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International Journal of Operations & Production ManagementEmerald Article: Metaphors in operations management theory buildingCyril Foropon, Ron McLachlin

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This is an EarlyCite pre-publication article: Cyril Foropon, Ron McLachlin, (2012),"Metaphors in operations management theory building", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 33 Iss: 2 (Date online 10/9/2012)

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Article Title Page

Metaphors in operations management theory building

Author Details Cyril Foropon Supply Chain Management, I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Ron McLachlin Supply Chain Management, I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Corresponding Author: Cyril Foropon Corresponding Author's Email: [email protected] Biographical Details: Cyril Foropon is an Assistant Professor of Operations Management at the I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba. He earned his Ph.D. in Management at HEC Paris. His research interests are in quality management. In particular, he is interested in quality management practices within ISO 9000 operations, process improvement initiatives within healthcare provider organisations, the quality of service provided by higher education institutions, and the use of metaphors in operations management theory building. Ron McLachlin is an Associate Professor of Operations Management at the I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba. He is currently the Acting Director of the Transport Institute and Acting Head of the Department of Supply Chain Management. He earned his Ph.D. in Operations Management at the University of Western Ontario. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, an Associate Editor and the Canadian Regional Editor for Operations Management Research, and was an Associate Editor (1998 to 2008) for the Journal of Operations Management. His research interests are in operations strategy and supply chain strategy. His recent research addresses humanitarian supply chain management, with an emphasis on preparedness for responding to disasters. Structured Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to illustrate the extent to which metaphors help to understand operations management research topics. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based upon a review of the role of metaphors in organisational theory building and the use of metaphors in operations management theory building. Findings – Metaphors can contribute to an understanding of the situations being addressed by operations management researchers, and can play a role in the preliminary steps of the development of a theory. Originality/value – This paper develops a metaphorical approach to ISO 9000 implementation. Keywords: Metaphors, organisational theory building, operations management, ISO 9000 implementation Article Classification: Conceptual paper

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Metaphors in operations management theory building

Introduction

The impact of ISO 9000 standards on organisational performance remains controversial

and researchers continue to debate the topic (Martinez-Costa et al., 2009; Sampaio et al.,

2009). Most studies found a positive relationship between ISO 9000 certification and

organisational performance (Adam et al., 1997; Boulter and Bendell, 2002; Curkovic and

Pagell, 1999; Dick et al., 2002; Gupta, 2000; Lee et al., 2001; Maani et al., 1994; Mann

and Kehoe, 1994; Ozgur et al., 2002; Quazi and Jacobs, 2004; Rao et al., 1997; Romano,

2000; Singels et al., 2001; Tari and Molina, 2002; Tari and Sabater, 2004; Terziovski and

Samson, 1999; Terziovski et al., 2003; Wisner and Eakins, 1994; Withers and

Ebrahimpour, 2000, 2001), while several others did not find evidence to support such a

relationship (Conca et al., 2004; Lima et al., 2000; Quazi et al., 2002; Simmons and

White, 1999; Terziovski et al., 1997). Also, a number of moderating factors were also

noted in some studies, such as motives (Gotzamani and Tsiotras, 2002, Poksinska et al.,

2006; Zaramdini, 2007), employee involvement (Elmuti and Kathwalla, 1997; Jasni and

Hazman, 2003), and the frequency of practice (Naveh and Marcus, 2005). Our study

identified a further moderating factor, namely, the extent to – and the way in which –

managers apply certain quality management principles while implementing ISO 9000

systems. This moderating factor may be better understood by considering various

metaphors of organisations that managers and other stakeholders may naturally employ.

Metaphors are core components of cognitive processing which consists of the

superimposition of a source domain onto a target domain (Cornelissen, 2005; Morgan,

1983). For example, the drum-rope-buffer metaphors help to understand the

implementation of the Theory of Constraints in the operations management field, e.g. in

order to maximise the system’s output, planning and scheduling activities are focused on

exploiting the drum (or constraint), protecting it against disruption through the use of a

buffer (or material release duration), and synchronising all other activities to the drum’s

activity through a mechanism that is akin to a rope (or release timing). The use of

metaphors is increasingly recognised for their creative potential in organisational theory

building. Boxenbaum and Rouleau (2011, p. 274) noted that “organizational theories are

composed of various building blocks, the most important being empirical material,

theoretical concepts, and metaphors.”

In the next section, we review the use of metaphors in organisational theory building,

followed by a section on metaphors used for operations management / supply chain

management. Following, the third section addresses quality management principles and

ISO 9000 implementation via various metaphors. This is followed by a concluding

discussion.

The role of metaphors in organisational theory building

The role of metaphors in organisational theory building has been addressed by various

authors (Boxenbaum and Rouleau, 2011; Cornelissen, 2005, 2006; Cornelissen and

Kafouros, 2008a, 2008b; Cornelissen et al., 2008; Hatch and Yanow, 2008; Keenoy,

2003; Oswick and Jones, 2006; Oswick et al., 2011; Poole and Van de Ven, 1989; Schon,

1993; Schultz and Hatch, 2005; Weick, 1989; Zyphur, 2009).

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Overall, metaphors play two key roles in organisational theory building. First,

metaphors may be used as tools for understanding organisations, as they have an

“explanatory impact” (Cornelissen and Kafouros, 2008a; Weick, 1989). Second, they

may be used as tools for stimulating imagination (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) and

generating insights about organisations (Cornelissen and Kafouros, 2008a; Inns, 2002,

Schon, 1993). They have a “generative impact” (Cornelissen and Kafouros, 2008a;

Weick, 1989). For example, Boxenbaum and Rouleau (2011, p. 274) indicated that “the

imagery conveyed by metaphors stimulates theorists to generate interesting new

propositions about organisational life (Bacharach, 1989) that can later be sharpened into

theory formulations and testable hypotheses (Cornelissen, 2005; Morgan, 1983; Soyland,

1994; Weick, 1989). By being idea generators (Cornelissen, 2005; Morgan, 2006; Schon,

1993; Weick, 1989), metaphors can contribute to a deep understanding of the situations

being addressed by researchers, and can play a role in the preliminary steps of the

development of a theory. In this regard, Morgan (2006) indicated that “the use of

metaphor implies a way of thinking and a way of seeing that pervade how we understand

our world generally. For example, research in a wide variety of fields has demonstrated

that the use of metaphor exerts a formative influence on science, on our language, and on

how we think” (Morgan, 2006, p. 4). Accordingly, the metaphorical approach is based on

the following interpretation scheme: ways of seeing an organisation (images of

organisation) lead to ways of thinking about its functioning (metaphors) which leads to

ways of managing within it. A narrow link exists between image and action. Indeed, as

Morgan (2006) indicated, “the metaphors and ideas through which we “see” and “read”

situations influence how we act. (…). Favoured metaphors tend to trap us in specific

modes of action” (Morgan, 2006, p. 340), and the author warned researchers that each

metaphor creates partial insights with their own pattern of strengths and limitations.

The systematic use of different metaphors (Morgan, 2006), also called “disciplined

imagination” (Weick, 1989), is a precursor to new theory formulations. In this regard,

Boxenbaum and Rouleau (2011) stated:

“The partial and ambiguous applicability [of metaphors] to the object of study

stimulates theory builders to be creative in their interpretations and to generate new

insights. (…) We stressed the assembly of multiple metaphors as an expression of

theoretical creativity. This creative component must be carefully integrated with

theoretical concepts and empirical material to form a valuable new theory”

(Boxembaum and Rouleau, 2011, p. 291).

In the management literature, several studies illustrate the extent to which embodied

metaphors help to understand organisations (Heracleous and Jacobs, 2008), such as the

use of culture as a metaphor to understand aspects of organisational life (Smircich, 1983),

or more recently the dominance of distance as a metaphor to understand the impact of

culture in international management research (Shenkar et al., 2008). In the following

section, we review the use of metaphors in the operations and supply chain management

(OM/SCM) literature to illustrate the extent to which metaphors help to enhance the

understanding of OM/SCM topics.

The use of metaphors in OM/SCM theory building

Meaningful metaphors have been used in OM/SCM theory building, such as the drum-

rope-buffer metaphors used by Goldratt and Cox (1984) and Goldratt and Fox (1986) to

3

describe the implementation of the theory of constraints, or the chain-pipeline-network-

value stream metaphors used by Saunders (1995) to analyse the role of such metaphors in

forming perceptions of the task of purchasing and supply management.

To illustrate the extent to which embodied metaphors help to understand OM/SCM

research topics, we conducted a literature review in four major OM/SCM academic

journals (Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management,

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, and Journal of Supply

Chain Management) identifying major publications that used metaphors in OM/SCM

theory building since 1998.

In the OM literature, a large variety of metaphors have been used for theory building

purposes. These include the medical metaphor for professional service interactions

(Lewis and Brown, 2011), the athletic metaphor for the relationship between lean and

agile (Browing and Heath, 2009), the bottleneck metaphor for the interaction among

motivation, opportunity, and ability driving knowledge-sharing behaviour among

employees (Siemsen et al., 2008), the destination metaphor for experiential service

strategies (Voss et al., 2008), the metaphor “a journey of a thousand miles begins with

the first step” helping to understand the differences between mission and project target in

new product development (Rauniar et al., 2008), the landscape metaphor for the

integration of sustainable development in the supply chain (Matos and Hall, 2007), the

drum-buffer-rope metaphors for planning and control (Rahman, 1998; Watson et al.,

2007), the computer programming metaphor for learning and knowledge creation in

quality management (Choo et al., 2007), the theatre metaphor for new service design and

service delivery excellence (Stuart and Tax, 2004), the theatre metaphor for the training

process of rental sales agents (New, 2003), the fitness landscape metaphor for

manufacturing competitiveness and strategy (McCarthy, 2004), and the anorexia

metaphor for the process of lean implementation (Radnor and Boaden, 2004).

Likewise, in the SCM literature, various metaphors were used in several studies for

theory building purposes. These included the network metaphor for the relationship

between supply network complexity and the traceability of adverse events (Skilton and

Robinson, 2009), the natural ecosystems metaphor for the sustainability of industrial

symbiosis within supply chains (Bansal and McKnight, 2009), the natural selection

metaphor for sources and consequences of bargaining power in supply chains (Crook and

Combs, 2007), the value stream metaphor for the meaning of value in trading

relationships (Ramsay, 2005), the chain metaphor for the field of supply chain

management (Burgess et al., 2006), the chain metaphor for supply chain strategies

(Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001), the metaphor of “light shining through mineral” for

transparency in supply relationships (Lamming et al., 2001), and the head-pack-tail

cycling metaphor for the relationship between supply chain collaboration and

performance improvement (Vereecke and Muylle, 2006). Examples of the use of a few of

these metaphors in OM/SCM theory building are summarised in Table I.

Table I

Examples of metaphors used in OM/SCM theory building

Publications Metaphors Metaphors’ contribution in OM/SCM theory building

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Lewis and

Brown

(2011)

Medical

metaphor

This study includes the medical metaphor for understanding professional

service interactions as a process of diagnosis, inference and treatment.

Diagnosis takes information in, treatment brings instructions back out but

critically, inference is the reflective process that professional staff engage

in when the connection between diagnosis and treatment is obscure.

Browning

and Heath

(2009)

Athlete

metaphor

This study includes the athletic metaphor for understanding the relationship

between lean and agile. Value is maximised by the most competitive

athletes, not just the ones that weight the least. Greater uncertainty and

instability will increase the proportion of “just in case” and “sense and

respond” tasks and resources enabling agility in a value-maximising

process.

Stuart and

Tax (2004)

Theatre

metaphor

This study includes the theatrical metaphor for understanding new service

design and service delivery excellence. Since many services rely on

attributes of theatre-like performance, this study examines the process by

which theatres plays are chosen, designed and developed with the objective

of better understanding how performance excellence is achieved.

Ramsay

(2005)

Value

stream

metaphor

In the purchasing field, the value stream metaphor creates an image of

some thing or substance flowing from suppliers to customers, with buying

or selling companies along the stream trying to hold on some of it as it

flowed by on its way towards ultimate consumers.

Burgess et

al. (2006)

Chain

metaphor

This study presents the chain metaphor as the dominant metaphor for

understanding the field of supply chain management. The network

metaphor is suggested as a more realistic representation of the complexities

inherent in supply chain management.

Quality management principles and ISO 9000 implementation: a metaphorical

perspective

With a view to developing a comprehensive theoretical approach to the application of

quality management principles through ISO 9000 implementation, this section is divided

into two parts: (a) presentation of the organismic image of organisations emerging from

the TQM literature, as well as the political and mechanistic images of organisations

emerging from our study, (b) use of related metaphors in interpreting quality

management practices through ISO 9000 implementation.

Three images of ISO 9000 candidate operations

This section illustrates how the specialised literature tends to view an ISO 9000 candidate

organisation as an organism, how managers with an ISO 9000 mandate tend to view a

candidate organisation as a political system, and how other ISO 9000 stakeholders tend to

view it as a machine.

Viewing organisations as organisms is a prevalent image used by researchers in the

TQM field. Indeed, Spencer (1994) in an extensive examination of the field, indicated

that:

Although quality experts emphasized different aspects of the TQM methodology,

its major components can be summarized as follows: Goal: TQM establishes

quality enhancement as a dominant priority and one that is vital for long-term

5

effectiveness and survival” (p. 446). (…). The contingent approach to TQM is

rooted in the organismic model adapted from von Bertalanffy’s (1950) work on

general systems theory in biology. In this case, the organization is conceptualized

as an organism whose purpose, survival, can only be ensured by growth.

Contraction is believed to be synonymous with deterioration, decay, and eventual

death” (p. 455).

Moreover, quality gurus refer implicitly to the image of an organism (Deming, 1986;

Eisman, 1992; Feigenbaum, 1951, 1961; Garvin, 1984; Juran, 1951; Reeves and Bednar,

1994; Shewhart, 1931) by considering the satisfaction of external customers as the

ultimate goal for quality-driven organisations. Indeed, an effective quality-driven

organisation will likely keep its satisfied external customer base and will attract new

ones, leading to growth, whereas an ineffective quality-driven organisation will lose

unsatisfied customers and ultimately will disappear. In other words, the existence and

satisfaction of external customers is a necessary condition to an organisation’s existence,

a thesis defended by Drucker (1954) and Parsons (1960). By considering the growth, the

survival, and the disappearance of an organisation, quality experts rather see an

organisation as an organism.

Seeing ISO 9000 candidate operations as political systems is a dominant image used

by managers with an ISO 9000 mandate, based on our research studying the application

of quality management principles within two ISO 9000 candidate manufacturing

operations. These managers tended to apply quality management principles in an

unexpected way during implementation, in which they tended to see the effort to become

certified as a political system. There were a number of indicators of this. First, managers

tended to disclose the minimum information required by the quality standards in their

procedures. Second, they tended to retain key information during the implementation

process. Third, they felt that the system obliged them to contribute to the implementation

process. Fourth, they tended to update their quality procedures in step with those

implementation milestones that they cared about. Last but not least, managers used ill-

advisedly their quality procedures during implementation, such as using procedures

extensively during external audits with the intention of making a good impression on

external auditors. Overall, by disclosing the minimum information within quality

procedures, by feeling obliged to contribute to the ISO implementation process, and by

updating quality procedures only at key milestones they care about, managers with an

ISO 9000 mandate tend to see an ISO 9000 candidate organisation as a political system.

In contrast, the notion of ISO 9000 operations as machines is a dominant image used

by stakeholders surrounding managers with an ISO 9000 mandate. ISO 9000

implementation comprises several milestones that are the responsibility of stakeholders

(e.g., official audits and external auditors, quality review meetings and plant managers,

internal audits and internal auditors). Study results showed that stakeholders surrounding

managers do not communicate effectively concerning the ISO 9000 implementation

process. Indeed, these ISO 9000 stakeholders insisted only that milestones be met (e.g.,

for internal audits, external audits, and quality review meetings), gaps between quality

management practices and related procedures be identified before the occurrence of

milestones, corrective action plans be developed for such milestones. Overall, they

focused on demonstrating the effectiveness of ISO 9000 quality systems at only key

milestones. The frequency and nature of information communicated by these

6

stakeholders led us to conclude that they see an ISO 9000 candidate organisations as

machines.

Use of related metaphors in interpreting quality management practices through ISO 9000

implementation

The use of organismic, political, and mechanistic metaphors enhances our ability to

perceive, understand, and interpret key aspects influencing the application of quality

management principles through ISO 9000 implementation. What is at stake within ISO

9000 candidate organisations? What does the process of implementation consist of? What

is the purpose of the formalisation activity of quality management practices? What does a

quality management procedure represent?

The metaphorical approach in this paper relies on the following interpretation scheme:

ways of seeing an ISO 9000 candidate organisation (images of organisation) lead to ways

of thinking about its functioning (metaphors), which lead to ways of managing

(appropriate application of quality management principles) within ISO 9000 candidate

organisations. Quality experts, managers with an ISO 9000 mandate, and other

stakeholders have different ways of viewing ISO 9000 candidate organisations. This

leads them to think differently about the functioning of such organisations. From the

previous section, quality experts tend to think via the organismic metaphor, whereas

managers with an ISO 9000 mandate seem to use the political metaphor, and other

stakeholders tend to utilise a mechanistic metaphor. In this section, the generative impact

of these three metaphors (Boxenbaum and Rouleau, 2011; Cornelissen and Kafouros,

2008a; Weick, 1989) emphasises successively the organismic, political and mechanistic

ways of thinking, which illustrates fundamental points of view of quality experts,

managers with an ISO 9000 mandate and other stakeholders. This means different

conceptions of the appropriate application of quality management principles for ISO

9000 implementation, increasing the gaps between their respective interests. Table II

synthesises the organismic, political, and mechanistic ways of thinking about key aspects

impacting quality management practices through ISO 9000 implementation, namely,

stake of ISO 9000 certification, process of ISO 9000 implementation, process of writing

management practices within procedures, and quality management procedures.

Table II

Understanding the application of quality management principles through ISO 9000

implementation: a metaphorical perspective

TQM literature and the

organismic metaphor

Managers with an ISO 9000

mandate and the political

metaphor

Other ISO 9000

stakeholders and the

mechanistic metaphor

ISO 9000 candidate

organisation Organism Political system Machine

Stake of ISO 9000

certification Reliability Power Effectiveness

7

Process of ISO 9000

implementation Electrocardiogram Structure of alienation Sequence of checkpoints

Process of writing

management practices

within procedures

Capitalisation

of know-how

Depossession

of know-how

Routinisation

of know-how

Quality management

procedures Decision making tools Data bank of practices Standardised practices

TQM literature and the organismic metaphor

Organismic imagery emphasises the understanding of relations between an organisation

and its environment and focuses on systematic attention to the environmental “needs”

that must be satisfied if the organisation is to survive (Morgan, 2006). This represents a

primary preoccupation for management, as the organisation’s future is at stake.

Specialised literature, based on the insights of the organismic metaphor, finds itself

focusing on the demanding environment of ISO 9000 candidate organisations (e.g.,

external customers). The organisation’s future (growth, survival, disappearance) depends

on the level of satisfaction experienced by external customers. ISO 9000 candidate

organisations that are unable to provide the required levels of satisfaction face the risk of

being out of business. In this regard, Anderson et al. (1999) indicated the pressure from

external customers on suppliers is a key reason explaining the success of ISO 9000

initiatives.

The organismic way of thinking leads to reliability being considered the goal of ISO

9000 certification. Bell and Lilien (1994) indicated that reliability appears to be the key

characteristic of quality assurance and Sussland (1995) stated that ISO 9000 certification

has to demonstrate the reliability of an organisation. It reinforces the purpose of quality

assurance, namely, to avoid making mistakes (Doucet, 1991) and assuring reliable

transformation processes to survive.

Also, the organismic way of thinking leads to viewing the process of implementation

being similar to an electrocardiogram. That is, it is like a stimulus-response biological

scheme, within which messages (stimuli) from ISO 9000 stakeholders influence the

managers’ application of quality management principles (responses). Frequent, clear and

strong stimuli from ISO 9000 stakeholders are expected to lead to the subsequent

appropriate responses from managers. That is, managers participate on a voluntary basis

during the implementation process (application of the customer focus principle),

managers update their quality procedures as soon as possible during the implementation

process (application of the continual improvement principle), and managers use their

procedures as often as necessary for training purposes for instance (application of the

systems approach principle). The updating activity of procedures is expected to be

independent of the implementation milestones (i.e., internal and external audits). When a

gap occurs between quality management practices and associated procedures, it is

assumed that concerned managers modify procedures as soon as possible.

Moreover, the organismic way of thinking leads to considering the process of

recording management practices to be a capitalisation of know-how. Facing a demanding

environment characterised by unexpected circumstances, managers with an ISO 9000

8

mandate deal with potential flows of errors. As the recurrence of existing errors does not

belong to the TQM philosophy, it is assumed that managers will immediately apply

appropriate corrective procedures upon the first occurrence of an error. By systematically

formalising and updating procedures, managers would assure reliable transformation

processes. Furthermore, under the organismic way of thinking, quality procedures are

treated as decision-making tools, helping managers to take appropriate action.

Managers with an ISO 9000 mandate and the political metaphor

The political metaphor focuses on different sets of interests, conflicts, and power plays

that shape organisational activities. It encourages seeing organisations as loose networks

of people with divergent interests who gather together for the sake of expediency (e.g.,

making a living, developing a career, or pursuing a desired goal or objective), and

organisational politics arise when people think differently and want to act differently

(Morgan, 2006). In this section, the unexpected application of quality management

principles by managers through ISO 9000 implementation is interpreted using Crozier

and Friedberg’s (1977) analysis of political activity. They see organisations as systems of

political activity where collective action is a social construct that relies on a structure

assimilated to a power system. Their theoretical framework emphasises that power comes

from relationships established within such structures of collective action and that actual

practices are choices among a set of possible actions. Organisational members are aware

of such choices and make decisions based on their individual interests rather than their

organisation’s general interests.

Also, the political imagery adopted by managers with an ISO 9000 mandate leads

them to treat their organisations as political systems, emphasising power as the stake in

ISO 9000 certification. By focusing on potential conflicts between the organisation’s

general interests and managers’ personal interests, this view leads to possible

inappropriate applications of quality management principles. For example, although

managers are expected to formalise their quality management practices within

procedures, they consider such formalisation to be primarily in the organisation’s general

interests. On one hand, stakeholders will say to "write what you do in your procedures

and do what you write in your procedures!" On the other hand, managers do not consider

such formalised procedures to make life easier for them.

Furthermore, this leads to a loss of power though a depossession of know-how.

Managers feel obliged to disclose their know-how within written procedures and thus

losing it as it becomes public within their organisation. Thus, the managers’ participation

tends to be reduced to a minimal level during the process of implementation. They tend to

retain critical information partly through fear of becoming easily substitutable by less

experienced managers who would utilise any available written quality management

procedures.

Moreover, this political view leads managers to consider the process of

implementation to be a collective action structure of alienation. That is, the process of

ISO 9000 implementation appears to be an organisational constraint that narrows

managers’ scope of possible quality management practices. In this regard, one of the

strongest predictors of work alienation for managers is the inability of work to allow for

self-expression (Nair and Vohra, 2010).

9

Other ISO 9000 stakeholders and the mechanistic metaphor

Thinking of an organisation as a machine tends to expect the organisations to operate as

routinised, efficient, and reliable machines and to expect the same of organisational

members, including their obedience under any circumstance (Morgan, 2006). The

mechanistic metaphor presupposes the existence of defined roles within organisations,

focuses our attention on effective organisations relying on a set of written rules and

specifications. It emphasises key management notions such as “set goals and objectives

and go for them; organise rationally, efficiently, and clearly; specify every detail so that

everyone will be sure of the jobs that they have to perform; plan, organise, and control,

control, control” (Morgan, 2006, p. 26).

This mechanistic viewpoint leads stakeholders to consider the effectiveness of an

organisation’s functioning as the purpose of ISO 9000 certification. In this regard, the

completion of auditing activities (e.g., internal audits, external audits, quality review

committees) at scheduled due dates as well as results at scheduled due dates (e.g.,

corrective actions from action plans, ISO 9000 certificates) appear to be the key

activities.

The process of ISO 9000 implementation then tends to be a sequence of checkpoints,

similar to examinations to pass. Stakeholders (i.e., plant managers, quality managers) will

tend to communicate systematically with managers with an ISO 9000 mandate a few

weeks before each “D-day” (e.g., external audits) and insist on the importance of being

prepared for upcoming checkpoints. At the conclusion of external audits, both oral

congratulations from external auditors and written congratulations from plant managers

reinforce the idea of having passed exams.

The mechanistic way of thinking emphasises stakeholders’ routinised practices during

the ISO 9000 implementation process, who then aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of

their procedures to external auditors through routinised practices. Also, with this

mechanistic viewpoint, managers with an ISO 9000 mandate will disclose their know-

how within quality procedures without any restriction.

Concluding discussion

ISO 9000 certification aims to assure reliable transformation processes within

organisations (Bell and Lilien, 1994; Buttle, 1997) in order to conform and exceed

external customers’ expectations (Steeples, 1992). Made of several types of audits (ISO,

2005) representing milestones (e.g., in-house audits, initial official audit, and follow-up

official audits), the process of implementation involves different stakeholders (e.g.

managers, employees, ISO 9000 champion, internal and external auditors) who are

expected to apply a set of quality management principles. This conceptual paper aimed at

better understanding the application of quality management principles through ISO 9000

implementation by providing a theoretical framework built on legitimate metaphors to

understand such phenomenon. Accordingly, we developed a comprehensive theoretical

approach by adopting a metaphorical perspective which emerges from the TQM literature

and a five-year-theory-driven empirical research studying the application of three quality

management principles, namely: customer focus, systems approach, and continual

improvement. TQM literature, managers with an ISO 9000 mandate and other

stakeholders rather see ISO 9000 candidate organisations through three distinctive images

- organism, political system, and machine - leading them to conceive differently the

10

appropriate application of quality management principles during the process of ISO 9000

implementation. First, the organismic way of thinking prevalent in the TQM literature

emphasises on reliable transformation processes as a necessary condition for

organisations’ survival, and focuses on a fit between quality management practices and

related procedures on a continual basis. Second, the mechanistic way of thinking points

out the effectiveness of organisational functioning, and looks for a fit between actual

practices and related procedures at key milestones. Third, the political way of thinking

points out power as the stake of ISO 9000 certification, and focuses on disclosing the

non-critical know-how of quality management practices within quality procedures. In this

paper, the generative impact of the organismic, political, and mechanistic metaphors

generates propositions about the organisational life within ISO 9000 candidate

organisations that can be formalised into testable hypotheses (Cornelissen, 2005; Morgan,

1983; Soyland, 1994; Weick, 1989).

This paper, of course, has a number of limitations. The comprehensive theoretical

approach developed in this paper relies on the use of one metaphor emerging from the

TQM literature (e.g., organismic metaphor) and two metaphors emerging from our

theory-driven ISO 9000 study (e.g., political metaphor, mechanistic metaphor). Other

metaphors are likely to enhance the understanding of the application of quality

management principles through ISO 9000 implementation, and further research is

suggested concerning the identification and use of meaningful metaphors in interpreting

such phenomenon. As Morgan (2006) mentioned in his postscript to researchers, “in

reading our organisations it is important to place ourselves in an active mode. We are not

passive observers interpreting and responding to the events and situations that we see. We

play an important role in shaping those interpretations, and thus the way events unfold”

(Morgan, 2006, p. 365).

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