Purpose – The practice of quality management (QM) is transforming and the number, scope and complexity of QM tasks and related QM practices is increasing beyond what could be described as traditional QM. There is currently an ambiguity as to what constitutes a QM professional and the competencies needed to be one. The purpose of this study is to understand if QM professionals are equipped to support contemporary QM work by exploring their competencies, roles and practices in contemporary organizations.

Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a survey of QM professionals (n= 249) within eight Swedish large size organizations, surveyed in the fall of 2016 (response rate 81 per cent). The questionnaire covered 7 themes within QM and key results covering competencies and practices were extracted and analysed.

Findings – The study shows that there is a difference between the levels of perceived formal competencies and levels of informal competencies with the QM professionals in the studied organizations. The most prominent role feature of a QM professional is that of a QM tools and methods specialist. However, though this mainly internally focused role is still in demand, a more strategic and externally focused role is also identified as becoming more in demand.

Research limitations/implications – The survey data is presented with descriptive statistics. Further studies are needed to extend the results in a more in-depth analysis.

Practical implications –There is a need for a structured approach in identifying QM competencies and practices for two overall QM roles: QM specialist and QM generalist. Ambitions to create and maintain ambidexterity necessitates both specialist competencies and generalist competencies to balance and harmonize exploitative and explorative organizational capabilities.

Originality/value – This study extends research on the competencies and practices of QM professionals, evaluating the purpose and practices of QM through the experiences of a large number of QM professionals.