Globalization, quality and systems thinking: integrating global quality Management and a systems view

A global approach towards quality management highlights the need for constructing a new body of knowledge that views the field of global quality from a systems perspective. The current article presents the results of an ongoing research based on quantitative and qualitative studies. The qualitative study used Grounded Theory as its theoretical and methodological framework. The subjects of this study were experts in systems thinking, including project managers and engineers who were interviewed in depth about their work in global organisations in a business environment characterized by complex and dynamic challenges. In addition, several qualitative and quantitative tools were applied in a field study of 18 multinational companies. In view of the requirement for developing new global quality management terminology, this article presents several new key concepts in this field, which have resulted from the ongoing research, with emphasis on a systems-oriented rationale and perspective. As such, the article is an important stage in building this new body of knowledge, and towards the conceptualization of key variables used in global quality management, from a systems approach that interacts with the fields of international management and strategic management.