The interest in total quality management (TQM) has increased rapidly in recent years. Some people see TQM as something necessary to reach competitiveness but others claim TQM to be merely a management fad. We believe that there are several reasons for the different opinions about TQM. One is...

Describes a project focusing on the experiences of implementing a third‐party certified quality system in small (maximum 50 employees) Swedish organisation. The project consisted of a questionnaire to CEOs, and then a more comprehensive case study of selected organisations. Results show that...

Total quality management (TQM) has been recognised and used during the last decades by organisations all over the world to develop a quality focus and improve organisational performance. In spite of this, TQM implementation is still problematic for many organisations. In this perspective...

Emphasis on quality improvement has been one of the most characteristic features of higher education policy in Nordic and other European countries during the 1990s. In Sweden, the universities’ work with quality management has been evaluated for several years. In January 2001, the National...

In order to stay competitive most small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) need to make decisions and improve their processes in a more efficient way. To manufacturing companies this is crucial not the least within the design and production phases. This means that a deeper understanding of...