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Henryk Skolimowski (1981) has made the point that ‘quality’ is a diffi cult term to defi ne, particularly in professional and business cultures that place an emphasis on measurement and quantifi cation. However, both its meaning and identifi cation have to be addressed by professional practitioners because the enhancement of ‘quality’ is seen to be at the heart of a value for money regime. Because of the potential for ambiguity, it is necessary to clarify what is meant by the term when it is being used in a particular management context. In particular, when an organization declares ‘the pursuit of quality’ as an objective, it should be clear what this implies for those with a responsibility for delivering such a policy.