: Creating and sustaining a competitive advantage in today’s turbulent world markets is a formidable business challenge. For many organisations, operating within an inherently unstable external environment has resulted in the need for a cultural rethink. Business complacency, brought about by corporate industry monopolisation, the reliance on reputation, brand identity, and customer allegiance, is no longer a recipe for sustained market growth. Companies have realised that being market focused could provide them with a competitive edge within the marketplace. To achieve this organisations have turned to the ‘Quality movement’, embracing the Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy and its inherent tools (auditing frameworks, concept of quality systems etc.) as a means to recapture lost ground.
ESAS (Enterprise Strategic Advisory System) is a prototype intelligent system that utilises a case- based approach to address the issues raised above, by providing organisations with advice on market- led quality and competitive strategy. This paper explores the philosophy and ideas behind the ESAS concept, and describes the development of an ESAS prototype.