The quality movement has proven to have an impressive ability to evolve. After four generations, the quality movement is moving into a new paradigm and a fifth generation that is shaping the future of quality development - Quality 5.0 - with a predominant focus on sustainability. In a recently published scientific article, we highlight five themes that have been identified as particularly important for the future of quality development in the coming decade. With this, we want to contribute to the emerging Quality Development Agenda 2030.

The research is based on extensive data collected during a two-step process carried out in co-production with SQMA (Swedish Quality Management Academy*) and SIQ Excellence Center** (members of SIQ stakeholder association with special interest in research). First, a workshop was conducted with 22 researchers and together with quality managers and then a follow-up workshop with 20 researchers and quality managers. The process was planned in co-production with industry, public sector and higher education institutions.

The results highlighted five key themes in the agenda for future research on quality development:

1) Applied systems perspectives

2) Stability in change

3) Models of smart self-organization

4) Integration of sustainable development

5) Higher purpose that energizes quality development work

The process also identified a positive core of future change-driven quality development. The core is expressed as core values that need to be preserved and nurtured in the future.

1) Applied systems perspectives emphasize the importance of promoting knowledge of a broader systems perspective. This involves building a picture of customers and stakeholders at different organizational levels. This knowledge could give us a better understanding of value creation processes. On this basis, we can also develop the ability to see a time and life cycle perspective. For example, a metal delivered from recycling to be reprocessed into a car component and then recycled when the car is scrapped. Quality management models often advocate a systems perspective, but an important question here is how we can use the systems perspective to develop quality management.

2) Stability of change emphasizes the importance of advancing knowledge about the dynamics between stability and change. This new knowledge could lead to improvements in models for leading and managing through rapid change. It could also lead to improved ways of working to drive change and stability simultaneously. In summary, a guiding question for the theme is how future quality development can consider stability and change as potential synergistic allies.

3) Smart self-organization models emphasize the importance of promoting knowledge and practices related to self-organization and self-managing teams. The smart self-organization models, which this theme aims to achieve, are practically validated models that can support leaders in combining and balancing self-organization and self-managing teams with traditional leadership. Questions in this theme revolve around how we can learn from theory, from others and from new experiments to support self-organization.

4) Integrating sustainable development emphasizes the importance of developing how future quality development is integrated with economic, ecological and social sustainability. The research need also addresses the need to build new knowledge that improves communication on this to achieve and accelerate the integration of sustainable development in the field.

5) A growing body of empirical evidence suggests that a higher purpose, such as sustainable development, is a strong driver of improvement and helps drive performance in organizations. An important question is how we can link an organization's quality development with the higher purpose such as a more sustainable future?

With this in mind, what lies at the heart of the future quality development agenda?

Indeed, quality development has traditionally worked to align the organization with a higher purpose such as customer satisfaction. There is also a unique ability to develop and apply models that seek to understand the wholeness and complexity of society with a focus on collaboration and systems.

In all development work, the organization's people are emphasized as the key resources that enable organizations to learn, develop and succeed. At the same time, the understanding of variation and robustness with a tradition in reliability and statistics is an important core to preserve and nurture. This tradition has developed tools and mindsets to understand our processes, both in research and in practice.

There is a scientific and at the same time practice-oriented and needs-driven research that has developed knowledge about co-productive methods in partnership with both public and business. In this research forum, there is an ideal with expectations and methods to enable continuous improvements, innovation and development with an increasingly broad stakeholder perspective.

The research behind this blog can be read free of charge in the article "Quality 2030: quality management for the future" with the following reference and at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2020.1863778

We look forward to continued collaboration in future quality development!

Anders Fundin, Research Director SIQ and Professor Mälardalen University

Johan Lilja, Associate Professor Mid Sweden University

Yvonne Lagrosen, Associate Professor, Mälardalen University.

Bjarne Bergquist, Professor, Luleå University of Technology

Reference:

Anders Fundin, Johan Lilja, Yvonne Lagrosen & Bjarne Bergquist (2020) "Quality 2030: quality management for the future", Total Quality Management & Business Excellence,
DOI: 10.1080/14783363.2020.1863778

*Research and SQMA with 8 higher education institutions: https://www.siq.se/forskning-sqma/

**Research Network SIQ Excellence Center: https://www.siq.se/medlemsformaner/natverk/excellence-center/