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Examines six issues to decide whether total quality management (TQM) concepts can improve the effectiveness of company‐wide financial activities, i.e. the finance function. These issues address the basic role of a central finance department; TQM concepts in specific financial processes including capital budgeting and working capital management; competitive benchmarking; and personnel skills needed for the future. The finance function in most organizations has been pulled in many directions recently by downsizing, technology, ethical issues and, of course, TQM. The central finance office (CFO) needs to understand how TQM issues may not be a negative constraint on the finance process but actually assist in re‐engineering the finance process for the future. Defines the service role of the finance function and how it can be decentralized throughout the organization. Presents many issues in a question format which allows the finance manager to organize the implications of TQM in the total finance operation. Also investigates various financial processes such as capital budgeting and working‐capital management.

Examines the past and future of total quality management through observations contributed by senior leaders of the USA quality movement on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the American Society for Quality Control, the 40th anniversary of the European Organization for Quality and the 30th anniversary of the International Academy for Quality.

This paper aims to present a quality and business improvement framework based on Six Sigma/design, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC); design for Six Sigma (DFSS); and Lean principles. An historical perspective on these methods is also provided.

Through a discussion of the fundamental components of Six Sigma, DFSS and Lean a deployment strategy is developed. This approach is consistent with Deming's philosophy of quality improvement and is based on his system of profound knowledge.

A quality/process improvement effort that utilizes Six Sigma and DMAIC, DFSS, and Lean can form two of the three basic building blocks of a company‐wide quality management system.

Some implications for education of future business leaders in a variety of disciplines including engineering, statistics and business administration are discussed. More widespread education about DMAIC and the associated problem‐solving tools is needed.

This paper provides practical guidance for implementing quality and productivity improvement across a wide range of industrial and business endeavors.

One of the methods used to develop “integrated management” is a collaborative management style by an organization leader. Known under a number of monikers including collaborative management, empowerment, and pushing decisions down, these attempts sometimes yield negative results emanating from a misunderstanding of what collaborative management means. The aim of this article is to present anecdotal evidence of missteps in collaborative management through the use of two mini‐case studies of firms with which the author has consulted. One firm is a large public corporation and one is a small private firm, and the missteps are similar across the firms.

The words in the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) have become short‐hand buzz words for describing how firms foster a 360‐degree review of the customer lifecycle. The primary goal of this study is to provide a synopsis of innovative CRM concepts that can assist entrepreneurial small firms develop a process to effectively communicate with their customers, such as an e‐newsletter and CD‐ROM direct mail campaign. A practitioner‐oriented model is developed that depicts the CRM process of using multiple communication channels, building loyalty, establishing customer retention tactics, and changing service offers to foster the customer experience.

Digitalised and interconnected production systems in the era of fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 (I4.0) have triggered the need of reshaping the traditional Quality Management (QM) models and roles of quality professionals. The purpose of this paper is to review the body of literature on QM in the I4.0 environment (also termed as “Quality 4.0”) and identify future research possibilities.

The morphological analysis (MA) framework is used to identify research gaps in a systematic manner. We present the MA framework based on a literature review of 51 papers on the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) list identified using systematic review protocol.

The MA framework, built on six relevant dimensions, namely, production and operations function, scope of QM activities, enabling technologies, latent capabilities of digitalisation, performance metrics and QM principles, and 41 associated variants, reveals 367 research gaps as an upper bound of opportunities for future research.

This paper is possibly the first to use MA for reviewing the QM literature, presenting important contributions. The MA framework acts as a ready reckoner on the QM in I4.0 literature. It documents research gaps through the construction of a cross-consistency matrix.