current body of literature.