Insightful Quality: Beyond Continuous Improvement - Paperback

by Victor E. Sower (Author)

In order to survive and attain and maintain market leadership, organizations must engage in longer-term strategic quality activities to address radical -- possibly paradigm-shifting -- improvements that might affect the organization and its competitive position. Doing so requires a different way of thinking and acting by leaders and managers. This is known as insightful thinking, and this book can show you how to achieve this kind of success. This book is about how to think differently about quality and by doing so increase the creativity, innovation, and agility of an organization and its employees as well as the awareness of new developments in the marketplace and their possible impact on the organization and its markets. Quality must be addressed in strategic as well as operational terms in order for organizations to compete effectively over the long term. Strategic quality management requires insightful leadership. Each chapter contains short case illustrations about real organizations that illustrate the main points of that chapter. It challenges leaders and managers to adopt a new way of thinking and presents thought-provoking ideas about how organizations can begin the process of charting their own paths to insight--and lasting success.

Author Biography

Dr. Victor (Vic) Sower is distinguished professor emeritus of operations management at Sam Houston State University (SHSU). He taught courses in operations management, quality management, technology and innovation management, and supply chain management, and established the Sower Business Technology Laboratory. He earned numerous awards for his teaching and research including the SHSU university-wide excellence in teaching award, the excellence in research award, the excellence in service award, and was named a Piper Professor in 2005 by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation of Texas. He also is president emeritus at Sower & Associates, LLC.