A collection of writings about quality as a management discipline, business management, and product management. Edited by Tito Conti, Yoshio Kondo, and Gregory H. Watson.

Also includes valuable quality ideas and concepts from Hans Dieter Seghezzi, Barrie G. Dale, Norman Burgress, Jens J. Dahlgaard, Su Mi Park Dahlgaard, Herbert Schnauber, Joachim Zulch, Asbjorn Aune, Sijo Shiba, David Walden, Yoji Akao, Thong Ngee Goh, and Shoichi Shimizu.

The topics in this book are divided into three parts. The first part describes quality as a management discipline that must be practiced with the same degree of attention to detail as is required for finance systems, information systems, and people systems. The focus of the second part is on topics where integration of quality and business management practices will create a more stable overall management system. The third part of this book describes contributions of quality methods to the innovative design of products and services. It is in this area that organizations can continue their development by using new management practices, methods and concepts as enablers of change to help them achieve their desire for long-term competitive strength.

As quality transitions into the mainstream of management, the emphasis of quality professionals must focus on the areas of innovation and design to ensure the future quality of business. This challenge of innovation will define the next focus areas for management in the coming decades.

The International Academy for Quality was founded in 1968 by Dr. Armandd V. Feigenbaum, Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa and Dr. Walter Massing as representatives of the quality communities of America, Japan and Europe. The purpose of the Academy is to promote quality on an international level, with specific focus on helping developing countries to establish quality programs and to further knowledge of quality ideas and concepts on a global basis.