TQM is today seen as an organization-wide effort that
emphasizes three core principles (Yong, Wilkinson, 2001):
• Customer orientation.
• Process orientation.
• Continuous improvement.
The concept of customer focus is developing into
meeting the needs of a broader group of customers including
human stakeholders, environmental stakeholders and
other interested parties in societal sustainability (Garvare,
Isaksson, 2001).
TQM, as a management philosophy, has elevated the
implementation of quality management practices from
operational to strategic level. Sustainability cannot be
separated from evolution of TQM, since sustainability
itself should be defined as the ability of organization to
adapt to change in the business environment, to capture
contemporary best practices, and to achieve and maintain
competitive performance (Prajogo, Sohal, 2004). The evolution
of TQM therefore always evolves along with the
changes in the business environment.