THE ROLE OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: A CROSSCULTURAL STUDY

This paper aims at presenting the concept of customer satisfaction in the context of activities focused on quality management in the food industry enterprises in Poland and in the USA. The studies were conducted in food industry enterprises that possessed quality systems, certified according to ISO 9001:2000 standard. Author-investigated assessment of enterprises’ activities in the area of customer satisfaction management indicate that American and Polish companies have similar perceptions of issues associated with measuring customer satisfaction. However, American companies have more knowledge of the theoretical concept of customer satisfaction, therefore they possess a greater understanding of the implications of customer satisfaction research.