QUALITY TRANSFORMATION IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES: An Empirical Study of Hong Kong and China Manufacturing Firms

摘要

Quality transformation is fundamentally changing the forms and patterns of quality activities as well as the environments in a nation or region. It also governs the development and trends of quality management. The impact of quality transformation on manufacturing industries is complicated with dynamic trading conditions and ever-changing market demands and business requirements. This paper reviews the industrial development and changes and relates them to the development and transformation of quality management (QM) practices in Hong Kong. It then presents the key findings of a recent empirical study on the QM practices in Hong Kong/China manufacturing industries. It is found that Hong Kong firms needed to facilitate their China operations or partners to commit in quality and build up their own capability for continuous improvement. Besides, the paper also proposes a generic framework of quality transformation that help manufacturers better keep up with the total quality trend and grasp the ways for successful quality transformation in their organizations.