Defining the concept of supply chain quality management and its relevance to academic and industrial practice

Even though much attention has been focused on supply chain management (SCM) concepts in recent years, its interlinking with the quality management perspective is often limited and tangential in nature. While the importance of quality management is universally recognized, academic researchers need a more focused approach in evaluating quality management issues within the internal and external supply chain contexts. Consequently, in this study we define the concept of supply chain quality management (SCQM), and evaluate its relevance in academic and industrial practice by comprehensively reviewing prior quality and SCM literature in major journals and inductively identifying the themes that emerge within it. In particular, we take a more critical look at those published studies that specifically lie at the interface of quality and external SCM, and argue that quality practices must advance from traditional firm centric and product-based mindsets to an inter-organizational supply chain orientation involving customers, suppliers, and other partners. We also show that SCQM across inter-organizational supply chains has received scant research attention, even though that perspective is sorely needed in delivering value to customers in often globally scattered supply chains. A case study of a firm that is a first-tier supplier in an offshoot of automotive supply chain is presented to better illustrate the SCQM themes and their treatment in industrial practice. Based on our research, the case study, and experience of working with firms in the domain of quality management and the ISO 9001 certification processes, we propose a Quality-SCM framework that can be used to place prior work in perspective, as well as identify three specific opportunities for future SCQM research.