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Looking Toward the Future
During the summer of 2002, ASQ conducted its third
Futures Study in six years. Representatives of the
Institute for Alternative Futures guided the study
and were aided by the results of an international
Delphi study. Delphi studies use gatherings of
knowledgeable people who meet electronically to
gather data, generate ideas, or reach consensus. In
the next several issues of News for a Change,
Kenneth Case, ASQ president-elect, will guide us
through a summary of the study findings.
“The future comes much faster than anyone
can predict; therefore, we are compelled to polish
our crystal ball and remain alert to the signposts on
the horizon,” says Case in his introduction to
the study report. “Only then will we be
positioned to shift gears quickly to meet new
challenges as they unfold. Any hope we have of
participating in a future that we help shape depends
not only on our ability to accurately foresee the
future, but also on our agility in responding to
future-shaping world events.”
The 2002 study identified seven key forces that
are most likely to affect quality in the foreseeable
future, as described below:
- Quality must deliver bottom-line
results.
To demonstrate quality’s true impact and
investment value, we must fully engage the language
of finance, economics, and business. This must
become our own natural language, not a foreign
language.
- Management systems increasingly will absorb
the quality function.
The quality profession will be difficult to define
as quality is further decentralized and becomes an
integral component of good management. The role of
the quality professional is shifting from
“doing quality for employees” to
“coaching employees” to do it for
themselves.
- Quality will be everyone’s
job.
We have an opportunity to develop the practices and
understanding of the future work force by
introducing continuous improvement and other
quality processes in the educational system.
- The economic case for a broader application
of quality will need to be proven.
In order for quality methods to be applied to
large-scale social and environmental problems,
economists must be engaged to link the cost of
quality to its benefits.
- Global demand for products and services will
create a global work force.
Large corporations increasingly transport employees
from county to country as projects, profits, or
productivity demands. These new global citizens are
joined by virtual employees who telecommute in a
global-knowledge community.
- Declining trust and confidence in business
leaders and organizations.
Consumers will become increasingly conscious of and
responsive to the perceived ethical conduct of the
organizations they patronize. The ethical aspects
of a growing number of issues and decisions will
assume greater importance and be more visible.
- Rising customer expectations.
Consumers who have become accustomed to speed,
efficiency, and excellent customer service when
conducting business over the Internet will demand
the same in retail transactions. Government, public
service, and charitable entities also will be
measured against these Internet-driven
benchmarks.
In the next issue of News for a Change,
we’ll present the first of four scenarios that
project how society may look in the not-too-distant
future if the Delphi study trends and the key forces
are accepted.
 KEN CASE is regents professor
of industrial engineering and management at Oklahoma
State University, where he also serves as executive
director of the master of science in engineering and
technology management program. He has doctorate and
master’s degrees in industrial engineering, and
a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering
from Oklahoma State University. Case is currently
ASQ’s president-elect and has served as board
treasurer, national director, editorial board member,
and Tulsa Section chair. An ASQ-certified quality
engineer, reliability engineer, quality auditor, and
quality manager, Case was named outstanding engineer
in Oklahoma in 1987. He is a past president of the
Institute of Industrial Engineers, a member of the
National Academy of Engineering, a Baldrige Judge
(1991-93), and an academician in the International
Academy for Quality.
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