Laura, you are right, companies that walk the walk do exist. I am usually lucky, the corporation I work for falls into the excellent participation category 95% of the time. What more can you ask for.
Our understanding is this:
I am responsible for making sure management knows what has to be done to meet/keep our certification. I also am responsible for making sure that the real workers understand what and why.
Management is responsible for backing me up, providing everyone with the resources they need to meet the quality goals, plans and system. It is their job to set an example for everyone else. If they don't show that quality is important, it certainly won't happen.
Everyone is responsible for quality. Only the operators themselves can control the quality, anyone else just verifies it. We have no "quality control" personnel. We do have quality assurance people. They take care of off-line testing etc.
I've work with various divisions and for the most part, everyone follows the same philosophy. There is some variance in level of commitment, but statistically there is variation in all processes.
I guess that when you can say that you actually enjoy showing up for work each day, and your co-workers aren't ready to vote you off the island, management commitment must be where it should be. We've had our moments where they didn't like what I've told them but in the long run, they've agreed that it needed to be done. We all go home friends at the end of the day.
No ulcers for me! I love my job.