Cultural issues in Quality Management and Continuous Improvement: A case study of Volvo Trucks

Abstract: Quality management and continuous improvement are well known and many successful implementations of improvements regarding quality has been made over the recent dec-ades by many organizations. This means that there are lots of different tools, strategies and implementation techniques available for organizations today. However, globalism have made this area an interesting aspect for researching cultural impacts in quality management and continuous improvement for organizations operating in many differ-ent countries. The purpose behind this thesis is therefore to study how a multinational company han-dles international quality management and how national culture impacts quality man-agement and continuous improvement efforts in a multinational company. Initially, a frame of reference was developed to examine current available research of quality man-agement and continuous improvements, as well as cultural aspects regarding differences in national culture and how this impacts an organizational culture that operates in sever-al countries world-wide. We used a qualitative research approach and within that performed a case study of Vol-vo Trucks. Primary data was collected from interviews and other material acquired from Volvo Trucks. The results showed that power distance was a value that impacted improvement work the most. This was seen in different stages of improvement efforts.