What does the future hold for quality professionals in organisations of the twenty-first century?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide various perspectives on the future of quality professionals from a number of leading academics and practitioners around the world. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken was to collate opinions from a number of leading academics and practitioners from different countries. It was also important to ensure that all participants in the study had a good knowledge and expertise in the field of quality and operations management. Most of the participants had over 30 years of experience in quality and related disciplines and some of them are pioneers in their respective fields of quality management/engineering. Findings – As the global economic forces were radically changing, it is essential that quality managers face the future with quality-based integrated management programmes that fit the new business era rather than continuing with systems that may have worked in the past. Research limitations/implications – Due to time constraints, the number of people participated in the study was relatively small. However, the author is currently pursuing a larger study looking into the future of quality professionals within the context of Scottish Manufacturing and Service companies. Originality/value – The paper provides an excellent resource for many researchers and practitioners equally who are engaged in research and applications on this topic. Moreover it was observed during the review of current literature that very few studies are related to the topic on the future of quality professionals and their future roles in modern organisations.