Organizational resilience through quality management: a study on the impact of the implementation of quality management principles on resourcefulness
View/ Open
Date
01/07/2020Author
Al Balushi, Mohammed Ibrahim Ahmed
Metadata
Abstract
As Darwin noted, “it's not the strongest species that survive, nor the most
intelligent, but the most responsive to change”. Organizations have long been
investing heavily to ascertain a better future, in particular, they have embraced
quality management systems in pursuit of their goals. However, change and
adverse conditions necessitate not only quality and high performance, but also
resilience. This research aims to investigate the relationship between quality
management and organizational resilience. It examines the impact ISO 9001
implementation has on resourcefulness (the main component of resilience) in
public organizations. It also examines how organizational structure affects the
relationship between ISO 9001 implementation and resourcefulness.
Using semi-structured interviews, the research seeks to address the gap in
the literature regarding the potential impact quality management initiatives
have on resourcefulness. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by
integrating and expanding the literature on resourcefulness. It will also provide
empirical evidence on the proposed relationships. For more robustness, an
insider-outsider approach is used for knowledgeable reflection on the findings
by a senior and experienced member of the studied organization.
The findings show that ISO does positively impact resilience within the context
of the research. However, the impact attenuates under routine-based
environments, while it flourishes under process-orientation. The findings
demonstrate that the organizational structure plays the most important role
when it comes to organizational resilience, indirectly by facilitating the
implementation of the quality management system and directly by enhancing
resourcefulness; thus, resilience.