This research suggests that the concept of customer orientation is at the core of sucessful quality program. Based both on a series of interviews conducted at a Baldridge Award winning company and on past literature support, it is shown that in addition to an external customer orientaition, an internal customer orientation plays a strategic role in tha achievement of high quality standards throughout the orgnization. Several recommendation are proposed the development of an interal customer orientation--a concept which has been largely neglected in the quality manangement literature.