Integrating Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and Risk Management in Organisational Change: A Conceptual Framework

Introduction This research addresses the critical fragmentation of Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and Risk Management in dynamic environments. Existing frameworks are inadequate, operating in silos. Integration is vital for continuous improvement and stability. Information Systems/Information Technology enable data-driven monitoring. The study develops a unified conceptual framework informed by Information Systems/Information Technology principles. Research Question The primary research question is: “How can QC, QA, and RM be integrated into a unified framework to support quality and stability during organisational change? ” Method Design Science Research unified fragmented Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and Risk Management for complex organizational change. A Systematic Literature Review confirmed the gap and derived rigorous requirements. The resulting Information Systems/Information Technologyinformed framework was evaluated using a formative, ex ante strategy. This employed a qualitative dual-scenario structured walkthrough with experts in a single Swedish case study. Results The research documents the persistent fragmentation of Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and Risk Management in IS-enabled organizational change, which exacerbates instability. The Systematic Literature Review confirmed this integration gap in standards (e.g., ISO 9001, CMMI). The conceptual artefact integrates these domains using the ControlPoint superclass and introduces the Continuous Quality Loop, adopting the Define – Execute – Monitor – Optimise cycle as a traceable lifecycle model. A qualitative expert evaluation using a dual-scenario approach confirmed a possible conceptual fit and the potential to proactively detect underperformance. However, feedback highlighted the visual architecture as too complex (“administrative overhead”), requiring future AI integration and architectural simplification. Discussion The findings show that the framework indicates high potential validity via the FEDS framework, the inclusion of the study of widely used standards, and seminal works. The Continuous Quality Loop, using the DEMO cycle, in the core of the framework could potentially be a “dynamic control and feedback mechanism”, that could surpass static standards (e.g., CMMI) with integrated governance and real-time escalation (IssueLog). Cross-domain integration (IntegrationPoint) supports the condition in which “every domain is aware of what happens in the others”. Challenges include terminological misalignment. Limitations include restricted generalisability (single-case, conceptual model), preventing Runtime Performance tests. Future research prioritizes simplification and prototyping.