The shift of the Russian economy toward a market-oriented approach has led to an increasing awareness of Russian product quality problems. To help understand these problems, this article presents the results of a study comparing product quality practices in Russian and American factories. Comparing the results between countries has identified several interesting findings about Russian quality practices. Results from the study indicate that Russian quality problems stem from the way quality is managed at the factories. One reason for this problem is the relative priority that quality receives at Russian factories. Russian factories place more emphasis on schedules and costs and less on quality than U.S. factories. Another reason for the Russian quality problem appears to be a function of the types of techniques used to ensure quality. Results from the study show that Russian quality techniques do not provide workers with control over product quality. Adopting quality techniques that enable workers to assess quality performance will improve Russian workers' control and should improve Russian product quality.