From Quality to Business Excellence: A Systems Approach to Management

Book Abstract

A new approach to Quality Management is emerging. Many companies are calling it “Business Excellence” because the word “quality” typically has a narrower connotation associated with the quality of products and services the company delivers to its customers. Businesses that have successfully implemented a business excellence strategy have made quality an integral part of the way the business is designed. It goes beyond the quality of products and services and takes on a broader meaning of maximizing the effectiveness of the business in meeting or exceeding customer value expectations and using continuous improvement to drive business results. It is the total quality of how the business operates as a system.

This is not another management fad; in fact, one of the biggest obstacles to successful implementation is overcoming the tendency of many companies to latch on to the next management fad or to implement quality standards and improvement methodologies as a “program”. A fundamental shift in thinking is needed to break out of the “program de jour” management trap that’s been so popular in the past to successfully implement a business excellence strategy.

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