Inter‐functional spread of quality in manufacturing

Very little is known of the pattern of spread of quality initiatives and their implementation amongst various functional areas in manufacturing organisations. The knowledge of the actual pattern would have a number of managerial implications with regard to the future quality improvement policies. This paper explains the significance of even (or uneven) spread of quality initiatives amongst functional areas. Evidence is presented to establish that the actual spread, in fact, has been uneven across functional areas in manufacturing organisations – maximum spread in the production area and much less in the other functional areas. The paper discusses the future implications of the observed trends to corporate performance.