Abstract
Emerging trends such as globalisation, customer power and sophistication, social responsibility and environmental sustainability consciousness are creating new business challenges and market demands for organisations. In order for the business world to realise growth and sustainable success in this environment, many organisations changed the strategy they followed in the last three decades. The new strategies moved from being predominately product-focused, using process management and cost reduction, which used to be core functions to quality management, to more risk mitigation, revenue generation and reputational focused drivers. Hence, in the last twenty years the world of business has changed significantly, whereas the field of quality has not correspondingly changed in thinking or form. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the supposition that quality has become out-dated over the last two decades. This paper will focus on the change that quality management as a discipline should undertake by proposing a quality stewardship and leadership (QSAL) framework for managing quality, under a new definition, namely, quality stewardship, into the future. In addition, this study will also include an empirical study which was undertaken to evaluate the support for the proposed framework. Key words: Globalisation, quality management, social responsibility, environmental sustainability, quality stewardship.
Highlights
The common forming principles of quality in the past have always been ensuring that organisation remains competitive and demonstrates its „pursuit for excellence‟ (Kanji, 2007; Zairi, 2006; Schniederjans et al, 2006; Jabnoun and Sedrani, 2005).The Conference Board of Quality Council advocates that in the last twenty years the world of business has changed significantly based on emerging trends such as globalisation, customer power and sophistication, social responsibility and environmental sustainability consciousness (Gutner and Adams, 2009)
This paper will focus on the change that quality management as a discipline should undertake by proposing a quality stewardship and leadership (QSAL) framework for managing quality, under a new definition, namely, quality stewardship, into the future
Less than half (43%) responded that quality professionals are included in their organisation‟s social responsibility efforts (ASQ and Manpower Professional, 2011)
Summary
The Conference Board of Quality Council advocates that in the last twenty years the world of business has changed significantly based on emerging trends such as globalisation, customer power and sophistication, social responsibility and environmental sustainability consciousness (Gutner and Adams, 2009). Whilst the changes in the business world were taking place, the field of quality management did not correspondingly change in thinking or form. Quality and business priorities drifted apart causing the outputs for quality to become more obscured, resulting in enormous uncertainty in this profession. It fuelled insecurity amongst many quality professionals and reduced the number of young professionals embracing this discipline (Wood, 2008). The current perception is that the theory and practices of quality have become non-progressive, confused and out-dated
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