The leading edge in strategic QFD

Introduced to the West from Japan, Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a powerful approach to customer‐focused product development. In recent years, many practitioners and academics have recognized the potential of these methods and applied them to strategic formulation and decision making as well. Earlier reviews of the documented accounts of QFD‐based approaches to strategy have been presented at the 7th International Symposium on QFD in Tokyo in 2001, and at the 8th International Symposium on QFD in Munich in 2002. This paper updates these reviews, identifying the parallels and contrasts evident in these cases with the techniques of hoshin kanri (also known as policy deployment). The paper then briefly describes a case study of the application of a comprehensive QFD‐based methodology. Leveraging these insights, the paper seeks to address the future direction of the development of this promising field of strategic methodology.