Despite US government policymakers′ hopes for a return to US predominance in the marketplace, manufacturers face the fact that the Japanese manufacturing superiority is largely due to better quality, cost‐effective operations, and rapid response to customers. A few explanations for the US...

Important evaluation criteria as they are perceived by quality managers in American and US‐based Japanese firms are examined. For this study, three different groups of companies contained within four industries were considered. They included American firms using a traditional approach to...

The Quality Circle programme is used increasingly in all sectors of the US economy. The need is for investigative empirical research into the variables influencing participation in Quality Circles. A study at a major US aerospace company is described in which the major influences turn out to be...

An industry‐wide analysis of quality management methods was conducted in the chain saw industry. It was found that all other firms have within the past five years followed the industry leader in implementing statistical quality control, vendor management and reliability engineering. The study...

A continuous reorientation towards quality by US firms should be facilitated by the infusion of business and engineering school graduates having a solid conceptual foundation of quality and quality management. Examines a sample of the textbooks used in the standard under‐graduate course in...

The conventional wisdom of managers in the US dictates that improving product quality will increase the cost of making the product which will either increase the price or reduce the profits. Shows that improving the quality of a product or service will not necessarily increase its manufacturing...

Most quality professionals recommend a core set of attributes as the nucleus of any quality improvement process. These attributes include: (1) clarifying job expectations; (2) setting quality standards; (3) measuring quality improvement; (4) effective super‐vision; (5) listening by management;...

Since 1987, 17 businesses have won the US Baldrige Quality Award, established to promote awareness of quality management among US businesses. Assesses the financial and competitive performances of these 17 companies. Previous research with respect to the quality‐performance relationship has...