Strategic Control Systems for Quality: An Empirical Comparison of the Japanese and U.S. Electronics Industry

Abstract

Management control systems should be designed to complement the strategies pursued. Few empirical studies, however, have focused on management control systems for quality control and zero-defect strategies. This study compares quality strategies and their relationships with management control systems in the Japanese and U.S. electronics industry.

The results indicate that the quality strategies of U.S. manufacturing managers reflect adherence to zero-defect philosophies more than those of the Japanese managers. However, fewer U.S. managers receive management control information to support these zero-defect strategies.

Tests linking quality strategies to management control information provide limited evidence that those U.S. managers who have adopted zero-defect strategies are more likely to receive modified management control information than U.S. managers who have not adopted zero-defect strategies. In contrast, the data suggest that Japanese managers are provided with goal-setting and feedback information about quality performance regardless of their adherence to a zero-defect versus a traditional quality management strategy, thus focussing workers' attention on continuous quality improvement.