Regional Corporate Culture, Motivation and Technology Impacts on Performance of Quality Certified Firms

Abstract

Prior research provides inconclusive evidence of the link between quality certification and firm performance. This research revisits the issue in the context of Malaysia where employers find it difficult to motivate employees due to corporate culture. Tenets of the motivation theory, stakeholder theory and Business/IT alignment form the theoretical basis for this investigation. Contrary to expectations, Malaysian quality certified firms showed high operational performance, attributed primarily to the qualities of aligned IT systems and business processes driven by high internal motivation of IT stakeholders. Business stakeholders had high external motivation focused on exploitation of the ISO logo, which had insignificant impact on operational performance but had significant influence on business performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.