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.

In a modern world with rapidly growing international trade, countries compete less based on the availability of natural resources, geographical advantages, and lower labor costs and more on factors related to firms' ability to enter and compete in new markets. One such factor is the ability to demonstrate the quality and safety of goods and services expected by consumers and confirm compliance with international standards. To assure such compliance, a sound quality infrastructure (QI) ecosystem is essential. Jointly developed by the World Bank Group and the National Metrology Institute of Germany, this guide is designed to help development partners and governments analyze a country's quality infrastructure ecosystems and provide recommendations to design and implement reforms and enhance the capacity of their QI institutions.

Case study research conducted in 1981 in nine US companies and seven Japanese companies.

TQM gurus and consultants market it as the best change initiative that provides organizations with a competitive advantage. They also say that it is a cure for all problems that companies face. This dissertation provides intellectual and factual data showing that this is not always the case. There are areas where TQM provides a needed change initiative along with others. In addition, once most companies treat improving their processes as a priority, TQM ceases to give a competitive advantage since it becomes a basic entry point into the competition. The dissertation gives examples showing that contrary to what the consultants propagate: 1. It is not a panacea for all problems in organizations and that it fits all types of organizations, 2. It is not the only way to give organizations a competitive advantage, and 3. TQM's fit for the services sector is discussed with emphasis on customer satisfaction. Also covered are some limitations of TQM including empowerment, times of paradigm shifts, major process changes, and reward systems.

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.

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: Increasing competition, deregulation, globalisation, and technological advancement continuously create new business realities for organisations in the marketplace. In order to cope with these structural changes, many organisations aim at improving and innovating their business processes within the implementation of a quality management System. In today's competitive environment however, it is not sufficient to implement internally oriented business process improvements. Instead, companies have to concentrate an externally focused process improvements which add value to customers and thus enhance customer relationships. Such customer value driven process improvements help to integrate marketing and operations strategies and thereby provide a significant competitive advantage. A quality management system enables organisations to achieve a competitive edge through customer satisfaction in today's highly competitive domestic and global markets. Customer satisfaction forms an integral part of a quality management system which focuses organisations an meeting or exceeding customer expectations through outstanding product and service performance. The integrative approach of a quality management system motivates everyone in an organisation to serve the customer. Customers include the end user (external customers) as well as all employees within an organisation (internal customers). As a result, external and internal customer expectations and requirements drive business processes. Moreover, quality and customer satisfaction are defined by customers and not by internal specifications. Therefore, an organisation has to focus an adding value to products and Services from the customers' perspective. Achieving customer satisfaction by exceeding customer requirements is a growing concern to organisations throughout the entire business world. Australian companies thus have to meet increasing international competition by providing customers with better quality products and services at lower prices than competitors. In this system, Total Quality Management represents the Overall organisational philosophy of the quality drive. Kaizen is the instrument to achieve a quality culture in an organisation, and Lean Management concentrates an the optimisation of time and cost in business processes, especially in production. A quality management System therefore aims at coordinating organisational improvement programs. This paper aims at identifying [...]

Achieving excellence in the fast changing global scenario of business and world economic structure demands deeper insight into the quality management practices. To survive in this competitive and challenging global business arena one needs to adopt quality management strategies that incorporate the best global practices. An attempt has been made in the present cook to focus on quality aspects and solutions that can enhance global business excellence.

This publication comprises material on recent studies on quality management in agri-food chains. Due to several food crisis’s (e.g. BSE, Foot-and-Mouth disease) and growing demands for food quality and safety, quality management systems and quality assurance schemes have been widely adopted in different countries in recent years. Scientific knowledge about the features, the acceptance and the effectiveness and efficiency of these newly introduced quality management initiatives, has remained scarce until now. The material by experts in the field, focuses on the evaluation of quality management systems and quality assurance schemes. The main issues are the costs and benefits of quality management given the influence of the public sector and consumers' expectations about food quality and safety. Not only are benchmarking and harmonisation methods examined with regard to their impact on the effectiveness of quality assurance schemes, but, also the role of trust, cooperation and integration for efficient quality management is discussed. Different economic theories such as microeconomics, organization and marketing theory as well as advanced statistical methods are applied. Concepts are discussed from the various points of view of industrialised, export-oriented and developing countries throughout the book. The information in this book give a comprehensive review of quality management concepts in food chains and highlight future research directions from a global perspective. This book is of interest to all those who concern themselves with the topic, be it in academia or in the professional sector.

This book discusses the concepts of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) that are the core of various paradigms used in strategic management to understand competitive advantage as well as flexibility in organizational boundaries. It serves as a valuable reference resource in the area of VUCA markets. An increase in the levels and types of uncertainty has important implications potentially for the durability of a company’s advantages, the way firms learn and adapt, approaches for managing innovation and knowledge, and the attractiveness of different strategies and organizational models. In today’s world, strategic flexibility in VUCA is essential for business leaders to sustain market advantage and attain a clear vision amid the chaos. Business leaders who stay focused and are aware of external volatility as the prevalent characteristic are successful, while those who are not flexible in this VUCA world and lock themselves into fixed positions lose out. The book includes empirical and conceptual research papers along with case studies and models discussing strategies for emerging markets in volatile and uncertain environments. It also covers a variety of issues, including innovation, people and processes, financial management, and leadership and strategies in VUCA markets. Apart from research fraternity and academia, the contents of the book will be useful for practitioners as well as industry watchers.