The competition for quality in the audit society

Total quality management is both an aspirational and an inspirational concept with elements of the philosophical, quasi religious and qualitative juxtaposed with the empirical and quantified. In the audit society there are many voices clamouring for recognition and acclaim. With the possibility that we are being over‐audited, and the ambiguity of evaluative reports on the various competing contenders, the time ahead will be both challenging and interesting.