Quality Philosophies

Quality Philosophies:

Comparing and Contrasting the Greats

Quality Philosophies:

Comparing and Contrasting the Greats

When a person is asked to define quality, one may be surprised by the varied definitions that people hold. How does a person define a quality movie? One critic gives it a thumbs down, while the next critic gives it a thumbs up. This definition of quality is subjective and is psychological criteria. A manufacture may determine quality by the products adherence to specifications or how fit for service a product is for its intended use. A consumer may also consider quality based on fit for service or based on the perceived value received relative to the price paid. Although these are all relevant, the quality philosophies discussed here are related to total quality management from a manufacturer or business perspective.

Quality philosophies have developed over time. Several contributors have offered advancements and insights into quality management systems. Each contributor to quality management has had unique perspectives on how the quality system should be formalized, maintained, and continuously improved. Some of the contributors to quality management systems expanded on other’s research or had overlapping ideas. Other contributors innovated new ideas that were quickly adopted by some companies, and eventually infiltrated other corporate quality programs in some form. There are several pioneers in quality that will be discussed throughout this paper. Background information will be provided for each contributor, and their ideas will be compared and contrasted.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As indicated in the individual contributors to quality section below, several quality experts have developed the current quality management systems of several successful organizations across the world. The contributors are not only diverse in technical training, but are also diverse in nationality and generation. The quality management systems have...