The quality movement from six perspectives

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the quality movement in the framework of an organizing taxonomy model from six perspectives: global trend, national mandate, industry trend, organizational strategy, operational strategy, and personal philosophy. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use the organizing taxonomy model to analyze the quality movement from each of the six perspectives in terms utilizing a diverse range of key questions, characteristics, and issues which must be addressed. Findings: The analysis shows that viewing the quality movement from these various perspectives can help practitioners in developing an understanding of the quality movement not only from a historical standpoint, but also in terms of current requirements and future demands. This can also benefit quality management researchers in terms of organizing the focus of their research on the various perspectives. The organizing taxonomy model can also be used to assess other phenomena such as lean, supply chain management, knowledge management, and business analytics which are similarly impacting organizations across all industries and throughout the world. Originality/value: The paper presents a fresh look at the quality movement from a range of perspectives and provides insight into an organized method of assessing major movements that continue to impact businesses globally