Special Issue on Benchmarking in total quality management

Benchmarking: An International Journal

ISSN: 1463-5771

Article publication date: 1 February 2003

367

Citation

(2003), "Special Issue on Benchmarking in total quality management", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 10 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/bij.2003.13110aaa.002

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited


Special Issue on Benchmarking in total quality management

A world that is changing faster and faster forces companies to reinvent themselves and their capabilities. In this competitive environment total quality management (TQM) tools support organizations in managing strategic quality and decision processes. This is an era of breakthrough management, which demands creativity and new thinking. The organization competitive advantage is based on the ability to generate and support new ideas quickly and that hinges on the capability to create. Benchmarking can become a tool to sustain this new TQM paradigm, providing a means to increase an organization's competitive performance by a comparison with the best-in-class.

The challenge is driving the change and not being driven. That is why benchmarking in TQM can become the helm to drive the change. Changes can be voluntary or not; may be big or small, but in all cases changes ensure that tomorrow will be different than today. It is not necessary to agree with change or not, as it will happen anyway. The question is do you want to be in the driver's seat, or to be passengers? Can benchmarking methodologies be the reply?

Papers are invited for a special issue of Benchmarking - an International Journal on "Benchmarking in total quality management". This special issue will investigate how benchmarking can provide approaches, methods and techniques for the next TQM challenges we are going to face this century. Theory building papers and empirical results are welcomed as well as case studies and best practices experiences. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following themes:

  • Quality, innovation and benchmarking in manufacturing and service organizations.

  • Theory building and new paradigms in TQM.

  • Advanced methods for benchmarking in TQM.

  • Benchmarking quality management practices in manufacturing and service organizations.

  • Measurement issues in benchmarking quality management.

  • Benchmarking analysis and strategic quality management.

  • Surveying on TQM and benchmarking.

Manuscripts should be 3,000-5,000 words in length, single-spaced and in A4 Word format. All contributions are subjected to double-blind review. There should be a separate title page giving the names and full addresses of the authors (including e-mail addresses). Manuscripts, following the BIJ guidelines (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/bij.htm), should be sent as e-mail attachments to the guest editors by 31 December 2003 at the following address:

Dr Fiorenzo Franceschini Professor of Quality Management POLITECNICO di TORINO Dipartimento di Sistemi de Produzione ed Economia Dell Azienda Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24 CAP 10129 - Torino, Italy Tel: +39 011 5647225 Fax: +39 011 5647299 E-mail: fiorenzo@athena.polito.it Assistant Editor: Dr Maurizio Galetto

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