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?

     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         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?

    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      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        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?

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Taste is a Matter of Choice; but Quality is a Matter of Fact