Product Description
For undergraduate and graduate courses in quality management, found in departments of management, operations management, marketing, or engineering.
This text is a comprehensive introduction to the field of quality management, integrating the emerging body of knowledge in the areas of quality theory, quality assurance, and quality control. The author's practical approach provides examples, allowing students to participate in and manage quality improvement in manufacturing, government, and service organizations.
About the Author
Dr. S. Tom Foster is a professor, author, and consultant in the field of quality management. Among Dr. Fosters areas of expertise are strategic quality management, quality-based learning, service quality, Six Sigma, quality in government, and technology-based quality improvement. Dr. Foster is a professor of quality and operations management at Boise State University and also has taught at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Dr. Foster has professional experience in manufacturing, financial services, and international oil exploration. He has consulted for more than 20 companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Trus Joist MacMillan, Cutler-Hammer/Eaton Corp., Heinz Frozen Foods, QWEST, and Healthwise Corporation, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy. Dr. Foster served on the 1996 and 1997 boards of examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and has served as executive director for the Idaho Quality Award.
Dr. Foster is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Operations Management, Benchmarking for Quality Management, and the Quality Observer. He has published more than 40 quality-related articles in such journals as Decision Sciences, the International Journal of Production Research, the Journal of Quality Management, the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, the International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, the Quality Management Journal, and Quality Progress. He is listed in Who's Who in the World and Who's Who in America. Dr. Foster is founder of www.freequality.org, principal of Foster Management Consulting, and was awarded the ASBSU 2000 Outstanding Faculty Award. In addition, he was the winner of the 2002 Decision Sciences Institute Innovative Education Award.