This is an empirical study on the quality management programs in the Korean semiconductor industry. The primary objective of this study is to identify critical factors that could determine the effectiveness of quality management programs, based on the survey data from Korean semiconductor companies.
Quality has been consistently listed as one of the most important 'competitive forces' in manufacturing and become a prerequisite for success in the global market. Researchers have identified key process improvement practices that influence quality. Based on his/her industrial experience, each researcher has offered different recommendations for quality management and improvement. Some of them have focused on enhancing quality control in order to strengthen conformance to specifications. This research determines three factors that concept of quality, quality management program, and performance for effectiveness of quality management. The research results show that there are relationships among those factors, and best practice could be achieved through congruent concept of those factors.
It is hard to find exactly what quality management factors are important for business performance. Although the significance of quality for companies' competitive position in the marketplace has been emphasized for years, the direct linkage between quality and business performance has been largely unexplored. Examining whether and how quality management factors affects firm performance is an important issue for success of quality management program. This research addresses the issues outlined above by examining empirical evidence from the Korean semiconductor industry.
