You did a really nice job describing strategic management and how Total Quality Management integrates naturally in the planning. It clearly makes sense that a program that focuses on improving product and service quality as well as reduce the cost to provide that product or service through increased efficiencies would be baked into the firms long term strategic planning. One of the company's I worked for in the past leveraged the sales team when developing their strategic plan and focused on growth forecast without any consideration of quality improvement or improving operational efficiencies. Interesting enough in the five years I spent with the company they did little to improve their overall market position with this limited strategic perspective. At the end of the day hig h customer perception of brand quality or having a low cost position in the market are highly distinguishing factors in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Studies of companies strongly suggest that integration of Total Quality Management into the strategic planning improves the business differentiation perception and drives innovation (Daniel & Amrik, n.d.).
QUESTION: Considering the importance of factoring in a quality program into the businesses strategic planning, what companies do you think would benefit from adding a Total Quality Management program to their strategic planning?