Quality, Globalization and The Future of Work

The whole world is in the process of massive changes in the way in which business is conducted. Under the loose heading of globalization, we have seen an interrelated set of changes driven by a number of converging factors. These same global changes have in turn sparked new forms and balances of organisations. Eventually, these effects must be accompanied by new ways in which people will perform within organisations. We are moving towards globalization of production, customers, capital and workforce concerns. While the quality revolution was one of the driving forces behind globalization, there is now an impact of its very success back onto quality. With slack removed from work systems, quality is demanded for efficient, effective operations, but quality itself can suffer under the impacts of downsizing, longer working times and instant demands for change.