ABSTRACT
Strategy is to many managers what quality is to the professional: a concept with a high feel-good factor. Quality is often seen as the opposite of quantifiable values such as productivity, speed and lead time. A scientist is not supposed to focus on the number of publications, but rather on their quality. A doctor shouldn't focus on how fast he can treat a patient, but on the quality and the attention he can devote to them. A manager who continually presses for shorter lead times of legal procedures can threaten the judicial quality. An often-heard complaint is that the professional, due to ‘efficiency thinking’ and ‘stopwatch culture’, has insufficient time to provide a high-quality service. Quality, in other words, is supposed to be the professional core value that is continually under pressure from other values. It is only a small step to interpreting this as a sharp contrast between management and professionals. Managers represent efficiency, productivity and speed, while professionals represent quality.
