Cultural Configurations and Quality Management Maturity in the Public Sector

Abstract

Public sector organizations increasingly rely on standardized Total Quality Management (TQM) models, yet they reach different levels of quality management maturity. Even when organizations adopt the same models and follow identical guidelines, only some succeed in embedding quality principles into everyday practices and achieving externally recognized excellence. Prior research highlights the importance of organizational culture for the implementation of TQM, but little is known about how different cultural dimensions combine to shape quality management outcomes in public sector settings. Despite the widespread diffusion of public-sector excellence models such as the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), little is known about which cultural characteristics enable public organizations to move toward substantive excellence. Accordingly, this study addresses two research questions: (1) which configurations of organizational culture are associated with quality management maturity in public sector organizations, and (2) how administrative traditions relate to these configurations. The analysis draws on survey data collected from public sector organizations. Organizational culture is operationalized using the Competing Values Framework, while quality management maturity is measured through externally assessed CAF-based indicators. Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) is employed to capture configurational complexity. The findings show that no stable or generalizable configurational pathway can be identified for the presence of high-quality management maturity. Cultural configurations characterized by strong profiles across multiple dimensions are widespread but do not consistently distinguish between cases with higher and lower outcome levels. In contrast, the analysis of the negated outcome reveals a coherent and robust structure, with configurations centered on low rational culture consistently associated with lower levels of maturity. These patterns are stable across alternative model specifications and are not confined to specific administrative contexts.