مطالعه سیستم مدیریت خرید با توجه به مدیریت کیفیت جامع

One of the key elements of a total quality management (TQM) policy is the assurance of an adequate supply of materials and components. The objective of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it analyses the relationship between different purchasing system variables and supplier quality assurance practices. Secondly, it explores both the connections between supplier quality assurance practices and other quality assurance practices used for internal processes, and examines the relationship of such practices with supply operational results. Different hypotheses are tested using data obtained from a sample of 152 Spanish automotive component suppliers. This data show clear evidence of the importance of product, supplier and company characteristics and highlights the importance of a company-wide commitment to the application of quality assurance principles.

During the last two decades, the subject of quality management has received the attention of a considerable number of researchers who have analysed the concept from a number of angles [1] and [2]. In the literature, it is possible to find diverse constructs, which are aimed at assessing the degree of implementation of total quality management (TQM) recommendations and guidelines [3], [4] and [5], papers that relate TQM implementation with company results [6], [7] and [8] and papers that relate company characteristics with TQM implementation [9] and [10]. The relationship with suppliers has been identified by researchers as one of the factors that define TQM policy and practice [3], [4], [5] and [11]. This paper reports the main findings of a study, which has analysed the relationship of purchasing system variables with quality management measures and operational results of the purchasing function. The paper is organised into five main sections. Section 2 provides a critical analysis of literature relating to purchasing and supply management, leading into the specific study objectives and the hypothesis that are proposed. Sections 3 and 4 comment upon the methodology for testing such hypotheses and presentation of results and the discussion of findings, respectively. The main conclusions of the research study are summarised in Section 5.

Eight of the 10 hypotheses tested have been confirmed. It has been found that five variables—technological complexity, product essentiality, purchase value, company internationalisation and suppliers specialisation—are positively related to the level of application of supplier quality assurance practices. This confirms previous research findings [9] and [10], indicating that quality practices are not independent of company and sector characteristics. The managerial implications arising from the study are set out in the text. It is suggested that management teams study the 10 hypothesis in relation to their company characteristics and purchasing and quality assurance practices. From this gap analysis, they will then be able to generate areas for improvement. All the product determinant factors show a relationship with the application of supplier quality assurance practices, which indicates that companies do not give the same degree of importance to the quality of all their products. The underlying explanation for this is that some managers still identify quality assurance practices with an increase in costs and only apply them to what they consider to be their most important products and when under pressure from demanding customers. This can be considered as a short-term practice, which is contrary to the philosophy of TQM. It also demonstrates a lack of belief in the concept and strongly suggests that more education is needed amongst Spanish management teams. Company internationalisation is also related to the implementation of quality assurance practices, indicating that companies who operate globally place more reliance on such practices. However, a clear relationship has not been found between company size and application of quality assurance practices, contradicting the findings of Martinez-Lorente et al. [10]. This may be explained by the fact that quality management is getting more widely known within Spanish organisations. This conclusion can not be considered to be necessarily true in small companies since the sample was mainly related to medium to large sized organisations. There is a lack of a clear relationship between supplier size and quality assurance activities, indicating that, although their size could help them collaborate with the purchaser, their greater negotiation power and independence gives them the flexibility to choose the purchasers with whom they deal. This indicates that suppliers perhaps do not have sufficient confidence in the benefits of quality management systems for the supplier–client relationship. This finding is confirmed by the fact that specialisation, which is a measure of dependence of the supplier from the purchaser, is related to the application of supplier quality assurance practices. When the customer's power over the supplier is greater, the supplier will collaborate with respect to matters of quality and when this power is smaller, the supplier will not be as cooperative. This lack of collaboration from suppliers can provide further explanation to the finding that different quality assurance practices appear to be applied to different products. In the situation in which suppliers are not disposed to collaborate, companies make more efforts to ‘persuade’ their suppliers. That is to say, the cost of negotiating, for example, the application of an ISO 9001 norm by the supplier is only compensated when the cost of receiving nonconforming supplies is perceived to be high.