Quality-improvement principles are a sound means to respond to customer needs. However, when various quality and productivity theories and methods are applied, it is very difficult to consistently deliver quality results, especially in quasi-monopolistic, non-competitive, and regulated environments. This book focuses on quality-improvement methods for high performance in public and private services not covered by others. Applications focus on construction, education, government, insurance, public utilities, and healthcare organizations. The first three chapters define the general elements necessary to understand and achieve continuous quality improvement (CQI) in services. Chapters 4 through 6 discuss the human-resource training, rewards, and process-monitoring techniques required to achieve the total quality service (TQS) transformation. Chapter 5 details the competitive dimension and the importance of awards and employee recognition in improving customer service. The importance of process improvement and cost reduction and the merging definitions of cost, quality, and productivity are developed in chapter 6. TQS case studies in essential market- and non-market-driven services are highlighted in chapters 5 through 8: public utilities (chapter 5); construction (chapter 6); federal, state, and local government and education (chapter 7); and healthcare (chapter 8). The concluding chapter summarizes the lessons learned and the leadership skills needed to change internal organizational systems and to sustain continuous process improvements. Throughout the book, theories and methods are integrated with examples of successful service-quality organizations. Appendices contain an organizational grid, Deming's 14 points, Crosby's 14 steps, and Malcolm Baldridge Award criteria. Fourteen figures and 7 tables are included. (Contains 209 references.) (LMI)