Table 3. Differences and similarities of... | Emerald Publishing

Table 3.

Differences and similarities of QM at observable objects and organisational culture level of the case MNCs based on degrees of IE

Differences/similarities	Degrees of IE	Observable objects – QM practices/technical aspect of QM	Organisational culture – perceptions of QM principles/social aspect of QM
Similarities	Low	• Some common system for improvement work – e.g. monthly improvement competition • Collect and analyse data in a cross-functional team • Same quality control criteria and measurement to ensure product quality	• Show the same proximity of commitment, mostly at the management level • Employees at subsidiaries know about customer requirements and satisfaction • Initiation of a global quality approach
	Moderate	• Standardised quality training programme and weekly quality meetings of all subsidiaries • Working on promoting a standardised process map in all subsidiaries	• Perception of quality among employees in subsidiaries • Promoting continuous improvement throughout the whole MNC • Empowering local quality managers to locally adapt how they manage quality at subsidiaries
	High	• Same product quality from various subsidiaries as reflected on durability measurement, through some minor differences in specifications	• Common perception of quality among employees in subsidiaries through strong organisational culture • Promoting continuous improvement through the whole MNC
	Very high	• Excellent product quality from all subsidiaries • Structural QM tools that are easy to globalise, supported by a lot of training and education programmes worldwide • Customer focus in the production line - e.g., treating each deviation from customer’s perspective • Using KPIs to follow up on methods based on the belief that “good processes lead to good results”	• Perception of quality among employees in subsidiaries through strong organisational culture and unified global quality policy • Promoting strong organisational culture through rotation of managers between facilities in different countries • Creating an organisational culture of employee empowerment through delegating, involving and giving quality responsibilities to production line employees • Allowing flexibility for managers to deal with national culture at subsidiaries – e.g. hierarchical structure, power distance, to use the right priority and give positive feedback to quality problem-solving • Promoting continuous improvement throughout the whole MNC
Differences	Low	• Employees from some countries do not respect specifications and take them for granted for customers • Types of process and signs for different quality levels between subsidiaries	• Difficulties in understanding the concept of quality and QM principles from employees with some national culture • Leadership style and hierarchy in different subsidiaries • Levels of employee empowerment – e.g. to what extent can they make decision by themselves • Miscommunication issues between subsidiaries in different countries
	Moderate	• Degree of quality problems, especially on complex products, highly rely on employee’s skill • Ways of organising continuous improvement work and how to achieve the goal of continuous improvement – e.g. rewarding system, employee empowerment • Practices of quality control • Focus on process management – i.e. results vs processes	• Ways to communicate about quality and how subsidiaries work with quality among subsidiaries • Leadership style and hierarchy in different subsidiaries • Varied quality responsible teams among subsidiaries – e.g. production team in Europe, quality department in Asia • Levels of empowerment and engagement – e.g. operators are not involved in the same way in the production line of different countries • Levels of loyalty among employees
	High	• Frequency of quality problems in subsidiaries – i.e. some plants have quality problems more often than the other • Ways of organising continuous improvement work • Focus on process management – i.e. results vs processes	• Leadership style influenced by the national culture of subsidiaries • Small differences in the level of employee engagement and empowerment • Different decision-making practices among employees from different subsidiaries and countries • Experiences and attitude of management and employees towards continuous improvement
	Very high	• Approaches to organise and attract employees to work with continuous improvement• Focus on process management – i.e. results vs processes• Risk of hiding deviations in some subsidiaries with high power distance national culture	• Leadership style to fit with the national cultural background of subsidiaries • Ways of engaging and empowering employees in different subsidiaries • Decision-making process – i.e. centralised vs decentralised

Differences/similarities	Degrees of IE	Observable objects – QM practices/technical aspect of QM	Organisational culture – perceptions of QM principles/social aspect of QM
Similarities	Low	• Some common system for improvement work – e.g. monthly improvement competition• Collect and analyse data in a cross-functional team• Same quality control criteria and measurement to ensure product quality	• Show the same proximity of commitment, mostly at the management level• Employees at subsidiaries know about customer requirements and satisfaction• Initiation of a global quality approach
	Moderate	• Standardised quality training programme and weekly quality meetings of all subsidiaries• Working on promoting a standardised process map in all subsidiaries	• Perception of quality among employees in subsidiaries• Promoting continuous improvement throughout the whole MNC• Empowering local quality managers to locally adapt how they manage quality at subsidiaries
	High	• Same product quality from various subsidiaries as reflected on durability measurement, through some minor differences in specifications	• Common perception of quality among employees in subsidiaries through strong organisational culture• Promoting continuous improvement through the whole MNC
	Very high	• Excellent product quality from all subsidiaries• Structural QM tools that are easy to globalise, supported by a lot of training and education programmes worldwide• Customer focus in the production line - e.g., treating each deviation from customer’s perspective• Using KPIs to follow up on methods based on the belief that “good processes lead to good results”	• Perception of quality among employees in subsidiaries through strong organisational culture and unified global quality policy• Promoting strong organisational culture through rotation of managers between facilities in different countries• Creating an organisational culture of employee empowerment through delegating, involving and giving quality responsibilities to production line employees• Allowing flexibility for managers to deal with national culture at subsidiaries – e.g. hierarchical structure, power distance, to use the right priority and give positive feedback to quality problem-solving• Promoting continuous improvement throughout the whole MNC
Differences	Low	• Employees from some countries do not respect specifications and take them for granted for customers• Types of process and signs for different quality levels between subsidiaries	• Difficulties in understanding the concept of quality and QM principles from employees with some national culture• Leadership style and hierarchy in different subsidiaries• Levels of employee empowerment – e.g. to what extent can they make decision by themselves• Miscommunication issues between subsidiaries in different countries
	Moderate	• Degree of quality problems, especially on complex products, highly rely on employee’s skill• Ways of organising continuous improvement work and how to achieve the goal of continuous improvement – e.g. rewarding system, employee empowerment• Practices of quality control• Focus on process management – i.e. results vs processes	• Ways to communicate about quality and how subsidiaries work with quality among subsidiaries• Leadership style and hierarchy in different subsidiaries• Varied quality responsible teams among subsidiaries – e.g. production team in Europe, quality department in Asia• Levels of empowerment and engagement – e.g. operators are not involved in the same way in the production line of different countries• Levels of loyalty among employees
	High	• Frequency of quality problems in subsidiaries – i.e. some plants have quality problems more often than the other• Ways of organising continuous improvement work• Focus on process management – i.e. results vs processes	• Leadership style influenced by the national culture of subsidiaries• Small differences in the level of employee engagement and empowerment• Different decision-making practices among employees from different subsidiaries and countries• Experiences and attitude of management and employees towards continuous improvement
	Very high	• Approaches to organise and attract employees to work with continuous improvement• Focus on process management – i.e. results vs processes• Risk of hiding deviations in some subsidiaries with high power distance national culture	• Leadership style to fit with the national cultural background of subsidiaries• Ways of engaging and empowering employees in different subsidiaries• Decision-making process – i.e. centralised vs decentralised

Source: Author’s own creation