Extant Scholarship in the Quality Profession: A Brief Review

Abstract

This work presents a review of causal comparative quality related research over time. With an in-depth review of research databases, the author concludes that quality related research are few and far between compared to researches in other field like physic and chemistry to mention a few. It is noted that high-quality scholarship in the field of quality systems and management which is about working to gain a deeper understanding within the discipline and not just a repeat of concepts from the teachings of the quality gurus are hard to come by. This work reveals that opportunities for scholarly work in the quality discipline are immense. The work concludes by noting that the increasing use of quality gurus' philosophies for research-based evaluation, thesis and dissertation by quality professionals across the globe is a testament to the fact that the interest in scholarship in quality is not declining. The burden is on the professionals in quality management fields to ensure continual scholarship in the profession as a way to ensure they are counted as equivalent to professionals from other traditional disciplines.

Have the Reports of TQM’s Death Been Greatly Exaggerated? A Re-Examination of the Concept’s Historical Popularity Trajectory

“…Therefore, taking into account this general growth pattern, it can be argued that there has been a relative decline in the market share of TQM as a research topic even though the absolute number of articles has stayed relatively stable over time. Over time, academics have taken a more active role, and a large body of research on TQM has accumulated (Carnerud 2018;Carnerud and Bäckström 2019;Ehigie and McAndrew 2005;Larsen 2001, Odigie 2015. Some of the research has taken a more balanced approach, even using critical theories to shed light on the concept (Larsen 2001;Wilkinson and Willmott 1995a;Yong and Wilkinson 1999).…”