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Total Quality Management & Business Excellence

ISSN: 1478-3363 (Print) 1478-3371 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ctqm20

The role of quality managers in contemporary


organisations

Mattias Elg , Ida Gremyr , Andreas Hellstrm & Lars Witell

To cite this article: Mattias Elg , Ida Gremyr , Andreas Hellstrm & Lars Witell (2011) The role
of quality managers in contemporary organisations, Total Quality Management & Business
Excellence, 22:8, 795-806, DOI: 10.1080/14783363.2011.593899

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2011.593899

Published online: 06 Sep 2011.

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Total Quality Management
Vol. 22, No. 8, August 2011, 795 806

The role of quality managers in contemporary organisations


Mattias Elga , Ida Gremyrb, Andreas Hellstromb and Lars Witella,c
a
Quality Technology and Management, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden; bDivision of
Quality Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden; cCTF Service
Research Center, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

A key question for firms nowadays is how to organise work with quality management.
This naturally includes the role of the quality managers and it appears as if the
profession of quality managers is at a crossroads. Alternatives are that the role of a
quality manager broadens to include quality at a strategic level in the firm and that
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Six Sigma specialists and Lean Production managers drive the development of
quality management in the future. In this paper, we present the results from a survey
of 212 quality managers in Swedish organisations. The purpose is to contribute to an
understanding of how the management of quality is designed and practised in
contemporary organisations. This study shows that a quality managers operational
responsibility is quite narrowly defined. The agenda of the quality manager is
mainly related to quality standards, such as ISO 9000 and environmental
management systems. These programmes frame the work of the quality manager,
which in many cases leaves other programmes, such as Six Sigma and Lean
Production, to other departments or parallel improvement structures.
Keywords: quality managers; quality management; ISO; Six Sigma; Lean Production

1. Introduction
It is generally agreed that present-day organisations compete in an economy in which there
are both great business opportunities and great turmoil. In these conditions, quality has
become an important aspect of competitiveness. The key question for firms is not
whether they should adopt and work with quality issues but how quality management
should be implemented and continuously organised (Sousa & Voss, 2002; Waddell &
Mallen, 2001). Since the seminal work of Edward Deming, Joseph Juran, Philip Crosby
and Kauro Ishikawa generally considered to be the founders of quality management, the
field has developed from its initial hype and enthusiasm to a mature and accepted field
of study (Sousa & Voss, 2001). Following more than two decades of research in the
field of quality management, there is now general agreement about what quality manage-
ment is and what can be classified under the umbrella of quality management (Dahlgaard,
Kristensen, & Kanji, 1998; Dean & Bowen, 1994). One conceptual definition that high-
lights the essence of quality management states that quality management is a philosophy
or an approach to management that can be characterized by its principles, practices and
techniques (Dean & Bowen, 1994, p. 394).
In contrast to the degree of agreement about how quality management can be viewed,
there have been far fewer empirical studies about how the management of quality should,
or can, be put into practice within organisations. While the quality management literature


Corresponding author. Email: mattias.elg@liu.se

ISSN 1478-3363 print/ISSN 1478-3371 online


# 2011 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/14783363.2011.593899
http://www.informaworld.com
796 M. Elg et al.

frequently argues that quality should be the responsibility of management (Hackman &
Wageman, 1995), the question remains as to how this responsibility should be organised
and executed and what the role of a quality manager is. What is on the agenda of a quality
manager in a contemporary organisation?
A central assumption in this paper is that attention should shift to the actual practice of
quality management. The emerging field of studying management as a practice is an
example of this practice turn in management research. This turn has been highlighted
in, for example, a special issue of the British Journal of Management (2001, 12,
Special issue) and in the Academy of Management Journal (2004, 44(2)); in which, it
has been argued that if academic research is to play a significant role and have real influ-
ence, it must address issues that are relevant to practitioners. Starkey and Madan (2001)
dealt with this neglect in their discussion of the the relevance gap between management
research and management practice.
The present study aims to contribute to an understanding of how the management of
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quality should be designed and practised with respect to business operations. Various
quality programmes, such as quality circles, ISO 9000, TQM, Benchmarking and Six
Sigma, have been practised over time in order to enhance organisational performance.
These practices have also been the focus for explaining the failures of quality manage-
ment. As Sandholm (2005) noted, quality professionals tend to advocate various
methods rather than focusing on the business outcomes and central quality problems
at hand. The current study was designed to explore the landscape of the quality
manager. What types of roles are performed? What types of programmes and activities
are practised and what are the characteristics of a quality manager? A survey was
designed and 212 responses were received from quality managers at Swedish organis-
ations (response rate 32%). The results indicate that companies adopt a wide range of
quality initiatives and that a quality manager can have a number of roles in a contem-
porary organisation but that the operational responsibility of a quality manager is quite
narrowly defined.

2. Previous research
The practice of quality management has undergone several important changes over the
years. Shewhart (1931, 1939) shifted the perspective from checking the quality of an
already produced product to quality control of the production process. Quality issues even-
tually became included much earlier in the process and became an important dimension of
product development (Lengnick-Hall, 1996). This development has also been favourable
to a view of quality management as an integrated part of many companies operations, and
it is now an important management matter that has strategic relevance (Sousa & Voss,
2002). The development of the service sector and the evident expansion of quality
issues in the public sector have also contributed to the field of quality management
being widened.
The literature on quality as a profession and the corresponding role of the quality
manager is somewhat contradictory. Chen, Paetsch, and Paulraj (1997, p. 400) stated
that The quality manager, one of the most important people in the management of
quality, is required to have a wide range of knowledge not only in his own field, but
also in related fields like manufacturing or design and still other less related fields such
as marketing, purchasing and logistics. On the other hand, studies of the tasks and respon-
sibilities of other managers within an organisation have highlighted the inclusion of
quality issues as an important element. However, it remains an issue that is integrated
Total Quality Management 797

in other roles rather than being assigned to a dedicated quality manager (Ritter, Sohal, &
DNetto, 1998).
Tension also exists between broadening the quality field to include related fields and
narrowing the main focus for quality professionals (Chen et al., 1997). Examples of a
broadened view of the responsibilities of quality managers are a greater focus on training
or coaching roles in general and involvement in change programmes (Larson, 1998;
Silverman & Propst, 1996). In contrast, the Six Sigma movement and the role structure
of improvement specialists, referred to as champions, master black belts, etc., with exten-
sive training in statistical tools (Lindeman, Shroeder, Zaheer, & Choo, 2003) have brought
about one example of a trend towards specialising the quality profession.
Watkins (2006) argued that the quality management profession has been overly
engaged in defensive quality practices, a view that is linked to the reduction of waste
and variability in processes by using quality management systems. Instead, the quality
profession should morph into the overall business management system. Its role should
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be to develop, implement, assess and improve this system.


In response to the July 1996 special issue of Quality Progress regarding the future of
the quality profession, many opinions were expressed about the future role of quality
professionals (Stratton, 1996). Some authors felt that making quality the responsibility
of everyone would foreshadow a natural extinction of quality professionals, while
others expected a broadened role with a greater focus on leadership skills and internal con-
sulting roles. Wadell and Mallen (2001), who viewed present-day quality management as a
general notion of organisational effectiveness, presented four alternatives for the future of
quality management, all of which would profoundly affect the role of quality managers.
The first alternative was to continue working on quality principles and associated tools;
the second was to outsource the quality department, thereby creating a mobile profession
of quality consultants. The third alternative was that quality management might be an inte-
grated part of business management, and finally, quality management could simply be a
fad that would evolve into a similar philosophy under another name. In contrast, Chen
et al. (1997) concluded from a research study that the main focus of a quality manager
must be the quality field. One main reason for this was that quality managers must
ensure that companies have in-depth knowledge about the tools and techniques necessary
to manage and control quality.
Sandholm (2005) argued that the view of quality management as a profession is
lacking, which has contributed to quality managers being selected based on their person-
ality rather than on their knowledge within the field of quality management. The present
study has not identified any empirical studies related to the necessary attributes and knowl-
edge skills of a quality manager. However, in a study on manufacturing managers, Ritter
et al. (1998) noted that a modern manager requires a strong academic background to
understand and implement leading manufacturing and management techniques, good
interpersonal skills and a high level of energy and drive. In summary, an outstanding
manufacturing manager must be proactive and should focus on long-term results.
Craig and Lemon (2008) discussed the reasons for quality management systems failing
in Poland and China. They concluded that poor communication and socio-cultural group-
ings have resulted in a senior management culture that does not support quality practice.
Balding (2005) discussed the supporting structure as an important requirement for creating
sustainability in quality improvement initiatives. She argued that the prognosis for
sustainability and mainstreaming of a quality programme is positive as long as senior
management continues to support middle management in their ownership of the quality
programme. Wilson (2000) stressed the role that quality managers play in healthcare
798 M. Elg et al.

organisations: In the absence of a trained quality manager and a focused, coordinated


effort, any efforts towards effective quality management are doomed to fail. Hospital
managers and doctors in particular must understand that well-trained and qualified
medical staff with the best will in the world cannot ensure quality and safety without
sophisticated suppor.
As the literature review shows, the role of the quality manager is challenged by different
demands. In certain organisations, the quality manager is of central importance, whereas
quality is the responsibility of everyone in other organisations. In some cases, the quality
manager is in a specialist position, while in other cases, quality managers need to be
generalists. These opposing demands on a quality manager indicate that the future of
quality management as a profession is unclear and that there is a need for greater knowledge
about the role of quality managers in contemporary organisations. To sum up, the literature
review shows that several aspects must be considered. First, there is the question if quality is
everyones responsibility or if quality should be a function within the organisation. These
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two ways are fundamentally different and provide the firm with totally different roles for
the quality manager. Second, different quality programmes generate very different roles
for the quality manager. For instance, involvement in ISO 9000 work differs a lot from
engagement in Lean Production activities. Third, the scope of responsibility can generate
a profession that involves quality in a narrow sense or becomes integrated into overall
business management. Fourth, and related to the previously mentioned aspects, is
whether a quality manager should specialise in technological aspects or have general
knowledge about a firms various quality initiatives. Lastly, the formal and informal
networks within and outside the organisation should be considered.

3. Method
In order to learn more about the role of quality managers, a survey was conducted of a
sample of Swedish organisations. The research methodology, the sample and the develop-
ment of the questionnaire are described below.

3.1 The sample


The questionnaire was distributed to 800 Swedish quality managers identified through a
database (PAR) via a web-based survey. Of the 800 emails sent out, 134 did not reach
their intended respondents. The percentage of surveys that did not reach the intended
respondents is similar to that of other recent surveys that used mail questionnaires
(Baker & Sinkula, 2005). Following two email reminders, a total of 212 quality managers
completed the questionnaire, which represents an effective response rate of 32%. In order
to detect possible problems with non-response bias (time trend), t-tests were applied to
early and late respondents (Armstrong & Overton, 1977), but these tests did not indicate
any statistically significant differences.
The sample included a range of manufacturing industries such as mechanical engineer-
ing, mechanical equipment, electronic and optical equipment and plastics. The service
firms included organisations that specialise in consulting, real estate and educational ser-
vices. The number of employees in the organisations represented in the study ranged from
less than 10 up to 44,000, with an average of 664. Around 20% of the 211 respondents
represented pure service providers and approximately 80% represented manufacturing
companies. Seventy-four per cent of the organisations compete on a business-to-business
market, 11% on the consumer market and 15% sell to both companies and consumers.
Total Quality Management 799

3.2 Developing the questionnaire


The questionnaire was developed with the intention of capturing respondents practical
experiences about quality management and their opinions on the role of quality man-
agers. The final questionnaire consisted of 28 questions that were generated based on
a literature review, discussions with experienced professionals and scholars within
quality management, and reviews of previous survey research, such as Burcher, Lee,
and Wadell (2008), Gustafsson, Nilsson, and Johnson (2003) and Stewart and
Waddell (2003).
Precautions were taken to ensure the validity of the research. In order to reduce the
possibility of non-random error effects, practitioners with extensive quality management
experience reviewed the questionnaire. Special attention was paid to ensuring that the
questions and vocabulary would not be misinterpreted, that the intended aspects were
measured and that the most relevant aspects for quality managers were included. Appro-
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priate adjustments were then made in order to achieve relevant questions with an adequate
vocabulary. The final questionnaire consisted of 28 questions that covered both the quality
manager as an individual and the organisational context. Issues related to quality managers
covered titles, areas of responsibility, experience and educational background and the
role of the manager. Issues related to the organisational context regarded the way in
which quality work was organised and which quality programmes were included in the
responsibilities of the quality department.
The analysis is based on descriptive statistics of the questions in the empirical inves-
tigation of quality managers.

4. Results
4.1 The quality manager
A wide range of titles capture the work of the respondents in the survey, including quality
manager, quality coordinator, business development manager and manager of the quality
management system. For the sake of simplicity, all respondents will be referred to in this
paper as quality managers.
A typical quality manager (as derived from the mean values in the survey) is 47 years
old and has worked in his or her organisation for approximately 14 years. Of the 211
respondents, 155 were men (73.5%) and 56 were women (26.5%). A majority of the
quality managers received their education in the quality area from self-study and internal
education in their current organisations. Approximately one-third of the respondents had
taken quality-related courses at the university level. In terms of their career paths, many of
the quality managers are specialists, as their earlier positions have also been related to
quality management. The second most common area of previous work experience is in
the production area, while a few respondents reported having a background in the
product development area.

4.2 Quality managers position in the organisation


In 48% of cases, the quality manager is responsible for a specific organisational unit for
quality management. Responsibility for quality is decentralised to various organisational
units throughout the firm in 37% of the studied organisations, and in 7% of the organis-
ations, quality work is mainly conducted in projects. Four per cent said that quality is
not organised in a specific department but is controlled and managed at other organis-
ational units. It should also be noted that quality work is co-located with another business
800 M. Elg et al.

function in 50% of the firms. In these cases, responsibilities for environmental issues and
quality management are usually organised together.
The quality manager is included in the senior management team in more than 77%
of the companies. In 20% of the companies, the quality managers are part of the man-
agement team that is one hierarchical level below the senior management team, and in
the rest of the organisations, the quality manager has a lower degree of responsibility.
In those cases, the quality manager often has a title such as a quality administrator or
quality secretary.

4.3 The various roles of a quality manager


The role of a quality manager seems to vary between organisations, and the quality
managers view of themselves is equally varied (Figure 1). Respondents most commonly
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expressed that a quality manager is an expert who supports others in quality matters.
Around one-third viewed themselves as internal consultants. Furthermore, just over
one-fifth said that they act as an analyst, educator/trainer and developer of methods. A
less common view is that of being a strategist.
Similarly, the role of the quality department or its equivalent is viewed as leading and
supporting improvement work and being available as experts on specific tools. However, it
also includes more operative functions such as improving product quality and representing
the voice of the customer in the organisation.

4.4 Main focus of the quality departments work


According to the respondents, terms that capture the main focus of the quality department
include standardisation, cost focus, product management, customer focus, competence
development and involvement of everyone in the improvement work (Figure 2). For
quality managers, the key terms that best describe the quality work are customer focus
and the involvement of everyone. The most important focus area of the quality department
is the customer (8.1 on a scale from 1 (do not agree) to 10 (fully agree)).
The main quality concept applied by quality departments is related to ISO 9000 or
other quality management systems (Table 1). Quality and environmental standards are
the most important quality concepts, while Six Sigma and quality awards are not

Figure 1. The various roles of the quality manager.


Total Quality Management 801
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Figure 2. Main focus of the quality department.

Table 1. The importance of various concepts for the quality department.


Concept Mean Standard deviation
ISO 9000 or other quality standards 9.2 2.0
Environmental management systems 7.2 3.7
Lean Production 4.0 3.3
Six Sigma 2.5 2.4
Corporate social responsibility 2.4 2.6
Quality awards 1.5 1.7

considered to be especially important for quality managers. Interestingly, quality awards


score very low, indicating that this is not a widespread means of improving quality in
contemporary Swedish organisations. Moreover, corporate social responsibility is more
important than quality awards and is roughly as important as Six Sigma. The results for
environmental management systems indicate significant variations between organisations.
This is partially related to the fact that respondents reported either high importance or low
importance. It seems to be dependent on whether quality management and environmental
issues are under the responsibility of the same department. Regarding the variation
between organisations in terms of Lean Production usage, 38% of the respondents
stated that they did not work at all with Lean Production.
802 M. Elg et al.

5. Analysis
The present study is in agreement with Sousa and Voss (2002) that while quality manage-
ment is an area of research and practice that is here to stay, the expression of it in practice
varies both over time and between different organisations. Although the image of the
quality manager discussed herein reflects a Swedish context, it is also the basis for a
general discussion about the role of quality managers in light of previous research and a
forecast of the future of the profession.

5.1 Internal routines, processes and audits


The day-to-day work in a quality department seems to focus on internal routines and pro-
cesses and audits of operations. Obviously, there may well be a variation in terms of the
work of organisations in areas as general as internal processes; indications about the
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execution of this work are found by looking at the applied concepts (Table 1). In addition
to this work, however, the quality department is an environment in which knowledge about
new tools and techniques enters the organisation and is spread to other departments with
the assistance of experts from the quality department. The latter is reflected in the quality
managers views of themselves as expert support and internal consultants (Figure 1).
As revealed in our literature review, previous research is of the opinion that the profession
of quality managers is unclear or, in some cases, not even a profession at all (Sandholm, 2005).
Moreover, Wadell and Mallen (2001) summarised the future of quality profession as either a
profession with no future role in functional management or, in contrast, a profession with a
central role in contributing to organisations competitiveness. As a proponent of the latter
view, Stratton (1996) predicted that the future role of quality managers would be as change
agents focusing on leadership, team-building and interpersonal skills.
The Swedish quality managers in this study do not provide a picture that is solely in
accordance with this broader view. Instead, it seems as though the most definite domain
for quality managers is to manage quality management systems that are sometimes
complemented by an environmental management system. However, the strong emphasis
on ISO 9000 revealed in this study might not be particularly surprising, given that ISO
9000 is a general standard for various kinds of businesses. If the organisation has a
quality manager, the responsibility for the quality management system could hardly fall
on someone else in the organisation; it is probably the undisputed domain of the quality
manager. The same may not be true for the other concepts listed in Table 1, which is prob-
ably one of the reasons for ISO 9000 and other quality standards being significantly more
often used than the other concepts.
It appears to some extent as though the role of the quality manager is limited in the organ-
isations being studied. However, a broader view is revealed when moving from the actual
work assignment, such as a quality management system, to the quality managers views
about themselves. The quality managers viewed their role as expert support and internal con-
sultants, which is somewhat in line with Stratton (1996), such as that a quality professional will
be a . . . process consultant to the internal organization. As Dean and Bowen (1994) put it,
quality managers have a narrow domain in terms of practices and techniques, but a broader
view might be required in order to fully exploit the principles of quality management.

5.3 Lean Production and Six Sigma


Lean Production and Six Sigma are the improvement programmes that have received
the most attention in contemporary management literature. The present empirical
Total Quality Management 803

investigation shows that these improvement programmes score relatively low in terms of
their importance for quality departments than ISO 9000 and environmental management
systems. It would appear, therefore, as though Lean Production and Six Sigma are not
of major importance for quality managers.
The question is whether Lean Production and Six Sigma are more often run by other
departments. The production manager might be responsible for Lean Production or, in the
case of Six Sigma, a parallel improvement structure might be running the improvement
programme. If so, this strategy may be a way of achieving rapid results of improvement
work by a dedicated specialist or, in the case of Lean Production, a way of ensuring
that improvements are closely linked to daily operations in the production area. One
risk, however, is that it could lead to multiple functions and improvement programmes
competing for scarce resources (see e.g. Sterman, Repenning, & Kofman, 1997). Further-
more, it indicates that the evolution of the quality profession in contemporary organis-
ations takes different directions either Six Sigma, which is run through specialists in
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tools and techniques (Lindeman et al., 2003), or Lean Production, which is run by a
manager not exclusively working on quality.

5.4 Part of the senior management team?


In most organisations, the quality manager is included in the senior management team.
But most quality managers do not view themselves as strategists. How come quality
management is considered of strategic importance while the quality manager does
not work with strategic issues? It could be that most issues related to ISO 9000
concern operational matters, while the quality management system, per se, is of stra-
tegic importance for most firms. ISO 9000 is an order qualifier for many suppliers
and, as such, it is an important investment for the organisation and must be dealt
with by senior management.
However, if quality management is viewed as consisting of interlinked principles,
practices and techniques (Dean & Bowen, 1994), ISO 9000 cannot be said to address
all parts of quality management. If the quality manager is mostly occupied with oper-
ational issues that concern a subset of all of an organisations quality issues, perhaps
the responsibility for quality management should not be in the hands of the quality
manager; instead it should be the CEO who would need to take this responsibility.
Another option, or course, is to focus on developing the role of quality managers to
encompass both operational and strategic issues. Finally, other functional managers or
the Six Sigma manager may take responsibility for quality. However, this implies a risk
that the holistic view of quality management is not attended to and that quality manage-
ment work is sub-optimised.

6. Discussion
This study has shown that a quality managers operational responsibility is quite narrowly
defined. The agenda is generally related to quality standards, presumably ISO 9000 and
environmental management systems. These programmes often frame the work of the
quality manager, which in many cases leaves other programmes, such as Six Sigma and
Lean Production, to other departments or parallel improvement structures.
In line with the focus on ISO 9000 and the environmental management system, in most
organisations, the quality manager has a role in the senior management team, not as a
strategist but to ensure quality by maintaining a certificate. The stereotypical quality
804 M. Elg et al.

manager in the study is a long-term company man who often has been recruited internally.
A majority of the quality managers have received their education in the quality area mainly
from self-studies and internal education.
In general, organisations emphasise the clear roles and specific educational back-
ground of professionals such as finance and human resource managers but are less strict
on quality managers (Sandholm, 2005). One reason might be the lack of university-
based education in the area of quality management or perhaps the difficulty in enrolling
quality professionals in the current educational programmes on quality management.
Only one-third of the quality managers in the current sample have participated in univer-
sity-level quality-related courses.
Sandholm (2005) argued in favour of a stricter view on quality management as a pro-
fession. However, a professional view, in itself, might not render a strictly homogeneous
definition of the domain of a quality manager. Because quality management is adapted to
the operations in which it is applied, rather than being seen as a set of practices of universal
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applicability (Sousa & Voss, 2002), it is natural that the role of the manager leading this
work would also depend on the context. If, for example, the focus of quality management
in a certain organisation is on production, the role of a quality manager might overlap that
of a production manager. Alternatively, quality management may even become an impor-
tant task of the production managers themselves (Ritter et al., 1998).
If this ambiguity generates frustration, it might be tempting to compare quality man-
agers with other managers, such as those in the areas of human resources or finance, whose
roles and profession appear more clearly defined. However, one might question whether
these more clearly defined roles are only possible in areas that have a looser coupling
to the operating core of the business. If the field of quality management is stronger,
when coupled with the operating core, the core of the quality manager then becomes
more context dependent and ambiguous.
Based on the present study, two of the four scenarios for quality management and
managers predicted by Wadell and Mallen (2001) appear more likely. These two scen-
arios seem to develop in parallel, with quality management in Swedish organisations
appearing to be able to take one or both of the routes. First, the predicted continued
focus on quality principles, tools, documentation and certification is apparent in the
studied organisations. It is important to be aware, however, that the focus is strong on
documentation and certification, which might lead to losing focus on the underlying prin-
ciples such as customer focus. Maybe we have identified lost opportunities in how
quality managers act in contemporary Swedish organisations. In this study, the quality
managers reported that customer focus and everybodys participation in improvement
work are the main focus areas for the quality department. Should not such a focus
lead to a more proactive and maybe innovative way of managing quality than the
strong emphasis on documentation and certification? There is a risk that the role of
the quality manager becomes limited to handling the documentation and standardisation
related to the quality management system. Such findings raise questions as to the
relevance of quality management in industrial firms.
Our findings concur with those of Poksinska and Dahlgaard (2003), which show that
ISO 9000 often is viewed as a tool for improving company image rather than for support-
ing improvement processes in the firm. So, if quality management is just ISO 9000 and
ISO 9000 is just improving company image, where does that lead us: quality managers
as librarians? This is not precisely what Juran had hoped for. He claimed that the emerging
job of the quality manager will be business oriented rather than being oriented towards
technological or departmental goals (Juran, 1989).
Total Quality Management 805

But did we find some alternative ways? Yes. For some of the quality managers, stra-
tegic issues and integration of quality management into the organisations overall business
appear to be evolving.
We agree with Sousa and Voss (2002), who claimed that quality management has been
established as an important area, but the way in which it is organised today means that the
profession of quality managers is at crossroads. Will the role of a quality manager broaden
to include quality for a strategic position in the company or will Six Sigma specialists and
Lean Production managers drive quality management in future organisations? Perhaps the
situation will match the prediction of Silverman and Propst (1996, p. 34) that Successful
organizations of the future will provide value by maintaining quality as a paradigm, not a
department. There will be more jobs for quality professionals [. . .] but they will not be in
quality departments.
In conclusion, we believe that research on quality management has missed an impor-
tant opportunity for understanding, evaluating and proposing how quality should be
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managed in contemporary organisations. What will happen when organisations do not


need the ISO certificate anymore? What are the alternative ways of organising quality?
Despite the fact that scholars within the quality management field have been occupied
with developing and modifying new versions of quality management and comparable
concepts, quality management practitioners still struggle with the basic issues. How can
that be? One important missing link is the problem analysis. We need to be more sensitive
and develop research questions that are relevant and valid for the ones that we aim to serve.

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