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From quality control to TQM, service quality and service sciences : a 30-year review of TQM literature

Chen, Chi Kuang ; Reyes, Lidia ; Dahlgaard, Jens and Dahlgaard-Park, Su Mi LU (2022) In International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences 14(2). p.217-237
Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to review total quality management (TQM) literature in the past three decades to identify the quality related key terms, to analyse their linkage among the identified key terms and their developmental trends. Design/methodology/approach: Bibliometric and statistical methods are used to analyse article titles published in the Total Quality and Business Excellence journal during 1990–2019. The current research is based on a search from the ProQuest academic database and the journal’s website, resulting in 2,452 articles collected. The VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel were then used for the analyses. Findings: A total of 52 key terms were extracted from the journal’s 2,452 article titles, the top three key terms in... (More)

Purpose: This paper aims to review total quality management (TQM) literature in the past three decades to identify the quality related key terms, to analyse their linkage among the identified key terms and their developmental trends. Design/methodology/approach: Bibliometric and statistical methods are used to analyse article titles published in the Total Quality and Business Excellence journal during 1990–2019. The current research is based on a search from the ProQuest academic database and the journal’s website, resulting in 2,452 articles collected. The VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel were then used for the analyses. Findings: A total of 52 key terms were extracted from the journal’s 2,452 article titles, the top three key terms in terms of occurrences were “quality,” “total quality management” and “service quality.” Five themes were then proposed from clustering the 52 key terms: “frameworks/models,” “essentials/enablers,” “methods/techniques,” “culture/characteristics” and “effects/results.” Trend analyses were also conducted regarding the five themes in an attempt to highlight the patterns of research publications from 1990 to 2019. It is found that the research publications for “essentials/enablers,” “methods and techniques” and “effects/results” have steadily increased during the analysis period, while “frameworks/models” and “culture/characteristic” have slightly decreased. These insights provide implication for the historical evolution of quality from “quality control,” “total quality management” and “service quality,” combining with the development of “service sciences.” Originality/value: This paper highlights the concept of quality since its meaning has changed and evolved over time from quality control, TQM to service quality. And it is emerging in the present and future development of service sciences because of both of TQM and service sciences having the same nature of multidisciplinary background and characteristics. Also the authors can conclude that quality and service sciences are in fact two sides of the same coin because both of them having the same duality of “tangible-intangible” and “physical-virtual” faces which are the important topics that TQM should focus on.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Bibliometric analysis, Business excellence, Quality, Service quality, Service science, Total quality management
in
International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences
volume
14
issue
2
pages
217 - 237
publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
external identifiers
  • scopus:85120817269
ISSN
1756-669X
DOI
10.1108/IJQSS-09-2021-0128
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
86ef5c84-202f-4d3d-81fb-ce8af41ec4d8
date added to LUP
2022-02-07 12:31:28
date last changed
2023-01-01 19:44:23
@article{86ef5c84-202f-4d3d-81fb-ce8af41ec4d8,
  abstract     = {{<p>Purpose: This paper aims to review total quality management (TQM) literature in the past three decades to identify the quality related key terms, to analyse their linkage among the identified key terms and their developmental trends. Design/methodology/approach: Bibliometric and statistical methods are used to analyse article titles published in the Total Quality and Business Excellence journal during 1990–2019. The current research is based on a search from the ProQuest academic database and the journal’s website, resulting in 2,452 articles collected. The VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel were then used for the analyses. Findings: A total of 52 key terms were extracted from the journal’s 2,452 article titles, the top three key terms in terms of occurrences were “quality,” “total quality management” and “service quality.” Five themes were then proposed from clustering the 52 key terms: “frameworks/models,” “essentials/enablers,” “methods/techniques,” “culture/characteristics” and “effects/results.” Trend analyses were also conducted regarding the five themes in an attempt to highlight the patterns of research publications from 1990 to 2019. It is found that the research publications for “essentials/enablers,” “methods and techniques” and “effects/results” have steadily increased during the analysis period, while “frameworks/models” and “culture/characteristic” have slightly decreased. These insights provide implication for the historical evolution of quality from “quality control,” “total quality management” and “service quality,” combining with the development of “service sciences.” Originality/value: This paper highlights the concept of quality since its meaning has changed and evolved over time from quality control, TQM to service quality. And it is emerging in the present and future development of service sciences because of both of TQM and service sciences having the same nature of multidisciplinary background and characteristics. Also the authors can conclude that quality and service sciences are in fact two sides of the same coin because both of them having the same duality of “tangible-intangible” and “physical-virtual” faces which are the important topics that TQM should focus on.</p>}},
  author       = {{Chen, Chi Kuang and Reyes, Lidia and Dahlgaard, Jens and Dahlgaard-Park, Su Mi}},
  issn         = {{1756-669X}},
  keywords     = {{Bibliometric analysis; Business excellence; Quality; Service quality; Service science; Total quality management}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{217--237}},
  publisher    = {{Emerald Group Publishing Limited}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences}},
  title        = {{From quality control to TQM, service quality and service sciences : a 30-year review of TQM literature}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-09-2021-0128}},
  doi          = {{10.1108/IJQSS-09-2021-0128}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}