Asian Journal on Quality

Kit Fai Pun; Akil H. Nurse

2010 Asian Journal on Quality

doi: 10.1108/15982681011093961

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the total quality management (TQM) philosophy and the quality management principles (QMPs) in facilities management (FM), and presents the findings of a recent FM study at the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT). Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data were acquired via interviews with the FM management and maintenance personnel and questionnaire survey with port employees. Findings – In Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), many facilities at the port have been operated below optimum ability, and there has been no consistent FM methodology being utilised by PATT. Findings showed that QMPs could be used to revitalise the facilities maintenance practice at PATT. The management philosophy should adhere to the fundamental QMPs where the inspection‐oriented practices would be superseded by prevention‐oriented FM. Research limitations/implications – Future research would identify key determinants of the TQM approach in FM and institute the approach to refine the maintenance processes and procedures in port operations in T&T and the Caribbean region. Originality/value – As facilities projects become more varied and complex in nature, a fresh management paradigm seems imperative. It is anticipated that the use of TQM approach accompanied with the QMPs would broaden the prevention‐oriented FM process and impact management efficiency positively at PATT for years to come.

A.M. Leman; M.Z.M. Yusof; A.R. Omar; W. Jung

2010 Asian Journal on Quality

doi: 10.1108/15982681011093970

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to define an environmental quality index (EQI) for a clean manufacturing process. The categorized clean and sustainable manufacturing process in a small and medium enterprise, and the indoor air quality (IAQ) parameter and air pollution in manufacturing were monitored and evaluated using the EQI index. Design/methodology/approach – Two main methods of measurements used are subjective measurements and physical measurements. Questionnaires were used to gauge subjects' level of understanding in issues related to IAQ and to determine types of activities, process and material involved in each working section. Physical measurements and testing methods employed were based on widely used and accepted scientific practice, as described in standards. The Malaysian code of practice on IAQ was also used as a reference. Findings – The EQI in various workstations were calculated and ranged between four and 16 (i.e. four to 16, from good to unhealthy) depending on the nature of activities taking place in those work stations. Research limitations/implications – In this paper, the monitoring of pollutants used a scale of one to five to denote the level of pollution by individual pollutants and assumed those pollutants are additive in the mixture of the EQI. The working environment is important to productivity and has a direct impact on human health. Originality/value – The paper shows how the EQI will have a significant impact on occupational safety and health in the workplace and how an uncondusive work environment will be a potential health hazard and result in less productivity.

Sumana Gupta; Rabindra Nath Datta

2010 Asian Journal on Quality

doi: 10.1108/15982681011093989

Purpose – The conventional methods of evaluating service quality analyze data obtained in ordinal scale that assumes scale continuum. The purpose of this paper is to compare the control boundary model with a proposed method that uses law of categorical judgment, which converts data into interval scale. In this paper, the advantages of using the law of categorical judgment over the control boundary model, a method which uses the data directly, is presented by analyzing customer response data obtained to evaluate quality of service in the Howrah Railway Station, a major railway terminal in eastern India. Design/methodology/approach – Law of categorical judgment has been used for data conversion to interval scale and a comparative analysis is made with the results obtained from control boundary model. Findings – The results obtained from the two techniques show that the proposed method of evaluation is more suitable to the context. Research limitations/implications – The work is limited to the subjective evaluation of the physical and functional services of a railway station. Several other aspects like managerial, behavioral, etc. are not considered. Originality/value – Evaluating service quality in this domain is a difficult task. The paper not only proposes a new method but also compares the results with an existing evaluation model.

Hyeon‐Lo Lee; Jong Beom Moon; Wang Jin Yoo; Dong Myung Lee

2010 Asian Journal on Quality

doi: 10.1108/15982681011093998

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply the real option method with fuzzy logic to value the government‐sponsored projects of advanced technology development for strategic selection in an uncertain competitive environment. Design/methodology/approach – For strategic selection of government‐sponsored industrial R&D projects, in this paper, Carlsson and Fúller's model was adopted which employs fuzzy logic to estimate the benefits and costs calculated from various scenarios and utilizes Black‐Scholes‐Merton model. The model of strategic selection is suggested for government R&D with fuzzy real option valuation (FROV) and the portfolio planning model from GE‐Mckinsey matrix as well. Findings – FROV was found to be more appropriate to measure the strategic value than the traditional financial method (net present value, NPV, etc.). When the NPV is ambiguous in deciding whether to go or not to go, for instance, just below zero NPV and high volatility of expected benefit, FROV can offer the additive value of the project reflecting volatility of benefit due to the volatility. Research limitations/implications – Based on insufficient practical data, this methodology should be verified with various projects and measuring volatility of pay‐off requires precise analysis. In addition, research opportunities are in the stepwise R&D project with fuzzy compound real option. Originality/value – Many papers on economic analysis of R&D project are focused on NPV or cost‐benefit analysis in the public sector. Several attempts with real option have been conducted in the pharmaceutical field or the aerospace (NASA) industry but are not concerned with the fuzziness of expected benefit. Hence, in this paper, fuzzy logic is added to handle imprecise information on the Black‐Scholes‐Merton model with dividend paying.

Jai B. Kim; Gretta Kwak; Yoo R. Koo

2010 Asian Journal on Quality

doi: 10.1108/15982681011094005

Purpose – By exploring the evolution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and evaluating major frameworks of CSR provided in a wider range of early works, this paper attempts to identify key domains of CSR and propose the revised CSR framework for strategic CSR management processes. The paper provides extended insights into how the concept of strategic CSR is integrated into city branding and design and highlights and addresses the roles of CSR that are inter‐linked to city brand management in terms of sustainable value creation to meet a community's societal, political or economic objectives. Design/methodology/approach – The overall content of this paper is concerned with theory of CSR and the fundamental logic behind city branding. The frameworks are developed based upon the historical review of theory and observation of trends in the current issues. Findings – The paper funds that CSR is an integral framework to encompass not just principles of social responsibility, but processes of social responsiveness and outcomes of social performance as well. Research limitations/implications – Notwithstanding a number of management literature that seeks out strategic linkages between competitive advantage, a crucial strategy concept and CSR, research concerned with the relationship between CSR and city branding is at in its infancy. There is a need to examine the essential ingredients that produce design‐driven value in the process of implementing strategic CSR into city branding. Future research, taking the difference between the firm/product and the city into account, will further investigate how city branding and design can be implemented to reflect social responsibility, notably in terms of the process and evaluation. Originality/value – The paper not only presents the revised framework of CSR and major constituents of strategic CSR but also seeks to enlighten and establish a new connection between CSR and value creation that bring us an innovative perspective when implemented in city branding and design.

Tae‐Woo(Mike) Kwon; Kanghwa Choi

2010 Asian Journal on Quality

doi: 10.1108/15982681011094014

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the conceptual relationship between the running royalty programs and the performance of a franchisee or franchisor. Thus, this paper will analyze the correlation of financial stability when the franchisor strengthens the running royalty policy at aspect of franchisor. Design/methodology/approach – A model is presented and designed. The paper will analyze the causality which is affected by strengthening the profit structure with the running royalty program and also find out how the strengthened profit structure will affect and improve the franchisors' sustainable supports for the franchisees, service quality and service satisfactions. Findings – Although the franchise industry is growing in Korea, the stability of business is still in doubt because the business cycle of the franchisor is shortened. This paper found the reasons why franchisors have unstable status in Korea. The main reason was the instability of profit structures for franchisors which are a burden to the franchisees which then worsen the franchisors' financial status. The biggest different from the US franchise industry was the running royalty program. So, this paper will apply the running royalty program politically to the franchise business in Korea and find out how it will affect the overall business cycle. Originality/value – This study was limited to the Korean franchise industry and found out the factors which influence the franchisors' performance in various aspects. By analyzing with casual loop diagram, this paper found how each of the factors interact and bring out the positive feedback process. Also, it suggests a way of adopting the running royalty program into the Korean market.

Li Xue; Jichao Xu; Yumin Liu

2010 Asian Journal on Quality

doi: 10.1108/15982681011094023

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the economic‐statistical design of EWMA charts with variable sampling intervals (VSIs) under non‐normality to reduce the process production cycle cost and improve the statistical performance of control charts. The objective is to minimize the cost function by adjusting the control chart parameters which suffice for the statistical restriction. Design/methodology/approach – First, using the Burr distribution to approximate various non‐normal distributions, the economic‐statistical model of the VSI EWMA charts under non‐normality can be developed. Further, the genetic algorithms will be used to search for the optimal values of parameters of the VSI EWMA charts under non‐normality. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to investigate the effect of model parameters and statistical restriction on the solution of the economic‐statistical design. Findings – The result of sensitivity analysis shows that a large lower bound of average time to signal when the process is in control increases the control limit coefficient, no model parameter significantly affects the short sampling intervals, and so on. Originality/value – The economic‐statistical design method proposed in this paper can improve the statistical performance of economic design of control charts and the general idea can be applied to other VSI control charts.

Ji Young Park; Soo Wook Kim

2010 Asian Journal on Quality

doi: 10.1108/15982681011094032

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest an empirical model to assess the separate effect of the government's research and development (R&D) policy program in small and medium enterprise (SME) performance. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the R&D related papers and finds out the specific aspects of the Korean R&D policy program, classifying every R&D policy program and giving them unique names such as funds, technology and human resource support. Finally, the paper provides the whole empirical model and research questions for future studies. Findings – First, the paper suggests the research model and several questions about whether the direct government funding of R&D policy program has had an effect on SMEs' business performance. Second, the interaction of direct government R&D funding, technology and human resource support are compared. Finally, a research model is suggested with proper research methodology. Research limitations/implications – Owing to the research purpose, the paper ends with the suggestion of an empirical model. Panel data needs to be applied to verify the suggested model. Originality/value – There are various papers regarding the effect of R&D investment from private and public sectors, but few papers exist about the causal relationship between the government R&D policy program and SMEs' performance.

Mehdi Moradi; Mahdi Salehi; Mohammad Keivanfar

2010 Asian Journal on Quality

doi: 10.1108/15982681011094041

Purpose – Fluctuations of oil price and petroleum products have had different effects on great economic variables. One of these cases would be Dutch Disease in some countries. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of price fluctuation on the amount of industrial and agricultural value added in GDP and the amount of non‐oil GDP in Iran by using counteraction method separately. Design/methodology/approach – The effect of oil volatility and the share of agricultural value added and the share of manufacturing value added in GDPs as well as the share of agricultural and manufacturing value added in non‐oil GDP have been studied by using time‐series estimations method. In all of the cases the Eviews 5 software was used during the period 1979‐2009. Findings – While research results support previous studies about the relationship between the agricultural sector and oil revenues in the developing and oil‐exporting countries, the results show a relationship between oil price and the share of manufacturing value added with no‐oil GDP. Research limitations/implications – The paper has considered only oil price fluctuation on industrial and agricultural products in Iran. However, Iran has several exporting goods such as gas but the study only considered oil price. Originality/value – So far, several studies have been conducted in different countries regarding the subject of the study. While Iran is an important oil exporting country, the current research is the first study in Iran which gives more strength to the Iranian economy as well to other oil exporting countries.