Just What Is
Quality?
By
Pradip V. Mehta
Fellow, American Society for Quality
Fellow, Textile Institute, U. K.
Presented at the Professional Development
Meeting of the Dallas Section of ASQ
27 September 2012
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
How to Get More Out of This
Session?
 Ask Questions
“One who asks a question is a fool for a moment, however, one who
does not ask a question is a fool for life.”
---A Chinese Proverb
 Participate in discussions – share your views
 Share your experience(s) relevant to the
discussion topic
 Keep an open mind
“The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is opened.”
 Enjoy Yourself
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is
Quality?
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
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The “best money can buy”
Meeting a specification
Craftsmanship
No more than 1% defective
Anything Japanese or German
(Mehta, 2004)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
To some, quality is
like “love,” hard to define
but you know it when
you feel it
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
To some, quality means
selling merchandise that
do not come back but
the customers do.
(Zero Defects to Zero Defections)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Eight Dimensions of Quality
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Performance
Features
Reliability
Conformance
Durability
Serviceability
Aesthetics
Perceived Quality
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Eight Dimensions of Quality
 Performance
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Eight Dimensions of Quality
 Features
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Eight Dimensions of Quality
 Reliability
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Eight Dimensions of Quality
 Conformance
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Eight Dimensions of Quality
 Durability
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Eight Dimensions of Quality
 Serviceability
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Eight Dimensions of Quality
 Aesthetics
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Eight Dimensions of Quality
 Perceived Quality
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
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Product Based (performance, features, and durability)
User Based (aesthetics and perceived quality)
Manufacturing Based (conformance and reliability)
Value Based (cost and price)
(Garvin, 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
The absence of variation in it’s
broadest sense
(Taguchi and Clausing, 1990)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Quality Experience
Variability with quality of execution
(Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What is Quality?
Taguchi Loss
Function
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What is Quality?
Fitness for
Use
(Juran,1999)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Fitness for Use
 Features – Those features of product which
meet customer needs and thereby provide
customer satisfaction
 Freedom from deficiencies
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Service Quality
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Tangibles
Reliability
Responsiveness
Assurance
Empathy
(Parasuraman, A.; Zeithaml, Valerie A. and Berry, Leonard L., 1988)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
“The totality of features and
characteristics of a product or service
that bear on it’s ability to satisfy stated
or implied needs”
- ASQ, ANSI, ISO 9000
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
 Quality is not about defect reduction any
more. Quality is about value enhancement.
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Two Aspects of Quality
 Objective
 Subjective
+ Emotions
+ Expectations
+ Experience
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What is Quality?
Quality is meeting or
exceeding customer
expectations
ALL THE TIME
(while maintaining cost competitive marketing position)
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Whatever customer thinks
is quality
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Quality Vs. Grade
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Just What Is Quality?
Key Takeaways
 Quality can be defined in many ways
 Do not confuse quality with grade
 Having a Corporate definition of quality that is understood
organization wide facilitates effective management of
quality
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
References
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Garvin, David A. 1988. Managing Quality: The Strategic & Competitive Edge.
The Free Press, New York, NY.
ISO 9000-2000. Quality management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary
International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Juran, Joseph M. and Godfrey, Blanton A. 1999. Juran’s Quality Handbook, 5th
Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Mehta, Pradip V. 2004. An Introduction to Quality Assurance for the Retailers.
iUniverse, Lincoln, NE.
Taguchi, Genichi and Clausing, Don. 1990. Robust Quality. Harvard Business
Review, Jan.-Feb. Boston, MA.
Prahalad, C. K. and Ramaswamy, Venkat. 2004. The Future of Competition.
Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
Parasuraman, A.; Zeithaml, Valarie A. and Berry, Leonard L. 1988.
SERVQUAL: A Multiple Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perception of
Service Quality. Journal of Retailing, Volume 64, Number 1, Spring.
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact
Questions?
?
Taste is a Matter of Choice; but
Quality is a Matter of Fact