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The relationship between quality management and new product development: evidence from China

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Abstract

Research suggests that organizations involved in new product development (NPD) can adopt quality management (QM) systems to optimize their NPD processes and thereby build their NPD competence. This paper contributes to a further understanding of the link between QM and NPD by investigating why and how more effective QM can promote and assist NPD. Based on taxonomy of QM practices, we examine the differences between the effects of infrastructure quality management practices (IQMP) and core quality management practices (CQMP) on a firm’s NPD capability and NPD performance. We also incorporate NPD practices in a conceptual model, to examine the integration effects of QM practices and NPD practices. The results show that IQMP significantly promotes NPD capability, while the influence of CQMP on NPD capability is relatively insignificant. Furthermore, our results indicate that the integration of design and manufacturing has a significant negative influence on NPD capability. Our findings highlight the significant role NPD capability plays in explaining the link between QM practices and NPD performance. Our findings also suggest to practitioners that they should integrate QM with other technology management practices in order to optimize their NPD processes.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.U1204706 and No.70872091), the Program for Science & Technology Innovation Talents in Universities of Henan Province, and the National Science Foundation for Post-doctoral Scientists of China (No. 2014M550504). The support of the China National Institute of Standardization is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, Shaanxi Province, China

    Yongtao Song & Qin Su

  2. Institute of Management Science and Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, Henan Province, China

    Yongtao Song

  3. The State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing System Engineering, Xi’an, 710049, Shaanxi Province, China

    Qin Su

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  1. Yongtao Song
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Correspondence to Qin Su.

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Song, Y., Su, Q. The relationship between quality management and new product development: evidence from China. Oper Manag Res 8, 1–14 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12063-014-0096-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12063-014-0096-7

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