ABSTRACT
The importance of quality in business and industry is increasing rapidly. Today, our daily lives and schedules are more dependent than ever before on the satisfactory functioning of products and services (e.g., computers, automobiles, and a continuous supply of electricity). Needless to say, factors such as competition, product sophistication, growing demand from customers for better quality, increasing number of quality-related lawsuits, and the global economy have played an instrumental role in increasing the importance of quality.
