REVIEW ON THE EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY

Quality and productivity concepts were confusing and sometimes used interchangeably by experts both in industry and academics. Though researches, to some extent, tried to show the developments of quality and productivity, as yet, no research was devoted to study their evolution in a way to know how they reached into their existing form and their relationship, whether it existed. This study intends to disclose the reason behind the confusion and concept - intermix by studying the main advancements in the evolution of the two concepts. Their evolution is chronologically determined by grouping basic advancements in to distinct timeframes and their corresponding relationship is identified using natural selection and biased mutation approaches of evolution. The paper revealed that in the first period there was Seemingly Productivity; in the second Primarily Productivity; in the third Primarily Quality; in the fourth Primarily Quality-based Productivity (i.e. one after the other norm); and in the fifth period both quality and productivity will be equally primarily focus of firms (Primarily Quality and Productivity). Through logical justifications, observations made in the existing literature, and based on the nature of future competitiveness orientation, future relationship between the two concepts needs intelligence in that they will be equally, seemingly with trade-off, and concurrently important for organizational growth, agility, and excellence; one will never exist without the other, and after the other.