Process reliability as an effect of variability reduction: the role of quality and organisational culture

Abstract

The aim of this article is to identify the relationships between quality
management, organisational culture maturity, and process reliability, as well as to
determine their significance for the economic efficiency of companies in the raw
materials sector. It is assumed that economic efficiency results from process stability,
which is conditioned by an organisation’s ability to reduce operational variability.
The study is based on an integrative approach combining the process perspective,
quality management, and organisational culture theory. The research is qualitative
in nature and includes a structured literature review (Scopus, 2016–2026) and an
analysis of annual reports of companies from the mining and energy sectors. The re-
sults indicate that quality management serves as a mechanism for reducing process
variability, the effectiveness of which depends on the maturity of the organisational
culture. Organisational culture influences data quality, deviation reporting, and the
organisation’s ability to learn. At the same time, the development of the Quality 4.0
concept confirms that digital tools require stable processes and a mature organisa-
tional context. As a result, a relationship model is proposed in which the maturity of
the organisational culture determines the effectiveness of the quality management,
leading to reduced variability, increased process reliability, and improved predicta-
bility and economic efficiency. The contribution of the article lies in integrating three
perspectives that are often considered separately – quality, organisational culture,
and process reliability – by embedding them in the context of extraction processes
and the challenges of sectoral transformation.