MECHANISM OF EXCESSIVE QUALITY IN THE JAPANESE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY BASED ON INTERVIEW SURVEYS

Abstract

　Quality management has historically been regarded as a cornerstone of the international competitiveness of Japanese companies. However, given the substantial transformation of the business environment encompassing Japan’s manufacturing sector in recent times, the pursuit of high-quality standards, and production of high-quality goods may have an adverse effect on companies’ competitiveness. Previous research has often overlooked the classification of excessive quality, the challenges it affords, and the intricate mechanisms that underlie its development. Therefore, this study focuses on the classification of excessive quality, the challenges it affords, and the intricate mechanisms that underlie its development in the Japanese automobile industry. In this study, we collected data through interviews with individuals who possessed substantial expertise in the field of quality management at seven Japanese automobile companies. Additionally, we used secondary sources. The grounded theory method was employed to conduct data analysis, which also incorporated the applied Gioia method.

　The study yielded four preliminary conclusions. First, excessive quality is defined as the practices of “designing or testing products at a level that exceeds the quality requirements of domestic and overseas customers and markets for which the company’s products are targeted.” Second, two types of excessive quality were determined: excessive inspection and design. Excessive inspection comprises four subtypes, and excessive design comprises five subtypes. Third, excessive quality can lead to four challenges: cost, quality, delivery time, and flexibility. Fourth, on the basis of three themes: “establishing global uniform quality standards,” “bias resulting from demanding customers and markets,” and “the difficulty of lowering established quality standards.”—factors contributing to excessive quality were discussed. These themes encompass environmental and management factors, which contribute to the prevalence of excessive inspection and design. The management factors were found to mediate the impact of environmental factors on excessive quality.