While research on the relationship between quality management practices and inter-organizational project performance has found inconsistent results, few studies have considered the contextual factors of quality management practices. Inter-organizational projects involve external participants in quality management and thus, this study tested the moderating role of governance mechanisms (contract governance and trust) on the relationship between quality management practices and inter-organizational project performance. Results of 265 valid questionnaires from China indicated that quality management practices contribute to inter-organizational project performance. Contract governance magnifies the positive effect of quality management practices on inter-organizational project performance while the moderating effect of trust is insignificant. The moderating effect of contract governance indicates a means for strengthening the effect of quality management practices in inter-organizational projects. Further research on more contextual factors of quality management practices should be conducted.

Introduction

Inter-organizational projects have become increasingly important as more organizations seek flexible ways to handle the rapidly changing market environments (Kenis et al., 2009; Bakker et al., 2011). The importance of inter-organizational projects leads to a result that quality management often requires the involvement of outside participants (Hong et al., 2019). Quality management practices refer to any activity aimed at achieving and maintaining high-quality results (Flynn et al., 1994). All participants involved should exert efforts to implement better quality management practices (Sun et al., 2009). Managers in inter-organizational projects have to integrate their quality management practices with external organizations to gain a competitive advantage (Kosmol et al., 2018). Some scholars have focused on the effect of quality management practices on inter-organizational project performance (Hoonakker et al., 2010; Sullivan, 2011; Hong et al., 2019). Prior research has found mixed results. Several studies found that quality management practices have considerable positive effect on inter-organizational project performance (Hoonakker et al., 2010; Panuwatwanich and Nguyen, 2017). However, other studies obtained different results and found that the effect of quality management practices on interorganizational project performance is insignificant (Haupt and Whiteman, 2004; Tang et al., 2009; Sullivan, 2011).