Quality Management in Spanish Thalassotherapy Centers
6.2 Theoretical Background
As already mentioned, “ as competition increases and continuous change occurs in the business world, Total Quality management [TQM] becomes a prominent approach to management in order to improve general organizational effectiveness and excellence ” (Magd 2014 : 2). Regarding this, numerous studies have shown a
positive relationship between TQM implementation and organizational performance in companies (Sun 2000 ; Tarí and Molina 2002 ; Bayazit 2003 ; Rahman and Siddiqui 2006 ; Joiner 2007 ; Das et al. 2008 ; Sila 2007 ). These improvements in organiza- tional performance lead to improved economic performance, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and social impact (Salaheldin 2009 ; Kapuge and Smith 2007 ; Demirbag et al 2006 ; Tarí and Molina 2002 ).
Quality practices or critical factors which are implemented in a company when a Quality Management System is set up and which enable all the improvements outlined in the company are defi ned Kanji ( 1998 ), that determines that the critical quality factors are the key areas of the organization, that managed properly ensure improved competitiveness and business excellence. Factors, that together with the tools and techniques that enable us to apply them, must be taken into account for the implementation of Total Quality Management to be successful as demonstrated in the scientifi c literature (Easton and Jarrell 1998 ; Claver et al. 1999 ; Wilkinson et al.
1998 ; Zhang 2000 ). This defi nition gives us an idea of the importance and need to identify these critical factors.
Our starting point for the literature review of the critical factors is the literature on the industrial sector, where the fi rst studies were performed in order to identify critical factors or quality practices, and which serve as a basis for further research carried out in the tourism sector; that focus on how internal business processes are managed by the management with the aim of providing a service that satisfi es the customer. The works on the review of the literature in the quality management fi eld in the tourism sector Serrano Bedia et al. ( 2007 ), Álvarez García et al. ( 2014 ), Tarí et al. ( 2014 ) and the work of Santomá and Costa ( 2007 ) who collected the major studies in the hotel industry from 1990 to 2007 can be seen.
The fi rst to identify the critical factors of quality were the quality gurus in the professional fi eld like Crosby ( 1979 ), Deming ( 1982 ), Ishikawa ( 1985 ), Juran ( 1988 ), Feigenbaum ( 1991 ). However, the fi rst empirical research whose objective was to develop and empirically validate an instrument to measure quality practices was conducted by Saraph et al. ( 1989 ), who used eight critical factors which he col- lected from the literature published by gurus. This research was later followed by studies by Flynn et al. ( 1994 ), Ahire et al. ( 1996 ) and Rao et al. ( 1999 ).
Many researchers conducted research in this sense (Powell 1995 ; Anderson et al.
1995 ; Leal 1997 ; Grandzol and Gershon 1998 ; Quazi et al. 1998 ; Rao et al. 1998 ; Easton and Jarrell 1998 ; Motwani 2001 ; Sureshchandar et al. 2001 ; Antony et al.
2002 ; Conca et al. 2004 , among others) and reviewing them, the principles consid- ered in TQM are shown to be different among different researchers and vary in num- ber, not reaching a consensus on what those principles of quality management are.
Several works are highlighted, in which the aim has been to collect the critical factors used in studies conducted in recent years. Sila and Ebrahimpour ( 2002 ) examined the critical factors that took into account studies conducted between 1989 and 2000 in different countries and sectors. Along the same line, Claver et al. ( 2003 ) also made a group of all those critical factors which appear repeatedly in most research (customer focus, leadership, quality planning, fact-based management, continuous improvement, human resource management (participation of all
members, training, working equipment and communication systems), learning, management processes, cooperation with suppliers, continuous improvement and concern for social and environmental consequences). In a later work, Camisón et al.
( 2007 :2003 ) regrouped and summarized into ten, the principles used in the most relevant literature on this issue.
They have all grouped the critical factors of Quality Management and although there are differences between them, there are a number of common elements (Ritchie and Dale 2000 ). In summary, the critical factors are identifi ed; customer focus, continuous improvement, teamwork, management and leadership of senior management, training, process management, participation and involvement of employees, strategic planning, information and analysis, supplier relationships, social responsibility and quality of the results.
Besides all the research discussed, in an attempt to help companies set up TQM, quality models emerged, which are guidelines for the implementation of continuous improvement in the company or to perform self-assessments of their quality prac- tices. We can mention as the main models: the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (USA), the model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and the Deming Award model in Japan.
A more recent study was conducted by Magd ( 2014 ), in order to identify the criti- cal factors that are taken into account by the different schools of thought, on the one hand, quality gurus (Juran 1974 ; Crosby 1979 ; Deming 1982 ; Ishikawa 1985 ), on the other, models of quality awards (Singapore Quality Award, Swedish Quality Award, Fiji Quality Award, Brazil Quality Award, Australian Quality Award, Malcom Baldrige, EFQM amd Rajiv Gandhl) and fi nally, the results of empirical investiga- tions (Saraph et al. 1989 ; Al Aanazi 1993 ; Oakland 1993 ; Flynn et al. 1994 ; Badri et al. 1995 ; Powell 1995 ; Ahire et al. 1996 ; Black and Porter 1996 ; Tamimi 1998 ; Terziovski and Samson 1999 ; Ang et al. 2001 ; Yusof and Aspinwall 2000 ; Zhang 2000 ; Lau and Idris 2001 ; Motwani 2001 ; Nwabueze 2001 ; Thiagaragan et al. 2001 ; Antony et al. 2002 ; Al Omaim et al. 2005 ; Baidoun 2003 ; Bayazit 2003 ; Chin et al.
2003 ; Al-Nofal et al. 2004 ; Conca et al. 2004 ; Al Nofal et al. 2005 ; Noviyarsi and Yusof 2005 ; Rad 2005 ; Karuppusami and Gandhinathan 2006 ; Chowdhury et al.
2007 ; Abdullah et al. 2008 ; Putri and Yusof 2008 ; Salaheldin 2009 ).
The Common TQM Critical Success Factors based on Quality Gurus:
Management Leadership; Training, Employees’ participation; Process Management;
Planning and Quality Measures for Continuous Improvement; Common core of TQM critical factors based on quality award models: Leadership; Strategy and Policy Planning; Information and Analysis; People Management; Process Management; Customer Management Satisfaction; Business Results; Performance and Management of Suppliers/Partners; Impact on Society; Resource Management;
and Common TQM Critical Success Factors based on Empirical Research: Top management commitment & Leadership; strategic planning; customer focus and satisfaction; quality information and performance measurement; benchmarking;
human resource management; training; employee empowerment and involvement;
employee satisfaction; process management; product and service design; supplier management; continuous improvement; and communication.