Total Quality Management: Is It the Marketing Concept Revisited?

Abstract This paper examines the importance of the Total Quality Management (TQM) movement for business enterprise. In view of the different conceptualizations of quality and the varied prescriptions for managing the process to ensure continuous and consistent achievement of the same, a framework is described which places the marketing discipline as the umbrella function that is best prepared to implement TQM in the organization. A capstone marketing TQM course is suggested as a vehicle for student exposure to TQM deployment.