Description:By blasting apart outdated perceptions and focusing on new value-adding strategies, Measures of Quality & High Performance explains the operating secrets of top companies. Based on extensive research with 19 organizations that have received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the book explains how each broke free of old strangleholds to achieve breakthrough results. And it contains new findings, such as: increasing quality actually drives overall expenses down; small, continuous improvements (kaizen) are no longer adequate for reaching world-class status; and reducing the time to do things actually increases quality. The book helps readers assess their own companies by asking three crucial questions: Has your organization recognized the new methods that are replacing old habits? Does it employ customer value-added concepts? Is training a key element in the overall strategy?