Managing Quality: Integrating the Supply Chain

Dr. Tom Foster is a professor, researcher, and consultant in the field of quality management.  Among Dr. Foster’s areas of expertise are strategic quality planning, service quality, six sigma, government quality, and the role of technology in improving quality.  Tom is a professor of quality and supply chain management at Brigham Young University and has also taught at Penn State University and Boise State University.  He received his PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Dr. Foster has professional experience in manufacturing, financial services operations, and international oil exploration.  He has consulted for over 20 companies including, Trus Joist MacMillan, the United States Department of Energy, Hewlett-Packard, Heinz Frozen Food, and Cutler Hammer/Eaton Corporation.  Dr. Foster served on the 1996 and 1997 boards of examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and has served as a judge for state awards.

Tom is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Operations Management, the Quality Management Journal, Benchmarking: An International Journal, and theQuality Observer.  He has published over 40 quality-related research articles in journals such as Decision Sciences, the International Journal of Production Research, the Quality Management Journal, and Quality Progress.  He is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. Dr. Foster is founder of www.freequality.org, was awarded theASBSU Outstanding Faculty Award, and served as guest editor for theJournal of Operations Management special issue on Supply Chain Management. In addition, he was winner of the 2002 Decision Sciences Institute Innovative Education Award.