s on culture to a sig- nificant degree. This can be seen in the different interpretations of total quality man- agement (TQM) methods in Japan, the United States, and Germany, which have all been leaders in the field. In Japanese culture, quality is sometimes expressed through an effort to give people what they want even before they know they want it. For exam- ple, the ideal restaurant waiter or waitress removes the last dish and serves the next one without ever being noticed. In contrast, the idea of quality in the United States in- cludes offering the customer many choices and interactions with service providers. We want large menus and then ask for advice from the wait staff. Quality customer service in the United States depends on offering diverse options to a diverse group of cus- tomers. Interaction starting with "How can I help you?" or "What would you like?" is the mark of quality service. The approach to quality in the United States favors openness in business as well as open dialog in customer relations. In TQM-based organizations, we will hear forthright discussions of problems and solutions. This is very different from the German approach to quality. In Germany, engineers and companies express quality by quietly and quickly solving the problem without ever publicizing it. After the Hindenburg exploded, the manufacturer did some tests and discovered that the distinctive orange flames were a crucial clue. Hydrogen burns clear or maybe blue. However, the orange flame came from a mix of paint on the outside of the Hindenburg that turned out to be highly flammable and could be ignited easily by the kind of spark an airborne vehicle en- counters when it gets near a ground-based tower. The chemical formula of the paint was similar to what was used soon thereafter for solid rocket fuel. The company saw this and changed the paint on its dirigibles. The company buried the records of their discovery, leaving the world to speculate about terrorist conspiracies for over 50 years. Recently, American engineers work