Does Quality Still Pay? A Reexamination of the Relationship Between Effective Quality Management and Firm Performance
利用500多家获奖企业的公开数据，通过事件研究法重新检验了有效全面质量管理对企业运营绩效的影响，发现获奖企业在获奖前后十年间的绩效均显著优于对照组，表明质量仍是长期竞争优势的关键。
Because of the changing competitive environment, quality might have lost some of its luster and emphasis in business. The research question we aim to address in this paper is: Does quality still pay in the new competitive environment? Using replication research, we re‐examine the impact of an effective total quality management (TQM) program on a firm's operating performance in the new competitive environment. We use publicly available data for award‐winning firms and adopt several control‐firm‐selection approaches in our event study. Based on data from more than 500 firms, we find that over a 10‐year period—6 years before to 3 years after winning their first quality award—firms in our sample perform significantly better than control groups in various operating performance measures. Not only do award‐winning firms have better results after receiving awards, they also have superior performance records before the award. Our results suggest that quality is still critical to achieving long‐term competitive advantages, and firms who continuously improve their quality continue to reap rewards by way of sales and financial performances exceeding those of their competitors.