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The 2000 version of ISO 9000 is very exciting for quality practitioners because it embraces the principles of quality management that have received wide acceptance because of the publicity of the various National Quality Awards that are models based on these tenets. However, there are potential difficulties that lie ahead for those organizations that aspire to fulfill the requirements of this new version of ISO 9000 unless they recognize that there is a cultural gap between the new approach required as compared to the previous 1994 version. Similarly, auditors working with the new version must have a different background and approach as the emphasis is being changed from one that has been totally compliance‐based to a new approach that also includes evaluation of management techniques that requires hands‐on experience and judgment. Unless these two types of issues are properly addressed, the 2000 version of ISO 9000 will frustrate applicants and may tarnish the quality movement.

Excellent publications have been available on project management for many years and much discussion has taken place extolling the virtues of this aspect of management and its great influence on the overall successful operation of organizations in all sectors. When being considered in its generic form, project management can also be applied to any set of activities, and in this context it is no less than a universal management tool. This paper examines the feasibility and practicality of applying a quality management approach to project management. The model used for the analysis is the criteria of the Canada Awards for Excellence, the internationally recognized quality award program.

The 2000 version of ISO 9000 is very exciting for quality practitioners because it embraces the principles of quality management that have received wide acceptance because of the publicity of the various National Quality Awards that are models based on these tenets. However, there are potential difficulties that lie ahead for those organizations that aspire to fulfill the requirements of this new version of ISO 9000 unless they recognize that there is a cultural gap between the new approach required as compared to the previous 1994 version. Similarly, auditors working with the new version must have a different background and approach as the emphasis is being changed from one that has been totally compliance‐based to a new approach that also includes evaluation of management techniques that requires hands‐on experience and judgment. Unless these two types of issues are properly addressed, the 2000 version of ISO 9000 will frustrate applicants and may tarnish the quality movement.

The foundation blocks for quality in a customer service organization are management commitment, customer focus, and employee involvement; operational and administrative aspects are built on these basic issues. This article presents a detailed analysis of how a major customer service organization was built to succeed and continues to improve by applying quality management principles. The example presented is Southwest Airlines, whose employees see themselves not as an airline with great customer service but as a great customer service organization that happens to be an airline. This case study is examined within the framework of the model used by the Canada Awards for Excellence, the internationally recognized quality award program in Canada for more than ten years.

Undoubtedly, digital transformation is permeating all domains of business and society. We envisage this volume as an opportunity to explore how manifestations of digital transformation require rethinking of our understanding and theorization of institutional processes. To achieve this goal, a collaborative forum of organization and management theory scholars and information systems researchers was developed to enrich and advance institutional theory approaches in understanding digital transformation. This volume’s contributions advance the three institutional perspectives. The first perspective, institutional logics, technological affordances and digital transformation, seeks to deepen our understanding of the pervasive and increasingly important relationship between technology and institutions. The second perspective, digital transformation, professional projects and new institutional agents, explores how existing professions respond to the introduction of digital technologies as well as the emergence of new professional projects and institutional agents in the wake of digital transformation. The third perspective, institutional infrastructure, field governance and digital transformation, inquires how new digital organizational forms, such as platforms, affect institutional fields, their infrastructure and thus their governance. For each of these perspectives, we outline an agenda for future research, complemented by a brief discussion of new research frontiers (i.e., digital work and sites of technological (re-)production; artificial intelligence (AI) and actorhood; digital transformation and grand challenges) and methodological reflections.

This is a case study of a Canadian privately‐owned manufacturing organisation having about 200 employees that embarked on its quality journey about two years ago. Their choice to continue their quality progress beyond ISO 9001 and to adopt the TQM approach is also described. The details provided are accurate and complete, except that the names have been changed to preserve the confidentiality of the organisation due to the strategic nature of the information presented. Further details about the case study may be available from the author.

It has been said sometimes in recent years that “quality assurance is the assurance of quality: quality management is the quality of management”. The key factors of success for the proper implementation of a quality management program in any organization lie within that statement. Quality assurance efforts are directed at activities related to the products and services that are provided; the scope of a quality management program encompasses everyone and all activities. Since management is responsible for directing the activities of the people within the organization, the control of the management process itself is necessary to implement an overall quality program. Managing people consists of more than controlling their activities ‐ management must provide the appropriate leadership in demonstrating its commitment, must foster a culture commensurate with its vision and mission, and must make available the funds for the implementation of the program. Without these aspects in pace, no quality program can withstand the test of time.

The recognition of the successes obtained by organizations using the total quality management (TQM) approach has been made historically through quality awards. The validity and applicability of the criteria used in such evaluations as well as the consistent impartiality of the adjudication processes are what determine whether such recognitions are meaningful or mere token awards made in the name of quality. The major internationally recognized quality awards of the European Community, Japan, the USA and Canada use evaluation criteria which are similar in nature. The common aim is to publicize organizational excellence achieved through TQM and to provide worthy examples for other enterprises to follow.

This article presents the point of view that there are three fundamental prerequisites that are required for the successful implementation of a quality management approach within any organization ‐ commitment, culture, and cost. The case is made that quality management is not just an extension of other quality‐related initiatives because a distinct shift in culture is needed to embraces its unique precepts that transcend the quality function into strategic and process management. The scope includes people, customers, suppliers, and society in addition to the traditional emphasis on financial performance.