What Is Quality?

Yonatan Reshef
School of Business
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta

Garvin, D.A. 1988. Managing Quality: The Strategic and Competitive Edge. Free Press.

Quality is a multi-dimensional perspective-based concept:

• performance

• features

• reliability

• conformance

• durability

• serviceability

• aesthetics

• perceived quality

Deming, W.E. 1986. Out of The Crisis. MIT Press: 168-9:

• Quality can be defined only in terms of the agent. Who is the judge of quality? Thus, quality may mean different things to different people.

Juran, J.M. 1989. Juran on Leadership for Quality. Free Press: 15-6.

• Quality is fitness for use. Therefore, quality products should meet or exceed customer requirements.

Crosby, P.B. 1985. Quality Without Tears. Signet: 17:

• Quality is conformance to requirements.  Thus requirements must be clearly stated so that they cannot be misunderstood.

OLD PARADIGM* NEW PARADIGM Quality is just one of many functional specialties A "market-in" orientation in which every effort is made to internalize external customer preferences Quality is not seen as a competitive element as long as you match your competitors Quality is a common corporate-wide language of problem identification and problem solving Quality is a specialized function carried out by a small number of experts reporting to their superiors Quality is a strong corporate competitive strategy  An emphasis on downstream (post-manufacturing) fixes All-employee involvement in quality improvements Quality improvement activities are limited repetitive cycles of detect and repair An upstream prevention focus Quality is a stand-alone effort, with each functional specialty (e.g., design, manufacturing, marketing) acting to maximize its own goals A well-defined problem-solving methodology Quality evaluation is based on whether a product or service is built or delivered according to agreed-upon standards Training activities are tied to continuous quality improvement   Integration of quality into the corporate-wide control system of goals, plans, and actions   Emphasis on cross-functional cooperation to achieve quality improvement objectives   Anticipation of customer needs sometimes even before customers are aware of them

*Robert E. Cole. 1998. "Learning from the Quality Movement: What did and didn't Happen and Why?" California Management Review, 41: 43-73.