2. Strategic Quality Management and Customer Satisfaction Paper
"It was the summer of 1969: Man took his first walk on the moon. Nearly 450,000 people gathered in upstate New York to witness the historic Woodstock concert. And Doris and Don Fisher opened the first Gap store in San Francisco" (Gapinc.com 2007). Today, Gap Inc. is one of the world 's largest specialty retailers, with more than 3,100 stores and fiscal 2006 revenues of $15.9 billion. Gap Inc. operates four of the most recognized apparel brands in the world Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Piperlime. Every day, Gap Inc. looks for new ways to connect with customers around the world, providing value to their shareholders and to make a positive contribution in the communities where Gap Inc. does business. Gap Inc brands have a simple, common purpose: "to make it easy for people to express their personal style" (Gapinc.com 2007). Gap Inc. constantly evolves each brand to better meet their customers ' needs through innovative and inspiring design; through convenient and engaging store experiences; and by communicating with people in a way that connects to how consumers live, work and play. Gap Inc. involves total quality management through out policies and procedures. In the following information explains how Gap Inc. uses TQM (total quality management), what made Gap Inc. the way it is today, and implementations on total quality management. When Gap was founded in 1969, Gap was unique and new. Gap 's target customers were younger generations. Gap 's hottest seller at the time was its "basic" look, which consisted of signature blue jeans and white cotton t-shirts. Gap founders realized that jeans were becoming popular among the younger generation of customers. Nevertheless, the company recognized that despite Gaps popularity among the youth, there were not enough assortments of jeans in the clothing outlets. Capitalizing on this deficit was merely the next step in expanding. Gap 's founders were sure that jeans could be sold through a chain of small stores