The impact of visionary leadership on product quality from the perspective of quality assurance managers in small and medium-sized companies: the mediating role of continual improvement

Purpose A review of relevant literature supported the need to examine the nature of the relationships (if any) between visionary leadership, continual improvement and product quality. This study examined the relationship between visionary leadership and product quality and investigated the mediating role of continual improvement in the relationship between visionary leadership and product quality. Design/methodology/approach Visionary leadership, continual improvement and product quality were measured through a questionnaire developed based on a theoretical framework derived from the literature and distributed to quality assurance managers in small and medium-sized companies in the engineering, electrical and information technology sectors in Jordan. Findings The results indicated that the levels of visionary leadership, continual improvement and product quality are good and more from the perspective of quality assurance managers in these companies. The results also indicated that there is a positive, statistically significant relationship between visionary leadership and continual improvement and between continual improvement and product quality. Moreover, the results indicated that the relationship between visionary leadership and product quality is partially mediated by continual improvement. This indicates that there is a direct, positive and statistically significant relationship between visionary leadership and product quality. Originality/value To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that examined the relationship between visionary leadership, continual improvement and product quality and investigated the mediating role of continual improvement in the relationship between visionary leadership and product quality. This study concluded that visionary leadership is the driver of all improvement initiatives and activities, which in turn improve the final products. The study contributes to the literature by revealing that visionary leadership leads to continual improvement and thus product quality, supporting the sequential relationship between them. Accordingly, the study provides useful theoretical insights and practical implications.