National Science Foundation grant awarded to Joseph M. Juran Center Academic Director Roger Schroeder and fellow Carlson School researchers
Joseph M. Juran Center Academic Director Roger Schroeder, Professor Andy Van de Ven and Associate Professor Kevin Linderman were recently awarded a three-year $430,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The research proposal was top-ranked out of 90 applications.
The research will uncover how companies sustain a quality advantage. The project addresses two research questions: "What are the key factors, conditions and principles that influence sustained quality performance, and its relationship with firm performance and benefits to society?" and, "How do changes in sustained quality performance unfold over time, along with its antecedents and consequences?"
Three companies are partners in this research project: 3M, Medtronic and Corning. In each company, one division is selected that has maintained high quality products and services over a long period of time. For comparison purposes, another division is selected in the same company that had high quality and then lost it. The study will help companies maintain better performance, thereby enhancing their competitive health and profitability.
The concept for the proposal was developed at the Joseph M. Juran Center’s Summit in 2002 when Dr. Joseph Juran, Don Petersen of Ford Motor Company, Ed Breen of Motorola, and others described the importance of learning the factors in sustaining a quality advantage. This question has been a priority of quality leaders for the past decade, said Jim Buckman, professional director of the Joseph M. Juran Center.
Professor Schroeder led a team, including Professor Andy Van de Ven and Associate Professor Kevin Linderman, in developing the proposal, which was submitted to the National Science Foundation.
Buckman said the commitment of the researchers to conduct this research demonstrates the importance of the question.
“Sustaining a quality advantage is not a faddish topic,” Buckman said. There is no more important question for the credibility of the field of quality.”
The Joseph M. Juran Center will support the research project by recruiting companies and assisting in the dissemination of the results.
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