Some researchers have defined different levels of TQM development. For instance,
Chin et al. (2002) identified five stages of development: unaware; uncommitted;
initiator; improver; and achiever (Lau et al., 2004). Prabhu et al. (2000) classified QM
according to another set of five levels: could do better; room for improvement;
promising; vulnerable; potential winners; and world class.