Do Quality and Innovation Compete Against or Complement Each Other? The Moderating Role of an Information Exchange Climate

Abstract

This study contributes to the authors' understanding of the relationship between quality and innovation by applying a climate theory approach. They explain the reasons why an innovation climate negatively influences quality performance and why a quality climate has a negative influence on radical innovative performance. The authors then show that within a high information exchange climate, the innovation climate improves quality performance and the quality climate improves radical innovative performance. In practical terms, their findings suggest that quality managers can improve their organizations' quality performance and radical innovative performance simultaneously by nurturing an information exchange climate in their corporate departments.

• information exchange climate
• innovation climate
• quality climate
• quality performance
• radical innovative performance

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tali-Hadasa Blank

Tali Hadasa Blank is a postdoctoral student at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, where she received her doctorate. Her research interests include radical innovation within teams, organizational and team learning, and technology entrepreneurship. She can be reached by email at [email protected].

Eitan Naveh

Eitan Naveh is an associate professor at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, where he received his doctor of science degree. His research interests include integration between engineering and management aspects in quality assurance, innovation, and standardization in product development, and implementation of industrial engineering methods in healthcare. Naveh can be reached by email at [email protected].