An analysis of quality initiatives in the Australian and Indian manufacturing industries

Implementation of quality initiatives in manufacturing, in general, increased operational efficiency, brought down manufacturing costs and made companies strategically competitive in many countries. The literature on quality is rich with cases on the adoption of quality concepts in manufacturing companies. Country specific survey reports are also available on the implementation/adoption of quality concepts. But very little has been discussed in the literature on the extent of the adoption of quality concepts in various functional areas (product design, production, R&D, finance, human resources, administration, etc.) of manufacturing. This paper contributes to this important gap in the study of manufacturing and quality literature. It reports the results of two surveys (one in Australia and the other in India) related to the manufacturing sector. The paper shows that quality concepts have spread disproportionately across functional areas of product design, production, sales and marketing, and finance and administration. Copyright © 2002 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.