The Profile of Forthcoming Quality Leaders: An Exploratory Factor Analysis Currently, due to the globalization phenomenon and technological evolution, we are facing a new challenging set of paradigms encompassing social, industrial, financial and cultural issues. Hence, it is a difficult task to anticipate the new demands of the market concerning the most appreciated skills in the forthcoming workforce. This paper intends to report the sets of skills that comprise the desirable profile of the quality professional in the 21stcentury. To meet this purpose, a worldwide online survey was held online throughout the first quarter of 2018, assessing (adopting a 5point Likert scale) the importance of 27 skills identified in relevant literature. A total of 319 valid answers, originated from 61 different countries, were collected and summarized through descriptive statistics. The results suggest that seven sets of skills (appreciated skills to forthcoming quality professionals) comprise the profile of the quality professional in the 21st century. Thus, professionals aiming the quality leader role may now tailor their skills based on the information provided in this paper. In addition, companies can use these results to specify the dimensions that their human resources should develop.

Views on Quality Requirements in Academia and Practice: Commonalities, Differences, and ContextDependent Grey Areas Abstract   Context:Quality requirements (QRs) are a topic of constant discussions both in industry and academia. Debates entwine around the definition of quality requirements, the way how to handle them, or their importance for project success. While many academic endeavors contribute to the body of knowledge about QRs, practitioners may have different views. In fact, we still lack a consistent body of knowledge on QRs since much of the discussion around this topic is still dominated by observations that are strongly contextdependent. This holds for both academic and practitionersxe2x80x99 views. Our assumption is that, in consequence, those views may differ.  Objective:We report on a study to better understand the extent to which available research statements on quality requirements, as found in exemplary peerreviewed and frequently cited publications, are reflected in the perception of practitioners. Our goal is to analyze differences, commonalities, and contextdependent grey areas in the views of academics and practitioners to allow a discussion on potential misconceptions (on either sides) and opportunities for future research.  Method:We conducted a survey with 109 practitioners to assess whether they agree with research statements about QRs reflected in the literature. Based on a statistical model, we evaluate the impact of a set of context factors to the perception of research statements.  Results:Our results show that a majority of the statements is well respected by practitioners; however, not all of them. When examining the different groups and backgrounds of respondents, we noticed interesting deviations of perceptions within different groups that may lead to new research questions.  Conclusions:Our results help identifying prevalent contextdependent differences about how academics and practitioners view QRs and pinpointing statements where further research might be useful.