Quality management in the purchasing function: an empirical study.

Abstract

Supply chain management (SCM) and total quality management (TQM) can help provide organizations with a sustainable competitive advantage by improving product quality and service while reducing cost. An effective purchasing function is one of the essential competencies to supply chain success and quality management. The objective of this research was to empirically examine a mediational model in which quality management purchasing has a direct impact on purchasing’s internal customer satisfaction and an indirect impact mediated through purchasing’s operational performance. All measurement scales satisfy key measurement criteria including unidimensionality, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and reliability. Our study showed that quality management purchasing is significantly related to purchasing’s operational performance and internal customer satisfaction.