New principles, tools, and infrastructures for quality management in modern changed business environments

In many cases quality development has not redeemed its promises indisputably. There are serious problems in the prevalent quality management approaches. These including: • Business management is not involved / committed. – Quality is a specialist issue. • Communication between business managers and quality experts is not effective. • Quality initiatives – e.g. building distinct quality systems – are not business-centered. • People don’t recognize or understand – not even experts – difference between quality management (QM) and quality assurance (QA) (ref. ISO 9000). • There are lots of different, distinct, and competing quality methodologies on which even quality experts don’t share the same opinions. • Many other specialized managerial initiatives compete with quality development. • Quality initiatives in organizations are certification-emphasized and not enhancing business performance. Certification is commercialized and lost its credibility, and may even be considered harmful. • Often quality related actions are only reactive and very little proactive. • Formal documentation is highlighted instead of a comprehensive management and application of business information and knowledge.