Marginalisation of quality: is there a case to answer?

This paper makes the point that since the early 1990s there have been signs (e.g. the move from quality and total quality management (TQM) to excellence, and process control to process management) that quality and TQM are perceived by some commentators to be out‐of‐date and fallen by the wayside. The paper outlines these signs and points out that they can lead to a marginalisation of quality. However, through major trends such as business to business e‐commerce and six sigma there are clear indications that old style quality is coming back into the business arena because of the savings it can bring. These trends and their implications are examined in the paper.