Chileshe, N and Watson, P (1997) TQM: A competitive weapon for the UK construction industry? In: Stephenson, P (ed.) Proceedings of 13th Annual ARCOM Conference, 15-17 September 1997, Cambridge, UK.
Abstract
Although previous research has shown that sustainable competitive advantage can be gained through people with Total Quality Management helping them develop and maintain that advantage, the emphasis has mainly been in manufacturing industries. Furthermore other previous studies by researchers into competitive advantage have evolved around strategic planning; (Betts and Ofori; 1992, 1994); information technology; (Bakos and Tracey 1986) proposed a casual model linking the application of IT and the creation of competitive advantage. (Tan 1996), and Information systems (Johnston & Vitale 1988) Absence of an in-depth study exploring the linkages between competitive advantage and TQM in the UK Construction Industry has been the motivation for this paper. As Powell (1995) opines, TQM's impact on strategic management research remains unclear and under-examined, and that the existing empirical studies of TQM performance - intended to help managers implement TQM more effectively-lack rigour and theoretical support. Other findings employed a small sample size thereby limiting the scope of the research.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | TQM; competitive advantage; construction industry; construction operational environment |
| Index terms: | motivation, sample size, manufacturing industry, linkage, competitive advantage, manager, total quality management, information technology, information system, construction industry, strategic planning, strategic management, empirical study |
| Subjects: | research methods, management, market analysis, information systems, industry analysis, business, research design and methodology, computing systems, practitioner, psychology, evaluation methods |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Human Resources, Quality Management, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here