Browsing by Author "Marimon, F."
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- Assessing a quality model for the social sector: an empirical study of the EQUASS modelPublication . Melão, Nuno; Bastida, R.; Marimon, F.Although the recent publication of a few scholarly papers has contributed to shorten the research-practice gap, there is still a shortage of empirical studies on quality management (QM) in the social sector. In particular, the study of the causal relationships incorporated in quality models that are specifically tailored to this sector remains to be examined. This research addresses this gap by (i) empirically analysing the fitness of the model underlying European Quality in Social Services (EQUASS), a QM and excellence programme for European social services, and (ii) proposing a model with an improved fit. It uses a structural equation modelling approach on a sample of 339 external audits from 32 European organisations that were awarded an EQUASS recognition or certification between 2012 and 2015. Results reveal that the EQUASS model (2012 version) does not fit with the sample collected. An improved model with seven constructs is proposed, which shows 2 excellent psychometric properties and good fit indexes. This research provides a better understanding of the causal relationships between QM practices embedded in the EQUASS model, along with a simpler alternative model that is especially suited to small and mediumsized providers, which represent the majority of the organisations in the social sector.
- Motivations and benefits of quality management systems in social services: mediation of the implementation processPublication . Marimon, F.; Melão, Nuno; Bastida, R.Recent times have seen many social service organisations (SSOs) implementing quality management systems based on certifiable standards. However, little is known about the benefits of such systems, as well as to what factors influence them. To investigate this issue, the aim of this study is threefold: to analyse the composition of the benefits that SSOs may achieve with the implementation of the European Quality in Social Services (EQUASS) standard; to analyse the impact of both internal and external motivations on the benefits of the EQUASS standard; and to analyse the mediation of the implementation process of the standard between the motivations and the benefits. A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect data from 196 European SSOs. Data were analysed via factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Results show that the benefits are multidimensional, consisting of society, customer, operational, employee, and economic domains. Other findings reveal that internal and external motivations positively affect overall benefits, internal motivations positively affect the implementation process, and the implementation process positively influences overall benefits. The key insight is that internal motivations have a direct positive influence on overall benefits and an indirect positive influence through the mediation of the implementation process. Managerial and research implications of these findings are discussed.