Quality management, environmental management and firm performance: a review of empirical studies and issues of integration
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| QM, EM and firm performance 200 © 2008 The Authors Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management conceptualization of firm performance would include operational and financial indicators (Combs et al. 2005; Venkatraman and Ramanujam 1986). Operational performance can be regarded as a construct separate from financial performance (FP). It mediates the relationship between internal activities and FP (Combs et al. 2005; Ray et al. 2004). This study focuses on two important dimensions of operational performance QP and EP. Thus, the output of QM is QP, the indicators of which can be product/service quality, cost of scrap and rework, conformance to specifications, or company reputation, among other elements (Curkovic et al. c Kaynak 2003). In turn, the output of EM is EP, which refers to the effects of the firm’s activities and products on the natural environment. Some EP-related measures can cover such fields as the consumption of resources or the generation of waste and emissions (Klassen and Whybark 1999; James The importance of paying attention to all these operational indicators lies in their potential effect on FP. Possible dimensions for FP are: accounting returns (returns on assets (ROA), returns on equity (ROE) and returns on sales (ROS)), growth and stock market returns (Combs et al. 2005). Therefore, this paper (a) focuses on indicators that are related to operational performance (such as QP and EP) and on FP, and (b) considers that QP and EP are simultaneously effects or consequences of QM and EM, and causes of, or means to improve, FP (Figures 1 and 2). Methodology A literature review is made in order to identify dimensions for QM, EM and QEM and links between QM, EM, QEM, QP, EP and FP. First, QM dimensions are identified based on measurement studies and QM–performance studies which measured QM as a multidimensional construct. Second, QM–performance and EM–performance empirical studies are reviewed in order to show QM, EM, QP, EP and FP dimensions. Regarding the review of the empirical studies devoted to QM–performance and EM–perform- ance links, a computer search of the ABI Inform, Emerald and Science Direct databases was conducted. In the field of QM, a search was made for works that related the expressions quality management, TQM, ISO or ISO 9001 to performance (and results and profitability) in the title of the paper. In the field of EM, the computer search was made for works that related the expressions environmental management, ISO 14000 or ISO to performance (and results and profitability) in the title of the paper. The list of references given in seminal papers was reviewed. Theoretical papers and those based on anecdotal evidence or case studies were eliminated. Download 276.85 Kb. Share with your friends:
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