QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE AUSTRALIAN SERVICE INDUSTRY - PROGRESS OR PROBLEMS

This paper reports the results of a two-part research project investig ating quality management practices in the Australian service industry. The first part of the project was a 6-month study of Australian daily newspapers. Using content analysis methodology, Australian management 's concerns far competitiveness were identified. The paper first repor ts on the 29% of cases that dealt with total quality management, produ ctivity issues, world best practice, customer focus and quality servic e. Aspects of the business environment that encourage management to re -examine sources of competitive advantage are presented The second par t of the research was an extensive survey of Australian companies in t he service industry to evaluate the extent to which quality management practices have been adopted. The survey findings together with qualit ative data indicate that the majority of service industry companies su rveyed are concerned with the implementation of quality management pro grammes. Impediments to implementation are also examined and implicati ons of the findings and further research are discussed.