Quality Management: Reconsidered for the Digital Economy continues to provide a one-stop-shop for anyone studying the theory and practice of quality management. Exploring the essentials of management theory and the work of the ‘quality gurus’ who have formed the foundation of current practice, this new edition builds upon the previous editions’ unique critical perspective of quality.
Key management practices are considered and extended, including lean thinking, systems methodologies, business process reengineering, organisational learning and intelligent organisations and service quality management. This edition plays particularly close attention throughout to the impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution on quality management, revisiting the meaning of ‘quality’ in an automated and data-driven world. Throughout, case studies have been rewritten including new examples from emerging economies, and practical tools incorporated to enhance learning and application.
Replete with examples, vignettes and diagrams, this comprehensive textbook is ideal for those new to the field of quality management and for students on advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Operations Management.
Online resources include chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides and a test bank of questions.
1. The Quality Imperative
2. Quality: A Strategic Decision?
3. Barriers to Quality
4. The Emergence of Management
Part 2 The Quality Gurus
5. Philip B. Crosby
6. W. Edwards Deming
7. Armand V. Feigenbaum
8. Kaoru Ishikawa
9. Joseph M. Juran
10. John S. Oakland
11. Taichi Ohno
12. Shigeo Shingo
13. Genichi Taguchi
Part 3 Contemporary Thinking
14. Quality Management Systems Standards
15. Organisations as Systems
16. Soft and Critical Systems Methodologies
17. Organisational Cybernetics
18. Business Process Re-Engineering
19. Learning Organisations
20. Service Quality Management
Part 4 Quality in Practice: A Case Study
21. The Infrastructure Company
22. First Intervention
23. Second Intervention
24. Final Intervention
Biography
John Beckford is a partner in Beckford Consulting; President of the Cybernetics Society (2020–2022); and Visiting Professor at University College London and Loughborough University, both in the UK. He is also the author of The Intelligent Organisation (Routledge, 2020) and The Intelligent Nation (Routledge, 2021).
"No matter what industry, product, or service an organisation is offering, quality is essential. This book is rich in anecdotes and examples illustrating the change in the need and perception of quality emerging, as we progress in the modern, face-paced, digital world."
Kerry Lunney, Thales Australia Country Engineering Director; INCOSE President 2020-2021, Australia.
"A comprehensive knowledge disseminator in the field of quality management bagged with a variety of industry challenges and solutions for the Digital Economy projecting 'Quality First' as one of the key driving factors for being competitive in this VUCA world."
Dr A. Vasudeva Reddy, Assistant Professor at Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai Campus, India.
"John Beckford draws out the human qualities so desperately needed for the digital economy, authentic relationships with staff, senior management that care and ditching process for process sake. It is a refreshing jolt to the system reminding us how easy it is to carry on doing the ‘wrong thing right, rather than learning to do the right thing’.
Professor Brian D Haddock, FCIRO, FRMetS, Head of Seasonal and Weather Resilience, Network Rail
"The 5th ed of John Beckford’s book on Quality should be on every quality professional’s and manager’s bookshelf, not least because it has brought up to date the concepts and ideas presented ‘for the digital economy.’ As with previous editions, it is well researched and illustrated with examples from the real world and includes an updated exploration of the work of the ‘quality gurus’ – a valuable resource."
Professor John Oakland, Emeritus Professor of Business Excellence and Quality Management, Leeds University Business School, UK. Chairman of The Oakland Group and author of Total Quality Management & Operational Excellence and Statistical process Control (Routledge).
