Perspectives on the American quality movement

Uses a rich academic and professional literature to demonstrate that the rise and plateau of the US quality movement was the outcome of a complex senior management decision process that extended well beyond the problem of closing a quality gap between US and Japanese competitors. Firms in many industries adopted quality programs to solve simultaneously several problems more serious than quality. The managers of these same firms later revised their strategic agendas by replacing quality with new programs that addressed emerging problems that demanded their attention and resources. The conclusions of this research will help senior managers in many countries to decide whether to commit resources to support new managerial movements, and if so, to determine when to commit these resources.