Federal Republic of Germany: 5 Statements of key actors

The basic supposition of the investigation that “quality management is a lasting demand of customers, markets and societies on small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe” does not seem to me to be suitable for a research hypothesis. This SMEs-related hypothesis is generalised and has no specific character. On the contrary, customers, markets and societies are interested in high-quality products which are in keeping with general requirements. Quality management is an instrument to meet these requirements. This requirements are independent of the size and kind of company. They apply generally to the free market economy. Seen from that point of view, there are not any “most important tasks” of small and medium-sized enterprises in terms of quality, this is a commitment for every company.