EDUCATING FOR QUALITY IN THE WOOD INDUSTRY: SOME WORDS OF CAUTION

The problem of over enthusiastically adopting paradigms and models is well known in science in general, and in management in particular. The current trend of presenting "quality" in an unfailingly positive light in manufacturing, including in the wood industry, echoes this problem. This results in those aspects of "quality enhancement" that reflect negative processes and emotions being neglected, receiving lip service attention, or in subtle ways being denigrated. This is, potentially, the source of a severe limitation in the understanding and implementation of quality enhancement programs in the wood industry. Good intentions are insufficient. We cannot continue to neglect such issues as: authority and control; caution and reserve; autonomy and separateness; competition and aggressiveness; dislike and resistance; exploitation and manipulation; and self-interest, if we wish education for quality to be successful.