Conceptualizing total quality orientation

The academic marketing literature reflects remarkably little effort to conceptualize total quality orientation, which is key to understanding customer satisfaction. The author synthesizes extant knowledge on the subject and provides a foundation for future research by delineating the domain of the total quality orientation construct and providing an operational definition. The author draws on academic and practitioner writings from multiple disciplines, and 50 in‐depth interviews with corporate executives in a broad spectrum of manufacturing and service organizations.