A Framework for Quality Improvement in the Transportation Industry

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2001

Publication Title

Quality Management Journal

Publisher

American Society for Quality

Volume

8

Issue

1

First page number:

9

Last page number:

22

Abstract

Over the past 10 years, quality management has become an important strategic tool for manufacturing and service firms striving to attain competitive success. Numerous studies have documented various elements of quality management and the requirements for successful quality programs in the manufacturing industry. However, there has been a lack of basic and applied quality management research in most service industries. The transportation industry is one such service example. In this research, a survey was used to examine 18 quality practices within the transportation industry and relate these quality initiatives to various success elements of the transportation quality programs. Hypotheses were tested through the use of Bonferroni multiple range tests, bivariate correlation, factor analysis, and multiple linear regression of survey data gathered from within the transportation industry. The survey results showed that many of the quality practices in the transportation industry were positively correlated with firm performance. Multiple linear regression also indicated that both strategic and operations initiatives identified from the literature affected the success of the transportation quality programs. One implication is that transportation organizations should seek to integrate their strategic goals and quality practices to enhance competitive advantage.

Keywords

Business logistics; Competition; Factor analysis; Logistics; Manufactures; Manufacturing industries; Regression analysis; Service industries; Service industry; Total quality management

Disciplines

Business | Operations and Supply Chain Management

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.


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