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Total quality management (TQM) is a part of the total quality assurance perspective. This system, which is considered as a type of managerial philosophy, employs all organizational levels to constantly ameliorate the quality of goods and service. The purpose of this paper is to measure the effect of hard and soft TQM factors on the behavior of customers based on the role of innovation and continuous improvement.

The research model was extracted from TQM variables in hard and soft parts, customer behavior, innovation and continuous improvement by reviewing the literature and research background. Based on this, a questionnaire was prepared and then, distributed among the statistical population including 374 project managers, quality assurance managers as well as quality control managers by using simple random sampling. All sub-criteria of questionnaire were determined using Delphi technique, to test the research model. Having gathered the questionnaire, the hypotheses were analyzed by using structural equation modeling and AMOS software.

According to the statistical analyses, TQM has a significant effect on customer behavior through continuous improvement of the quality and innovation. Also, regarding the obtained results, the highest effect was related to the effect of hard TQM factors on customer behavior through innovation as 0.62. Furtheremore, TQM soft factors such as human resource management have significant effect on customer behavior through quality improvement and innovation. Moreover, TQM hard factors are effective on customer behavior through quality improvement and innovation.

The questionnaire was designed and distributed in order to evaluate the hypotheses in this study. One of the primary rationales behind utilizing this method instead of other methods such as interview was high geographical distribution of organizations. Using other moderator variables such as knowledge management, customer knowledge management and customer emotions can be conducted in the future in this area.

Changing the organizational relationships from task orientation to the process orientation, and controlling the organizational performance by measuring process innovations and improvements, while paying attention to the customer satisfaction system are suggested in this paper. These implications should be implemented in construction projects by department of project management office. Furtheremore, providing different communication for receiving the opinions of the customer and imposing them in the product and service, paying attention to the response system and customer complaint, implementation of this process in the organization, and having a process approach for presenting and developing services are the main subjects in this regard.

Unlike previous studies on this subject, a structural equation model is used for assessing unobservable latent constructs and their related interrelationship in measuring the impact of TQM factors. Focusing on customer behavior which is a broader domain than customer satisfation through continuous improvement of the quality and innovation is another value of this research.

The purpose of this paper is to facilitate further understanding of project complexity by highlighting the factors contributing to project complexity as reported by the practitioners facing the “actuality” of projects.

A qualitative research approach was undertaken by conducting semi‐structured interviews with the primary focus on the aerospace industry. Participants are involved in a variety of project settings, exhibiting different types and levels of complexity.

Analysis of responses highlights “people” issues as the main factor contributing to project complexity and the importance of soft skills in managing complex projects.

The research is based on a limited number of respondents from the aerospace sector. This will be further refined and improved upon by compiling views of additional practitioners involved in multiple aerospace projects.

The main research conclusions are that “hard” project management skills help to organise, plan and manage, and track changes during the course of the project. However, understanding of project complexity and its contributing factors helps practitioners to understand the dynamic, social and complex contexts of projects, thus highlighting the importance of “soft” skills.

This paper proposes the “project complexity triangle – people, product and process”, highlighting their importance as the three major areas contributing to project complexity.

Drawing motivation from the greater exposure to uncertainty and condition changes that affect large projects due to their long lifecycle, this paper aims to investigate how the time factor affects the use of governance mechanisms to pursue the success of these projects.

To pursue its aim, the article applies the dichotomization between the hard and soft mechanisms of project governance to the analysis of a historical case study, whose findings are organized over the short, medium and long periods. The case selected is referred to the peculiar water system, made up of tunnels named “bottini,” that was in use in Siena (Italy) as the old aqueduct. Specifically, the study focuses on the project of expansion of this water system that was realized during the 14th century for the construction of the “Bottino maestro di Fontegaia.”

This article highlights the different relevance that, during the lifecycle of large projects, is assumed by hard and soft governance mechanisms, with the former having main relevance in a short and medium period, and the latter usually emerging in the medium period and, subsequently, playing a growing role for the project success in the long period.

The article contributes to the literature on large projects by providing novel insights about how the time factor impacts the governance of these projects. Furthermore, the case study, with its unique history, highlights the relevance of combining effectively the hard and the soft dimensions of project governance to pursue success.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify the soft skills of construction project management; and second, to investigate the influence of these soft skills on project success factors in the Vietnamese construction industry.

A questionnaire survey was conducted with 108 project management professionals from the Vietnamese construction industry. Partial least square structural equation modelling was employed in data analysis.

Four-dimensional structure of project success factors was confirmed in this study. Results also showed that soft skills of project managers significantly contributed to project success factors and hence the project success.

There may be geographical limitation on the conclusions drawn from the findings. Similarly, the sample size was still small, despite a relatively high response rate. In addition, the majority of the respondents were contractors and clients as other project players were reluctant to respond to the survey.

This study provides an understanding of the relationship between soft skills and project success factors.

Although there have been studies focused on soft skills of project management and project success factors, few have attempted to analyse the effects of these soft skills on critical success factors. Thus, this study adds significantly to the existing research on both project management skills and project success factors.

What matters most for improving work quality and who can make a difference are perennial topics in employee relations research. The literature on work quality provides answers to these with regard to various constructs on a continuum from “soft” to “hard” variables and stakeholders seeking to influence employers who fall short of reasonable expectations with regard to these. A construct of “decent work” with both soft and hard variables was adopted for research and methods which were collaborative and participative with stakeholders in one national context.

The “decent work” construct was operationalised from the literature and refined by collaborative and participative research. Exploring the relative importance of the constituent parts of decent work involved research with a range of stakeholders; employees, employers and advocates. The study involved most prominently low-paid workers, with employers and advocates also engaged through interviews.

Primarily hard “decent work” variables were identified among employees, primarily soft variables among employers and a mix of hard and soft among advocates. There are some common priorities across these stakeholders.

The main implication is that to engage a range of stakeholders requires a combination of soft and hard variables to be included in research and policy development. However, generalisation about what matters most and who makes a difference to work quality is intrinsically limited in context and time. In this research, the extent of employer engagement in the collaboration initiated by advocates and concerned most with the experiences of low-paid workers is a limitation.

What matters most are a set of soft and hard priorities to engage across stakeholders. Pay is an abiding priority among these and the priority most prominent for many advocates seeking to make a difference through influencing low-paying employers to provide a living wage. While the living wage is a significant focus for work quality, it is not in itself sufficient, as other soft and hard variables in the workplace matter as well. Those who can make a difference are the employers falling short of benchmark standards. Influence on these may emerge through decent work knowledge and skills in management and professional development programmes as well as in initiatives advocating wider adoption of the living wage.

Problem areas of work quality, and problem employers, can be influenced by strategies shaping “hard” factors, including legislation. This needs to be complemented and integrated with strategies on “soft” factors, including identifying positive role models on themes of well-being, work–life balance and precarious forms of employment, as well as pay.

The identification of what matters and who can make a difference is based on an original, collaborative, research project, in one national context, offering analytical generalisability about “decent work” and an experience of collaborative research.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the binary character of total quality management (TQM) in food companies and to determine the impact of the two aspects of TQM – the “soft” and “hard” – on the quality management benefits.

A research project was carried out in 90 Greek food companies, using the questionnaire method. Two measurement models have been formulated. The first model includes the TQM philosophical elements and quality tools/techniques, while the second model includes the quality management benefits. Exploratory factor analyses are applied to extract the latent factors. The factors that significantly influence the quality management benefits are determined through multiple linear regression analyses.

The analysis of the models confirms the binary character of TQM (the “soft” and “hard” TQM elements) in food companies and the existence of internal and external quality management benefits. The “soft” TQM elements have a significant direct impact on quality improvement, employee benefits and customer satisfaction. However, the impact of the “hard” TQM elements on the above quality management benefits is not direct but indirect, through their significant correlation with the “soft” TQM elements. Finally, quality improvement is also a significant factor that directly influences employee benefits, customer satisfaction and business performance.

The small size of the sample of the responding food companies, the diversity of these companies and the subjective character of the data collected are limitations that suggest future research recommendations.

Food companies should realize the leading role of the “soft” aspect of TQM and the supporting role of the “hard” aspect in maximizing the quality management benefits and as a consequence in withstanding the current economic downturn.

Focusing on “quality-oriented” food companies that have ample experience in quality and food safety management systems, the present study reveals a significant direct impact of the “soft” TQM elements and an indirect impact of the “hard” TQM elements on the quality management benefits.

By adopting the “hard” and “soft” project management (PM) approaches from the PM-literature, this paper aims to problematize the expected role of client organizations in driving innovation in the transport infrastructure sector.

Addressing a large public client in Sweden, a case study design was initially applied to provide in-depth insights and perspectives of client project managers’ views and experiences of managing projects expected to drive innovation. In this paper, the concepts of “hard” and “soft” are used to discuss empirical findings on challenges associated with adopting a PM-approach for driving innovation in projects. The empirical material consists of interview data, complemented with observations and archival data.

Findings reveal challenges associated with combining hard and soft approaches, frequently demonstrating difficulties in balancing short-term project expectations with the promotion of innovation. In line with the literature, project managers note that there is a need for soft approaches to promote development and drive innovation. Yet, findings reflect a situation in which operational success criteria predominate, whereas soft approaches are not sufficiently used to create the grounds required for fostering innovation.

Insights are provided into how PM-approaches may impact construction innovation in the infrastructure sector, demonstrating a need for further research on the challenges and implications of applying and combining hard and soft PM-approaches.

Barnes’ Iron Triangle was one of the first attempts to evaluate project success based on time, cost and performance, which were portrayed as interdependent dimensions. Over time, these criteria were expanded and especially criteria taking the satisfaction of stakeholder groups into account are becoming more and more popular. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether specific patterns for the selection of project success criteria across various fields of applications emerged which has not been regarded in literature before. Furthermore, the authors seek to identify of additional key factors influencing project success assessment next to the choice of project success criteria.

The paper uses a review of recent literature published in academic journals, in standard references and in widespread project management frameworks (Organisational Competence Baseline, PRINCE2 and PMBoK Guide).

The findings show that Barnes’ ideas are an integral part of all approaches investigated in the study. Additionally, the relevance of the so-called “soft criteria” related to the satisfaction of stakeholder groups, could be substantiated. However, the authors found no indications that patterns for the selection of project success criteria have emerged across various fields of applications. Factors influencing project success assessment are not taken into account in the examined articles in a systematic manner. This motivates for further research in this field.

Access limitations, papers not yet digitally available or the interpretations have an impact on the results.

For appropriate project assessment the sound and well-rounded selection of hard and soft criteria and the consideration that not the field of application, but influencing factors yet to be analysed influence the selection of project success criteria are crucial. Project management professionals should choose the criteria suitable for their projects individually on a project-by-project basis.

This paper reveals that no patterns have so far been developed to assess project success in various fields of application. Furthermore, factors influencing project success assessment are not considered in a systematic manner.

The purpose is to examine the role of TQM in a strategy‐TQM‐performance model. More specifically, it seeks to investigate whether TQM has a driving role in the formation of strategy or has a mediating effect in the strategy‐performance relationship.

A survey was used to collect data. The instrument was assessed for its validity and reliability. Structural equation modelling was employed.

TQM influences strategy formulation process and it is a dynamic resource that contributes to the achievement of a sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, soft TQM has a higher impact than hard TQM on competitive strategy formulation and on performance.

The model developed and tested can be enriching to the TQM, strategic management, and quality management fields. Future research is recommended to use methods other than self‐report questionnaires and to account for certain behavioral factors that can influence the relationships investigated in the study.

The findings provide insights to the need to integrate TQM with the various stages of the strategy formulation process, with an emphasis on the soft elements of TQM, including customer satisfaction, management and leadership, and employee relations.

Despite the remarkable contributions of existent research, there is a lack of substantive research that examines the relationship between the hard and soft components of TQM on one hand and the two types of competitive strategy – differentiation and cost leadership – on the other. This gap is filled by this study.

The purpose of this paper is to present a model in order to select the most appropriate process for business process reengineering (BPR) through evaluation of the degree of change.

Corporations usually work in an environment in which business requirements are subject to continuous inevitable change. Therefore, in order to sustain competitive advantage, the corporations are required to continuously configure their business processes and operations with respect to these changes. This paper presents a model for evaluating change in an organization. By applying this model, one can select appropriate processes for reengineering.

The proposed model was confirmed by consulting with engineering companies and was also implemented in one of them. This model includes five soft and hard dimensions, 19 factors, as well as 44 indicators for measuring the changes. Eventually, the proposed model was carried out in “recruitment” and “performance measurement” processes in a consulting engineering company in the water industry.

The paper shows that by applying the selected best practices in BPR projects, some degrees of changes are imposed upon corporation in which soft factors usually cannot be assimilated to these changes. This condition leads to a high resistance and finally the failure of the changes in corporation.