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Abstract
Researchers have explored the relationship between quality management (QM) and innovation in a variety of ways. A review of the literature, however, shows a few research gaps in the existing studies. There is a relative dearth of empirical studies on the interrelationships among QM practices and how they affect innovation. Moreover, there is no consistency among previous studies on the contribution of QM to innovation. While some studies have found that QM practices are positively related to innovation, others have concluded that there is no evidence of such a link. Further, the empirical studies are limited to assessing only a few types of innovation and fail to test the interaction effects of contextual variables.
The purpose of this study is three-fold: to investigate the impact of QM practices on five different types of innovation, to explore the relationships between behavioural and mechanistic QM practices, and to test the interaction effects of contextual variables. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the proposed framework and hypotheses based on a sample of 223 ISO 9001 certified companies in Canada were empirically tested. The results indicate that QM practices have either a direct or indirect effect on innovation. Behavioural QM practices, such as management leadership and training, are significantly related to mechanistic QM practices, such as process management and product design. On the other hand, there is no interaction effect of moderating variables in the relationship between QM and innovation. This research contributes to the literature in three ways: it enables academics and practitioners to understand how and why QM practices foster innovation, it provides empirical evidence about the ways behavioural QM practices are related to mechanistic QM practices, and it enhances the understanding of the contextual effects of moderating variables.
