How should quality-related concepts evolve to face the challenges of world globalization?

Purpose – The protagonists of the “quality revolution” of the 1980s had a dream: to permeate each and all organizational activities – the strategic included – with the new “total quality management (TQM) culture.” The name TQM was in fact conceived to express the pervasiveness of the concept. In reality, progress took mainly place in the area of “doing things right,” a mostly technical area, specifically concerned with defect reduction. The purpose of this paper is to explore TQM possible contributions to the eminently strategic area of “doing the right things”: that is, making the correct choices in a continuously changing, turbulent environment. Design/methodology/approach – This paper claims that TQM, to be significant, should prove to be able to contribute to “doing the right things” in large organizations. Findings – To face the challenges of world globalization a broader view of management, and within it of managing for quality (that is, managing for customer/stakeholder value) is needed. The cultural basis for such changes should be education in systems thinking. Originality/value – This paper looks at the way in which quality-related concepts have evolved, will evolve and should evolve to face the challenges of globalization.