Abstract This article departs from Mintzberg’s framework in which five different organisational
configurations are defined. The purpose of the study has been to identify and describe the
differences between organisations of different configurations to determine the way that quality
management is used and the effects that are produced. The research population comprised the
members of the Swedish Association for Quality. A questionnaire was mailed to 500 members.
The questions concerned the values, models and techniques of quality management as well as the
outcomes and the difficulties in using these models and techniques. The results show that the
differences between the configurations are limited. Two of the more important differences are that
systematic quality management is less used in the adhocracy configuration and that the effect of
increased participation is more seldom seen in the professional bureaucracy configuration. On a
general basis, it is also noted that the use of quality models and tools is rather infrequent and the
value of committed leadership is highlighted.t