I’ve been a quality professional for years.  I’ve written some of the best selling books on quality.  But, over the last 10 years, I’ve noticed that quality professionals are endangered professionals.

Well remember the quality guru’s that said; “Everyone is responsible for quality.”  Well they were prescient.  What is the job of the quality professional, when everyone is responsible for quality?  Good question. They may be endangered based on the following data points:

Google Data Gram:
Check out the Google ngram.  It shows the what’s happened with quality management, quality assurance, and quality control from 1960 to 1988.  Then, check out the curve for risk management during the same period. 

Risk Management Enters Everyday Business Lexicon

BY CAROLINE MCDONALD, PROPERTYCASUALTY360.COM

From the January 23-30, 2012 issue of National Underwriter P&C

Five years ago, you didn’t hear the phrase ‘risk management’ mentioned all that much in business circles,” notes Robert E. Hoyt, the Moore Chair and professor of risk management and insurance at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.

Now, “I’m amazed in casual conversations how many people are using the term ‘risk management’; it’s clearly in the psyche of a lot more people,” Hoyt says.

The increasing use of the term is underscored by online search results.

“The increase in the number of [results] on the term risk management is pretty dramatic,” Hoyt notes. “This isn’t scientific,” he says, but Hoyt Googled “risk management” and found that:

• In 2006-2007 there were 3.2 million search results.
• In 2008-2009 there were 27.2 million.
• In 2010 there were 63.3 million search results under “risk management.”

What accounts for the increasingly common usage of the term? “We’ve had a lot of business failures, and companies should pay attention to that. And the demand for [risk management] is increasing,” says Hoyt.