The future of the organization: the role and contribution of quality

Abstract

Reports the implications for the role and contribution of quality of a five year investigation into corporate approaches to renewal, learning and transformation. Finds that many companies are failing to shift their focus beyond product and process quality into the arena of quality of relationships, working life, learning and thinking and that more holistic and people‐centred approaches are needed. Argues that too many approaches remain excessively mechanical and prescriptive, and their application is limited to individual organizations rather than supply and value chains ‐ they constrain rather than liberate. Advocates the redefinition of quality in terms of ten essential freedoms that should become the basis of a new social contract with stakeholders.

Citation

Coulson‐Thomas, C.J. (1997), "The future of the organization: the role and contribution of quality", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 7 No. 6, pp. 301-306. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604529710186642