Does quality management drive labour flexibility?

Abstract

This study aims to shed light on the contribution of quality management (QM) to labour flexibility by analysing the influence that QM has on internal and external labour flexibility. The study presents pioneer research in the empirical analysis of how QM impacts on labour flexibility. The hypotheses put forward are tested in an empirical study carried out on a sample of Spanish service companies. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The results indicate that QM is shown to have a positive effect on internal flexibility, as it promotes training or job enrichment. However, QM fosters job security with a negative effect on external flexibility.

Keywords:

• quality management
• labour flexibility
• internal flexibility
• external flexibility
• structural equations models

Acknowledgement

Work Supported by the Bancaixa Foundation (Ref. P1.1A2008-06) and by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Ref. ECO2008-01674).

Notes

Other classifications of flexibility have been proposed (Valverde et al., 2000) identifying other types of flexibility, such as financial flexibility or wage flexibility. However, a common feature of these classifications is their emphasis on internal and external flexibility.