Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to review in which ways Quality Management adapted methods and philosophies drive sustainability in companies and to present a conceptual framework to guide application during the decision-making process.
A systematic literature review is applied to analyse and summarize the current state of research. A three-phase approach of 1) searching for articles with a set of keywords, 2) excluding unsuitable articles based on the abstracts and 3) including important papers by applying the snowball technique, led to the final number of 94 included papers. This basis was used to evaluate the most promising approaches to enable more sustainability and resulted in the conceptual framework presented here.
The literature review showed that VSM and Kaizen are the two most researched methods and TQM and LM the most researched philosophies in combination with sustainability or the economic/social pillar. The developed conceptual framework proves that different methods for different stages of the organizational sustainability journey are available.
It was also found that Quality Management practices and tools must be developed and adapted to support sustainability considerations. As this framework is only conceptual, future research needs to validate and improve possible shortcomings.
Nevertheless, this paper shows that QM can drive sustainability and is a valuable starting point as QM structures like cross-departmental responsibility and organizational culture drive the sustainability movement.
A systematic literature review is applied to analyse and summarize the current state of research. A three-phase approach of 1) searching for articles with a set of keywords, 2) excluding unsuitable articles based on the abstracts and 3) including important papers by applying the snowball technique, led to the final number of 94 included papers. This basis was used to evaluate the most promising approaches to enable more sustainability and resulted in the conceptual framework presented here.
The literature review showed that VSM and Kaizen are the two most researched methods and TQM and LM the most researched philosophies in combination with sustainability or the economic/social pillar. The developed conceptual framework proves that different methods for different stages of the organizational sustainability journey are available.
It was also found that Quality Management practices and tools must be developed and adapted to support sustainability considerations. As this framework is only conceptual, future research needs to validate and improve possible shortcomings.
Nevertheless, this paper shows that QM can drive sustainability and is a valuable starting point as QM structures like cross-departmental responsibility and organizational culture drive the sustainability movement.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 25th Excellence in Services International Conference |
| Pages | 1-22 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Publication status | Published - 25 Aug 2022 |
| Event | 25th Excellence in Services International Conference: EISIC 25 - University of Upssala, Visby, Sweden Duration: 25 Aug 2022 → 26 Aug 2022 https://sites.les.univr.it/eisic/ |
Conference
| Conference | 25th Excellence in Services International Conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Sweden |
| City | Visby |
| Period | 25/08/22 → 26/08/22 |
| Internet address |
Keywords
- sustainability
- quality management
- lean
- tools
