The phone call came out of the blue one morning in August 1985. It was from our Detroit sales manager, who told me that General Motors was dropping us from its highest supplier quality rating to the next to lowest level, four (on a one to five scale). We had 90 days to set up and start a program of total quality control at our sole U.S. plant, in Manchester, New Hampshire, or face the loss of not only an important customer but also our most promising growth market
A version of this article appeared in the September–October 1989 issue of Harvard Business Review.
