The U.S. cotton market has undergone a fundamental transformation with the precipitous decline of the U.S. textile industry. Now over two-thirds of U.S. cotton is exported – over twice the amount that historically has been exported. These foreign markets have distinctly different quality needs than the traditional domestic market. A common question among cotton producers is how to respond to these changes as indicated in a number of trade publications (e.g Potter, 2005).

A model commonly used in the business literature for meeting quality concerns is the fundamental concept of Total Quality Management (TQM). This approach evaluates customer needs on an ongoing basis and requires systematic efforts by the production-marketing system to better meet those needs. The TQM approach has been used in many contexts as an effective approach to enhance quality to meet customer needs, improve market share and returns.

U.S. cotton quality has a number of major advantages including trade servicing and the HVI inspection system. However, it is not clear how they should respond to international quality needs, and the U.S. system uses as a standard a shorter fiber length than the rest of the world prefers. This fiber length standard and other quality levels should be reevaluated in light of changing demand.

This paper will evaluate how a TQM approach might work in the U.S. cotton industry. It will provide an overall research agenda that the U.S. cotton industry may want to utilize as it looks forward to competing successfully in international markets. In addition, it will illustrate a TQM system in the cotton industry that will show how system participants can work together to enhance quality and improve returns.

Potter, Benjamin. “Producers Push for Premiums”, Cotton Farming, January 2005.