Samenvatting

Although quality management has a long tradition and plays an important role in operational and managerial activities in organizations nowadays, it also seems to be less clear and less visible. In this paper the focus is on the rise and fall of quality management in organizations and the impact this has had on professionals. Starting with an historical perspective, comments will be made on the trends in literature and the opinions and experiences from both entrepreneurs and managers. It is argued that in the near future professionals will have to focus on entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, demanddriven contributions, working simultaneously with commitment and assurance paradigm and also working on multiple value optimization. Then the professionals’ role and impact in organizations will stay visible and valuable.