Reports on the Thai Foundation Quality System Standard (TFQSS) project which aimed to develop a basic quality management system standard for small Thai manufacturing businesses to assist them in increasing awareness of quality and develop towards the ISO 9000 series standards, without...

In order to provide readers with a better understanding of China’s approach to quality management, this paper presents China’s quality management history, the main quality management efforts adopted by the Chinese government, the product quality situation, and the reasons for product quality...

Total quality management (TQM) for new product development (NPD) implies first, external quality (EQ): a focus on market demands and organizational embedding; second, internal quality (IQ): the efficiency of the primary NPD processes, and third, process quality (PQ): an orientation on...

Since 1987, when the International Organization for Standardization accepted a series of quality norms – the ISO 9000 standards – large companies and small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) have been obliged to open their doors to something new: the culture of quality, a message which is...

Recent studies of quality management systems suggest that all the quality dimensions that are expected within an integrated system are strongly associated with the basic framework set by the formal ISO 9001‐based quality accreditation. However, the paradox of reducing variability through...

The rapid fashion swings in popular management theory puzzle and alarm many observers and users of management theory. New concepts arrive, experience a sudden popularity, then flatten out and are soon forgotten or appear old‐fashioned. This article presents a model of such short time...

Although many suppliers in the automotive industry have obtained quality system requirements, QS‐9000 registration/certification, there does not appear to be a direct link to all operational performance outcomes. As companies improve their quality performance as measured by parts per million,...

Examines different approaches that can be utilised to introduce a Six Sigma Black Belt programme. Compares and contrasts the implementation strategies used in both Motorola and General Electric. Provides information based on a literature review as well as interview evidence from employees in...

Discusses the issue of developing a project design that adequately addresses the practicality of delivering integrated construction knowledge and experience in planning, engineering, procurement and field operations. There are few practical examples in the literature that explain how...

Discusses the effectiveness of construction practices on standardisation based on six case studies developed both in Brazil and in the UK, focusing on the “bricklaying” process. The case studies showed a paradox: construction companies developing written standards but failing to implement...