The contribution of quality to business performance

Quality is consistently listed as one of manufacturing's top competitive priorities and has become a prerequisite for success in the global marketplace. Quality helps a firm gain a competitive advantage by delivering goods to the marketplace that meet customer needs, operate in their intended manner, and continuously improve quality dimensions in order to ''surprise and delight'' the customer. While quality's significance has been emphasized for years, the contribution of quality to business performance has been largely unexplored. Results of a survey sent to the furniture industry show that quality dimensions - especially design quality and product improvement - are highly correlated with business performance. Quality remains the foundation of competitive advantage, even if a firm's short-term attention has drifted to speed-to-market, cost reduction and other concerns.