Defining Quality BUSD 2027- Quality Management- A21 Mary Joy Syrelle Martinez - 3069259 Defining Quality In today's competitive world, producing world-class products is essential. To survive in the competitive global market of producing various products using the best techniques, it is critical for businesses to put extra effort into the quality of their products and services. Quality is a fundamental tool to describe the natural attributes of any good or service, which can be compared with other goods or services of the same kind. The term quality has several meanings, but it refers to a set of an object's inherent properties that allow it to satisfy stated or implied needs. Quality is defined as conformance to specifications. The degree to which a product satisfies the customer's expectations by meeting the design specifications. (Diaz,2014) Quality must meet or exceed the expectations of the customer while remaining affordable. Quality also considers how a product reduces waste to the environment or human society while allowing the manufacturing company to maintain customer satisfaction. (Neyestani, 2017) There are various approaches to quality management. Kaoru Ishikawa is widely considered to be the father of quality management and a pioneer of modern management processes. His education and interests in various fields define his achievements and contributions. He is renowned for developing the idea for the Ishikawa or cause and effect diagram, a fishbone-shaped diagram intended to enhance teams' effectiveness in identifying probable underlying causes of their quality issue. (Jones, 2014) Ishikawa believes that quality improvement is a never-ending process and there is always room for improvement. He advocates for customer support services to ensure clients continue to be serviced by the company after the product has been delivered. (Rex, 2013) Ishikawa urged top management to take quality courses because, in his opinion, any quality improvement efforts would fail unless they received support from an organization's leadership. He also emphasized the importance of quality improvement throughout the life cycle of a product, not just during production. Although he believes in the creation of standards, he believes that standards need to be continually evaluated and improved. Customer requirements, not standards, are the source of improvement decisions. He encouraged managers to always strive to meet the needs of their customers. (Rex, 2013) What distinguishes Ishikawa's definition from others is his emphasis on the fact that every function in the organization contributes to quality. He stressed the importance of internal customers and company-wide quality. This idea necessitates the participation of everyone, from top management to front-line workers. He was in favor of achieving worker commitment by treating them as individuals. According to him, a worker who has recognized his rights and ability to work has a greater interest in improving quality and production. He emphasized the importance of understanding quality in an organization as a constant commitment to education. Quality, according to Ishikawa, begins and ends with education. (Watson,2004) Ishikawa has had a significant impact on total quality management. This theorist demonstrated how to use other people's experiences to make personal contributions to quality, management, and performance. Finally, quality is an outcome, a feature of a product or service provided to a customer, and the mark of an organization that has satisfied all its stakeholders. Customer requirements are the fundamental ideal underlying all quality definitions. References Diaz, E. (2014). What is your definition of quality?. https://www.gbnews.ch/whatisyourdefinitionofquality/#:~:text=Quality%20can%20be%2 defined%20as,expectations%20that%20a%20customer%20wants. Jones, E. (2014). Quality management for organizations using lean six sigma techniques. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Neyestani, B. (2017). Principles and contributions of total quality management (TQM) gurus on business quality improvement. https://zenodo.org/record/345428#.YzPbWnbMK5c Rex, R. (2013). Quality gurus and their contribution to TQM. http://www.slideshare.net/Ragulangul/tqm-assignment Watson, G. (2004). The legacy of Ishikawa. Quality progress. 37 (4), pp. 32-52.
