Factors relating to the adoption of quality management practices: an analysis for Spanish manufacturing firms

The increasing acceptance of the ideas and techniques implied in the term 'Quality Management' is perhaps the clearest indication of the organizational change and innovation that has been taking place in the business world over recent years. The aim of this article is to analyse the level of application of these ideas and techniques in relation to a number of structural, internal and environmental factors. The data used are taken from a wide sample of industrial plants ( 965) with a workforce of over 50 employees, and from all the manufacturing sectors in Spain(1). It begins with a review of the literature available on the subject and goes on to apply cluster analysis to obtain a classification of the plants according to the degree to which they have incorporated QM ideas. This provides the basis for a profile of the groups that emerge with respect to the factors tested. An ordered probit model is then run to test the hypotheses formulated. Our results reveal that structural factors, such as size or forming part of a multinational, are positively related to acceptance and practice of QM techniques, as are other factors of a technological nature. No correlation can be found, however, with factors relating to the environment.