The challenges for quality managers in Britain and Australia

Purpose – This paper aims to compare and contrast the career experiences and development needs of British and Australian quality managers.Design/methodology/approach – The results of a postal survey of the careers of British quality managers are compared with Australian quality managers based on two surveys.Findings – The study finds that quality managers in both countries brought wide functional experience to their roles. Their current jobs are major sources of intrinsic job satisfaction for both groups of managers but they utilise a very limited range of quality tools. Also British and Australian managers show little awareness in terms of their development needs for a broader background in quality.Practical implications – The findings suggest a worrying lack of innovatory zeal amongst quality managers who appear to be more concerned with the maintenance of standards rather than taking a more dynamic approach. Thus it is argued that while quality managers bring wide functional experience to their current...

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