Achieving Competitive Advantage Through Quality Management

This book examines the ways in which quality management methods, tools, and practices help improve an organization’s performance and achieve sustainable competitive advantages. This volume includes quality techniques and tools such as the EFQM Model, SERVPERF model, E-S-Qual scale and the ISO 9001 certification and provide a wide variety of empirical studies in different economic sectors. In the current economic environment, characterized by economic turmoil and fierce competition, quality management has become a key strategy for organizations to overcome today’s challenges. Organizations benefits from implementing quality management systems by following two approaches. First, they implement quality practices aimed at ensuring customer satisfaction by considering consumer expectations and establishing strategies accordingly. Second, organizations improve processes by establishing efficient and effective process management systems that improve productivity, lower costs, reduce unnecessary expenses, eliminate all non-value added activities, and ultimately maximize excellence and customer satisfaction. Quality management thereby provides tools, techniques, and methods for continuous process improvement in both the professional and academic worlds, which, when implemented by organizations in times of crisis, enable more effective administration of activities undertaken by managers. Containing contributions from various academics and scholars, this new book provides cutting edge research, methods and techniques providing a reference manual for academics, scholars, practitioners and policy-makers.

Quality should be treated as a culture of success in the market. Enterprises focused on quality will survive in the long term in this new environment because quality is what may create a real and robust link between a company and its clients, and these clients should always be considered the heart of any business; without them, there is neither option nor sense to continue any activity in a company. Quality Management for Competitive Advantage in Global Markets is an essential reference source that discusses the importance of quality practices and global market practices. With research that allows practitioners to improve their understanding of the strategic role of quality in the information and knowledge society, it focuses on describing a global economy formed by networks, organizations, teams, workgroups, information systems, and finally, actors in networked environments. Featuring research on topics such as consumer satisfaction, human capital, and quality management, the target audience of this book is composed of professionals and researchers working in the field of information and knowledge management in various disciplines including library, information and communication sciences, administrative sciences and management, education, adult education, sociology, computer science, and information technology. Moreover, the book provides insights and supports executives concerned with the management of expertise, knowledge, information, and organizational development in different types of work communities and environments.

Total quality processes don't always function as they should. That's why many organizations are exploring the benefits of management by policy--a strategic quality planning technique that improves process reliability. Here, the authors give a detailed explanation of how companies can integrate winning management-by-policy principles with the latest quality improvement initiatives. Provides comprehensive examples that help readers become strategic thinkers throughout quality assurance and implementation.

"For starters, today's companies need superior strategic processes and streamlined quality practices. But these are not enough. Competitive Dominance: Beyond Strategic Advantage and Total Quality Management emphasizes the importance of implementing an integrated strategy and quality management system." "Authors Tang and Bauer are leading industry executives who have used strategy and quality to create organizational change, resulting in turnaround and competitive dominance in billion dollar businesses. In this book, they take you through the various stages of strategy and quality practices, explaining how to integrate and implement them." "Tang and Bauer also present 10 principles of competitive dominance that create integration and synchronization between all the stages of strategy and quality. Plus, they recommend an expanded set of tools and methodologies that complement conventional quality and strategy practices and facilitate the implementation of competitive dominance." "Also included is a list of management malpractices to avoid, outlining the 12 worst management practices from the authors' experiences with organizations of many different sizes and from a broad range of industries."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Now beyond its eleventh printing and translated into twelve languages, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations has changed completely our conception of how prosperity is created and sustained in the modern global economy. Porter’s groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America. Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter’s “diamond,” a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of “clusters,” or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy. Even before publication of the book, Porter’s theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured.

About the Book: Quality is key to the competitive advantage in today's business environment. In this book, the term Quality has been interpreted in its broader sense of overall performance of a organization rather than quality of products and services. The value of this book is in the rich experience of the Author in the body of knowledge of quality management, both in the national and international context. He has presented the subject in the way that it can be easily used in the practical situations, which would convince the reader of its applicability in the real world. In addition to traditional theory of TQM, the book also covers the new concepts of quality management developed in the last decade, such as Six-Sigma, Lean Production, CRM, Balanced Score Card and Corporate Social Responsibility. The book provides practical guidance for preparing comprehensive quality improvement plan, which not only covers production of goods and services, but also other departments such as Design, Marketing, Material Management and HR, all of which play an important part in achieving organizational excellence. Implementation of TQM is always a major problem. The book includes an exhaustive self-checklist, which can be used as a barometer for effective implementation. In addition to being a practical guide for the industry managers, it can also be used as a textbook on quality management by Management and Engineering institutes. Contents: Part:-I Product Quality and its Control Creating Quality by Design Quality Control of the Purchased Product Quality Control of Manufacturing Processes Sales and Product Quality Organising Effective Quality Management Economics of Quality The Human Factor in Quality Management of Service Quality Part:-II Concept and Philosophy ISO-9000 Standards The Customer-Focused Organization Leadership and Team Building Lean Production System Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Six-Sigma Corporate Social Responsibility Balanced Score Card Quality Awards Implementation of TQM Part:-III Frequency Distribution Normal Distribution Theory of Probability Control Charts Control Chart of Attributes Theory of Sampling Inspection Standard Sampling Tables Test of Significance Statistical Tolerancing ABC Analysis Value Analysis Defect Diagnosis and Prevention Reliability Design, Evaluation and Control Maintainability 5 'S' Practices Quality Circles.

As firms struggle in the modern era to achieve financial success, many recognize that a global economy has made their task more challenging than ever before. Universal access to the latest information and the ability to duplicate technological capabilities make it difficult for firms to sustain previously existing competitive advantages.Business leaders understand that the challenges that they face require a new and much more behavioral approach to managing their companies than has been successful in the past. In this volume, we address the quest for success in a world where innovation and constant change threaten the status quo.Today's successful leaders recognize the importance of creating organizational cultures that build trust, treat employees as valued partners, and provide those employees with the resources to constantly learn.Emphasizing a value-based and behavioral approach to managing employees, many of the chapters of this book address the importance of a strategic approach that is committed to both organizational excellence and the best interests of a company's employees.Nearly eighty years ago, Chester Barnard emphasized that successful organizations both pursue a worthy purpose that benefits society and strive to satisfy the individual needs of its membership. This volume endorses the importance that successful organizations today are committed to values that inspire others, work for the best interests of the global community, and demonstrate a commitment to constant improvement.The theme of this volume is that competitive advantage can best be achieved by leaders and companies that are constantly learning, looking for more effective and efficient ways to assist customers, and those who are dedicated to innovation and the pursuit of excellence.