Title: Expanding the quality paradigm for contemporary realignment: an ethics perspective

Authors: Sunil Babbar; Xenophon Koufteros; Jayanth Jayaram

Addresses: Department of Information Technology and Operations Management, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991, USA. ' Information and Operations Management, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, 320 Wehner Building, College Station, TX 77843-4217, USA. ' Management Science Department, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.

Abstract: Despite considerable change in the context and environment in which business transactions are conducted today, prevailing views on quality have remained relatively static. This paper provides a new perspective on quality and serves as a call for the expansion of the quality paradigm in business research, teaching, and practice so as to better align it with the environment of today. It expands the conceptualisation of quality in the context of provider-customer transactions along supply chains and presents unethical conduct as a fundamentally critical aspect of quality and customer satisfaction. Specifically, it examines the effects of unethical conduct on the quality of customer experience, creation of value, and competitiveness. It develops a framework for assessing the detrimental impact of deceitful business conduct by providers and accordingly formulates summative propositions. New and useful managerial insights are offered on how the challenges posed by unethical conduct can be effectively met. A scale for measuring deceitful practices is developed with the suggestion that it be used in association with a deceit index to determine the quality of a customer's total experience. Future research directions are also identified.

Keywords: business ethics; quality management; operations management; supply chain management; SCM; deceitful conduct; deceit index; customer satisfaction; total customer experience; TCE; survey; competitiveness; services; quality; unethical conduct; value creation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2012.047623

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2012 Vol.12 No.3, pp.309 - 331

Published online: 23 Aug 2014 *

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