Quality Management Practices in China

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Abstract
Recently, increasing numbers of Western business practitioners and academics have shown interest in China, along with the awareness of the important role China has played in the global economy. Little research, however, has been done to explain what is actually happening in the quality management domain in China. This article describes the major developments in quality management in China since the 1950s; reports the results of a survey of 128 Chinese quality managers in six industries; and reports the results of interviews with 28 managers in six enterprises concerning TQM practices in China. It was found that almost all the companies surveyed had implemented certain aspects of TQM over the past decade. Although respondents expressed high commitment to TQM training, they admitted that little emphasis was placed on statistical training. It is believed that some Chinese companies are taking important steps on the journey to TQM, but that China still has a long way to go to catch up with the advanced countries in the TQM domain.