A Total Quality Approach to Quality Management (QM) involves 12 critical elements (Chapter 1, "Key Elements of Total Quality," pp. 7-8). As discussed in Discussion Assignment 1.2, the companies in the United States (US) were slow to embrace the Total Quality Management (TQM) principles that the Japanese companies had used to gain market share and, as a result, were not enjoying the benefits of TQM. How did this delay impact global competitiveness