THE CONTRIBUTION OF QUALITY TO BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Quality is consistently listed as one of manufacturing's top competiti ve priorities and has become a prerequisite for success in the global marketplace. Quality helps a firm gain a competitive advantage by deli vering goods to the marketplace that meet customer needs, operate in t heir intended manner, and continuously improve quality dimensions in o rder to ''surprise and delight'' the customer. While quality's signifi cance has been emphasized for years, the contribution of quality to bu siness performance has been largely unexplored. Results of a survey se nt to the furniture industry show that quality dimensions - especially design quality and product improvement - are highly correlated with b usiness performance. Quality remains the foundation of competitive adv antage, even if a firm's short-term attention has drifted to speed-to- market, cost reduction and other concerns.