| Abstract: | The actions of governments, customers, and competitors are influencing corporate environmental management in unprecedented ways. Market requirements are affecting both revenues and costs in ways that individual firms cannot control. The uncertainty that these new requirements create underscores the critical importance of planning and implementing a systematic approach to the design of products and the processes used to build, ship, support, and recover them. In this article the author shows how Total Quality Management offers a useful framework for aligning a company'S market focus, its business plans, and its management of critical business processes. This alignment is critical, if companies are to create environmentally conscious products while remaining competitive in a global marketplace. |
