TY - JOUR AB - Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to construct a basic profit model of quality so as to highlight the economic implications of process quality in an accessible way.Design/methodology/approach–Economic evaluation of the four profit parameters (price, unit costs, sales, fixed costs) using microeconomic analysis. For each parameter, the effect of better quality is described and a general logic to assess its profit impact developed.Findings–For all four examined parameters, it can be shown that better quality results in better financial performance. Profit and quality are therefore positively correlated.Research limitations/implications–The presented research is of conceptual nature, based on the objective to establish a general profit model of quality. The single parts of the described economic logic of quality might be subjected to empirical examination.Practical implications–The arguments presented in this paper can help quality practitioners to better understand the economics of striving for best possible quality.Originality/value–This paper fulfills an identified research gap by combining the disciplines of economics and quality management and tries to advance a profit perspective on quality which is suited to replace the still dominant cost perspective. VL - 10 IS - 2 SN - 1368-3047 DO - 10.1108/13683040610668675 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/13683040610668675 AU - Freiesleben Johannes PY - 2006 Y1 - 2006/01/01 TI - Communicating six sigma's benefits to top management T2 - Measuring Business Excellence PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 19 EP - 27 Y2 - 2024/04/25 ER -