TQM: why it will again become a top management issue

Although total quality management might be defined as a passing fad there are three key reasons why it will remain (or return as) an important issue on the agenda for top management. First, there is growing pressure because of the use of the Internet to create excellence at the operational level, combined with the fact that it has been shown in the past that a level of excellence in the operational processes can never be reached without support from top management. Second, there is a trend towards stronger demand for improved measures of the performance of companies and total quality management has a role to play in relation to this. Third, there is an increasing number of networked organisations, and we will show that total quality management again is a major factor in this trend. Each of these three scenarios reinforces the importance of total quality management for top management and most companies will be touched by these scenarios.