What is quality -- the experts opinion
“Only through the collective efforts of their individual
members do companies change; companies are
incapable of changing themselves.”
-- V. Daniel Hunt
This question has been debated for many years and varies considerably even with the quality experts (as outlined in the comparison tables below). For certain, the experts agree, the outcome affects all businesses today and will continue to do so in the future.
(note: this comparison was originally based on
an article published in the "Quality" magazine, May 1992)
Table 1 - A comparison of Deming, Juran, and Crosby
Basic orientation toward quality
Technical
Process
Motivational
What is quality?
Nonfaulty systems
Fitness for use; freedom from trouble
Conformance to requirements
Who is responsible for quality?
Management
Management
Management
Importance of customer requirements as standard
Very important
Very important; customers at each step of product life cycle
Very important
Goal of quality
Meet/exceed customer needs; continuous improvement
Please customer; continuous improvement
Continuous improvement; zero defects
Methods for achieving quality
Statistical; constancy of purpose; continual improvement; cooperation between functions
Cost of quality; quality trilogy: planning, control, improvement
14-point framework;
Chief elements of implementation
Breakthrough projects; quality council; quality teams
14-step program; cost of quality; quality management "maturity grid"
Role of training
Very important for managers and workers
Very important for managers and employees
Very important for managers and employees
For additional details, see web site:
The W. Edwards Deming Institute
Table 2 - A comparison of Garvin, Felgenbaum, and Taguchi
Basic orientation toward quality
Strategic, academic
Total, systemic
Technical, proactive
What is quality?
Competitive opportunity
What customer says it is
Customer's performance requirements
Who is responsible for quality?
Management
Everyone
Engineers
Importance of customer requirements as standard
Very important
Very important
Very important
Goal of quality
Pleasing customers; continuous improvement
Meet customer needs; continuous improvement
Meet customer requirements; continuous improvement
Methods for achieving quality
Identifying quality niches
Total quality control (TQC); excellence-driven rather than defect-driven
Statistical methods such as Loss Function; eliminating variations of design characteristics and "noise" through robust design and processes
Chief elements of implementation
Eight dimensions of product quality: performance, features, reliability,
conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, perceived quality
Statistical and engineering methods across the company
Statistical design of experiments; quality teams
Role of training
Important but not clearly defined
Very important for managers and supervisors
Important but not defined
For additional details, see web site:
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