Investigate with a methodological approach of routines and capabilities the relationships between the implementation of quality management, innovation and learning in organisations, with special attention to the capacity for organisational ambidexterity, which is fundamental for the organisation to achieve good results in the long term. The mediating and/or moderating effect of certain variables on these relationships is analysed in depth. This is mainly formalisation, which is inherent to quality management programmes, especially with regard to the establishment of procedures, and the values of the organisational culture, which are an essential pillar for the successful implementation of these programmes.

Two sectors are currently being analysed, one industrial, the organic agro-food industry, and one service, the health services sector. The organic agri-food industry sector has been chosen for several reasons: Firstly, these companies are forced to implement quality management systems to meet the standards demanded by consumers of these products, which are at a high price range; and they are also subject to strong regulations to ensure adequate levels of quality and food safety. Moreover, the growth potential of this sector is very high, as it has already experienced strong growth in Spain in recent years, and strong growth in domestic demand and foreign markets is expected in the coming years. The second sector analysed is public hospitals.

Among the priority objectives of public healthcare institutions are the efficient use of resources and the optimisation of service quality, both in terms of improving the satisfaction of stakeholders (users, staff, environmental groups) and the effectiveness of the healthcare process itself. Precisely, process management, within the framework of quality management, with the application of its multiple methodologies, has proven to be effective in generating very substantial increases in efficiency in the use of resources and in the quality of service in these organisations. The practical application to the hospital sector derived from this research is to improve the processes of these organisations, optimally adjusting human, organisational, technological and infrastructural factors, and substantially reducing the costs arising from inefficiency.

Contributors

• María Gil Marqués - Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente Mártir.

• Hospital activities
• Manufacture of homogenised food preparations and dietetic food