Insightful Quality: Beyond Continuous Improvement

In order to survive and attain and maintain market leadership, organizations must engage in longer-term strategic quality activities to address radical -- possibly paradigm-shifting -- improvements that might affect the organization and its competitive position. Doing so requires a different way of thinking and acting by leaders and managers. This is known as insightful thinking, and this book can show you how to achieve this kind of success. This book is about how to think differently about quality and by doing so increase the creativity, innovation, and agility of an organization and its employees as well as the awareness of new developments in the marketplace and their possible impact on the organization and its markets. Quality must be addressed in strategic as well as operational terms in order for organizations to compete effectively over the long term. Strategic quality management requires insightful leadership. Each chapter contains short case illustrations about real organizations that illustrate the main points of that chapter. It challenges leaders and managers to adopt a new way of thinking and presents thought-provoking ideas about how organizations can begin the process of charting their own paths to insight--and lasting success.

Huntsville, TX; Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Operations Management; Sam Houston State University