Managing for Excellence in the Twenty-First Century

Book excerpt: Managing for Excellence in the Twenty-First Century: The Total Quality Approach is a seminal book for achieving the much sought-after traits of quality and excellence. The book provides a practical yet philosophical perspective into achieving quality and excellence. Goski brings her combined experiences from industry, academia, and research into a compendium of principles, theories, practices, tools, techniques, and strategies that can provide and support personal and organizational transformation and sustainable growth. Through the search for excellence and sustainability, Goski presents a different functional approach to management using a combination of existing wisdom, theories, and practices to help create and deliver value that meets or exceeds expectations. Managing for Excellence in the Twenty-First Century is a new perspective to make a difference in both your life and work. Managing for Excellence in the Twenty-First Century: The Total Quality Approach is a wonderfully comprehensive resource that explain the concepts, philosophy, and principles of quality management clearly and simply enough that even complete beginners to quality management will be able to understand. But it is also thorough enough that those with previous experience in quality management will still gain insights. It presents an expos of the concept of quality from a practical point of view and discusses the differences between management and quality management approaches of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The analysis of theories is backed by case examples, and careful attention is given to the limitations of existing theories, standards, and practices. The book also brings to the readers attention their innate power to make a difference and be original through the influence of creativity and innovation. The book also stresses the importance of the values of customer satisfaction, learning, leadership, and adaptation, with the view of improving continually. The book also draws readers attention to some cultural shifts of the twenty-first century and provides insight into how to change with the times by focusing on digital fluency, among other strategies. The book provides a good text for teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. It covers areas like the philosophy of quality management, the purpose of existence, the evolution of quality-management principles, and the lessons to be learned from the various shifts in management practices. It also includes a discussion of the philosophy of excellence, the concept of quality and management, people management, and the relevance of technology and social media in achieving excellence in contemporary times as well as strategies for achieving excellence in contemporary times.