sorry for the belated response, both managers report to top management, (although in many cases I have seen QC report to QA, since QC deals with a subset of the entire QA system. The two managers have the same relationship that exists between production and QA. In fact in our company I believe the title QA manager will cease to exist, and modern quality journals see this as a trend for the future. Is it really accurate to call someone with responsibility for many systems a "quality" manager? The quality manager in our comapny is someone who is versed in everything from HR to purchasing, contract review to final inspection and everything in between. Sounds more like a CEO, plant manager, or General manager eh? Those are the skills the modern "Quality Manager" will need. The QC manager on the other hand deals only with acceptance or rejection of product (in process and final). He is responsible for testing for the physical property characteristics that the customer requires.