Quality 4.0 social and strategic readiness factors: sufficient and Necessary Condition Analysis

Abstract

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has given rise to a new stream of research on the future of quality management called Quality 4.0 (Q4.0). In this context, the study analyses the social and strategic readiness factors that act as sufficient and necessary conditions for implementing Q4.0. The methodology used combines (1) the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique to estimate sufficient conditions; (2) the Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) technique to identify the necessary causality; (3) and the Generalized Analytic Induction (GAI) to identify the combination of conditions that explain the presence of a result. The reference sample used in the study is 107 Spanish organisations with EFQM recognition of excellence. The results confirm that Leadership and top management commitment, Q4.0 vision and strategy, Human resource management for Q4.0, Organisational culture and Customer readiness have significant effects on the readiness of an organisation to implement Q4.0. These factors represent sufficient conditions. On the other hand, the factors necessary for implementing Q4.0 would be Q4.0 vision and strategy and Supplier readiness. Finally, GAI shows how two conditions, among both social and strategic factors, are widely shared by organisations to explain a high Q4.0 readiness value.

Keywords:

• Quality 4.0
• readiness factors
• PLS-SEM
• Necessary Condition Analysis
• Generalized Analytic Induction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).