The SAGE Encyclopedia of Quality and the Service Economy

• Other Authors: Dahlgaard-Park, Su Mi (Editor)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, California SAGE Publications, Inc. 2015; ©2015
• Subjects: Service industries > Quality control; Customer services; Quality control > Management
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 Society, globally, has entered into what might be called the "service economy." Services now constitute the largest share of GDP in most countries and provide the major source of employment in both developed and developing countries. Services permeate all aspects of peoples' lives and are becoming inseparable from most aspects of economic activity. "Quality management" has been a dominating managerial practice since World War II. With quality management initially associated with manufacturing industries, one might assume the relevance of quality management might decrease with the emergence of the service economy.