The future of the quality/excellence function: A vision from the Spanish firm

In the last three decades of the twentieth century, quality management has represented a rebirth in organisation management with an emphasis on excellence. However, although this course might suggest a promising scenario for the quality function, significant controversy surrounds its managerial scope and its position within the organisation, for several reasons: doubts over the real contribution it makes to value creation; confusion arising from the interminable succession of approaches, models and techniques for quality management; and the risks associated with a vision as a new paradigm and a pattern for cultural change in pursuit of excellence. These factors have been linked to the constitution of the function as a staff unit and the decentralisation of responsibility for quality to all organisational members and units. This study aims to respond to current concerns about the quality function and the direction it might take in the first quarter of the twenty-first century. The study is based on the views of 75 experts on the Spanish firm, both general managers and quality managers, gathered through personal interviews and a Delphi study.