Expanding the quality paradigm for contemporary realignment: an ethics perspective

Despite considerable change in the context and environment in which business transactions are conducted today, prevailing views on quality have remained relatively static. This paper provides a new perspective on quality and serves as a call for the expansion of the quality paradigm in business research, teaching, and practice so as to better align it with the environment of today. It expands the conceptualisation of quality in the context of provider-customer transactions along supply chains and presents unethical conduct as a fundamentally critical aspect of quality and customer satisfaction. Specifically, it examines the effects of unethical conduct on the quality of customer experience, creation of value, and competitiveness. It develops a framework for assessing the detrimental impact of deceitful business conduct by providers and accordingly formulates summative propositions. New and useful managerial insights are offered on how the challenges posed by unethical conduct can be effectively met. A scale for measuring deceitful practices is developed with the suggestion that it be used in association with a deceit index to determine the quality of a customer's total experience. Future research directions are also identified.