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The Concept of Quality

• Categories: Quality Management

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Words: 907 |

Published: Dec 18, 2018

Words: 907 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Works Cited:

• Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Namy, L. L., & Woolf, N. J. (2019). Psychology: From inquiry to understanding. Pearson.
• Myers, D. G., & Dewall, C. N. (2018). Psychology. Macmillan.
• Cherry, K. (2021). The importance of psychology. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/why-is-psychology-important-2794878
• American Psychological Association. (2021). What is psychology? Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/topics/what-is-psychology
• Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2014). Social psychology and human nature. Wadsworth.
• Cacioppo, J. T., Freberg, L. A., & Eastwick, P. W. (2018). Discovering psychology. Cengage Learning.
• Gross, R. (2019). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. Hodder Education.
• Huitt, W. (2020). Why study psychology? Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta State University. Retrieved from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/intro/why.html
• Maslow, A. H. (2013). Toward a psychology of being. Simon and Schuster.
• Seligman, M. E. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Simon and Schuster.

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The Key Dimensions of Quality Essay

Introduction.

Over time, several debates have been conducted by various scholars to aptly define quality. In essence, quality is a simple concept. However, there are many dynamics and aspects that are variably used by scholars to pin-point the exact meaning of quality. It is for this reason that quality means different things to different people and countless of debates are still ongoing to find an aptly fitting definition.

For the purpose of this paper, quality will be generally, yet representatively inclusive, defined as the ability of a product or service to meet the expected needs of its clients (Pereira, 2008). In this definition, several vital aspects such as performance, perceived quality, value and aesthetic value have to be put into consideration.

It is with this—and many other reasons in mind—that this paper seeks to define the key aspects of quality. In doing so, fitting examples from the field of Human Resource Management (HRM) will be used to exemplify each of the defined dimensions

Performance

According to Seidel et al. (2009), performance simply refers to the assessment of whether a product or service has performed as it is purposed to do. In assessing performance, an evaluation has to be done on the strengths and weaknesses of the product or service then an overall rating is done as to whether it performed or not.

For example, in HR Management, performance can be measured by assessing whether the workers of a company served its clients appropriately. From a managerial perspective, performance majorly entails profitability by the company, satisfaction of clients and satisfaction of the workers (Pilbeam & Corbridge, 2006).

Just like the name suggests, features refer to the specific attributes, traits or characteristics of a product or service that enables it to serve its intended purpose (Gibbs, 2010). Other than enabling a product or service to serve its purpose in terms of performance, features also play the irreplaceable role of defining a particular product or service in aspects such as brand management.

A good example of such is the difference in features of phones from companies like Nokia, Apple and Samsung. For efficacy in HR Management, there has to be close coordination between the managers, workers and clients so that products and services are tailored with the appropriate features that meet the needs of the target market (Seidel et al., 2009).

Reliability

With regards to HR Management, reliability emphasizes on the trustworthiness or dependability of a product of service over a given period of time. In assessing the quality, a product or service must be able to perform as is required over a given period of time while intermittently being able to avoid unnecessary brake-downs, failures and down-times (Gibbs, 2010).

For example, reliability of a HR manager can be assessed by his ability to perform his duties in a dependable way over a particular duration. Just like features, reliability goes a long way in portraying a company image thus should be keenly considered by those in charge of quality issues in the company.

Conformance

This dimension of quality answers the question; does a product or service conform to the required features or specifications? Conformance can be based on various aspects of quality. For example, some products or services are specifically designed to conform to reliability whereas others are simply for performance. In HR Management, conformance is sometimes used to refer to the ability of a product or service to match up with the requirements in the market (Bratton & Gold, 2007).

For instance, based on the ever increasing relevance and importance of IT (Information and Technology) issues in today’s business-oriented world; most recruitment personnel in companies have made it mandatory for the prospective workers to have basic knowledge in IT. In this regard, the need to have IT-compliant workers is viewed as a form of compliance to the elemental importance of knowledge in IT.

In most occasions, durability is viewed as a subset of reliability. This is majorly based on the relevance of the aspect of time. However, unlike reliability which stresses more-or-less on performance, durability is chiefly concerned with the quality of a product or service based on its ability to function effectively and last over a long period of time. Additionally, durability strongly considers issues such as tare and ware of a product.

The durability of a product hugely determines crucial aspects of quality such as warranty. As a general rule, products or services that are durable tend to have longer warranties than those with less durability. Based on such knowledge on durability, HR Managers can easily tailor their products and services to be durable so as to attract and retain as many customers as possible (Pilbeam & Corbridge, 2006).

Serviceability

Serviceability simply refers to the ease in maintenance of a product or service. Most products that are reliable and durable witness less functionality and performance problems thus easily serviceable. It is worth noting that, based on their simplistic features or components, some products are easy to maintain.

For example, vehicles tend to be more difficult to service when compared to motorcycles. This ease or difficulty of product maintenance is also referred to as serviceability. For HR Managers, serviceability is not only vital in terms of maintenance and repair of products for performance of these products but it also helps in cost-efficacy since well maintained products are less faulty thus less need to incur costs in repairing or maintaining them.

Aesthetics refer to the outward beauty of a product or service. In today’s world, beauty plays an important role in marketing of products or services. It is based on this reason that HR Managers in most, if not all, companies usually strive to create aesthetic products and services attract clients (Gibbs, 2010). Tare and ware often destroys the aesthetic value of a product. It is during such instances that aspects of quality such as serviceability come in handy in-terms of conducting maintenance and repairs.

Perceived Quality

The manner in which human beings perceive things greatly determines how they get to deal with day-to-day endeavors. Aptly put in the words of Pereira (2008), “perception is reality”, in other words, our perceptions determine our realities. Needless to say, different people perceive different things in different ways based on differences in cultures, beliefs or even religious backgrounds. These differences hugely determine how these people interpret the quality of certain products or services.

For example, conservative societies tend to appreciate “decent” clothing like full dresses for women. In the permissive societies, decency plays a very minor role and that’s the reason women in such societies can get to walk in the streets with very exposing clothes in the name of fashion. Consequently, HR Managers should preliminarily be aware of the perceptions of their clients. Once they have firm background knowledge on the people targeted by their products and services, it will be relatively easy to serve them fittingly.

In most instances, value and quality are often used synonymously and interchangeably since they tend to refer to the same thing. The value of a product or service is usually based on almost all the dimensions of quality that have been discussed above.

The distinguishing feature that separates value from quality is that, in a good number of instances, value hugely relies on individual perceptions and the sentimental or emotional element of products or services. On the other hand, quality tends to be a combination of all the aforementioned aspects balanced in a more-or-less universally accepted way.

Over time, HR Managers have been able to study the perceptions and values of individuals or groups of people in regards to quality and it has been found that the value of a product can be easily created by market controllers when compared to other aspects such as durability. Through such mechanisms, products or services whose quality is spiraling downwards can be easily rejuvenated by these HR Managers (Adams & Goldbard, 2002).

From the discussions above, it is eminently evident that all the key dimensions discussed herein are interrelated in one way or another. The success of one dimension hugely determines the success of the other. So, if overall efficacy is to be witnessed in terms of quality of products or services, HR Managers, and other concerned parties, must find a way of ensuring that all these dimensions of quality are equally facilitated.

Adams, D., & Goldbard, A. (2002). Community, culture and globalization . New York: Rockefeller Foundation.

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2007). Human resource management: theory and practice (4 th ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Gibbs, G. (2010). Dimensions of quality . Web.

Pereira, R. (2008). 8 dimensions of quality. Web.

Pilbeam, S., & Corbridge, M. (2006). People resourcing: contemporary hrm in practice . London, UK: Prentice Hall.

Seidel, S., Tishman, S., Winner, E., Hetland, L., & Palmer, P. (2009). The qualities of quality: Understanding excellence in arts education . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2019, May 13). The Key Dimensions of Quality. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-key-dimensions-of-quality-essay/

"The Key Dimensions of Quality." IvyPanda , 13 May 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/the-key-dimensions-of-quality-essay/.

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1. IvyPanda . "The Key Dimensions of Quality." May 13, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-key-dimensions-of-quality-essay/.

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IvyPanda . "The Key Dimensions of Quality." May 13, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-key-dimensions-of-quality-essay/.

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Stasis Theory

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Introduction

Stasis theory is a four-question, pre-writing (invention) process developed in ancient Greece by Aristotle and Hermagoras. Later, the stases were refined by Roman rhetoricians, such as Cicero, Quintilian, and Hermogenes. Working through the four stasis questions encourages knowledge building that is important for research, writing, and for working in teams. Stasis theory helps writers conduct critical analyses of the issues they are investigating.

Specifically, stasis theory asks writers to investigate and try to determine:

• The facts (conjecture)
• The meaning or nature of the issue (definition)
• The seriousness of the issue (quality)
• The plan of action (policy).

The four basic stasis categories may be broken down into a number of questions and subcategories to help researchers, writers, and people working together in teams to build information and compose communication. The stases also help people to agree on conclusions, and they help identify where people do not agree. Here are the stases and some questions you can ask to help you conduct research, write, and work toward solving problems:

• Did something happen?
• What are the facts?
• Is there a problem/issue?
• How did it begin and what are its causes?
• What changed to create the problem/issue?
• Can it be changed?

It may also be useful to ask critical questions of your own research and conclusions:

• Where did we obtain our data and are these sources reliable?
• How do we know they're reliable?
• What is the nature of the problem/issue?
• What exactly is the problem/issue?
• What kind of a problem/issue is it?
• To what larger class of things or events does it belong?
• What are its parts, and how are they related?
• Who/what is influencing our definition of this problem/issue?
• How/why are these sources/beliefs influencing our definition?
• Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
• How serious is the problem/issue?
• Whom might it affect (stakeholders)?
• What happens if we don't do anything?
• What are the costs of solving the problem/issue?
• Who/what is influencing our determination of the seriousness of this problem/issue?
• How/why are these sources/beliefs influencing our determination?
• Should action be taken?
• Who should be involved in helping to solve the problem/address the issue?
• What should be done about this problem?
• What needs to happen to solve this problem/address this issue?
• Who/what is influencing our determination of what to do about this problem/issue?

Note: Related to stasis theory are the six journalistic questions (1) Who? (2) What? (3) Where? (4) When? (5) Why? (6) How? Lawyers also move through a similar knowledge building process known as IRAC: (1) Issue; (2) Rules; (3) Application; (4) Conclusion.

Achieving Stasis

Achieving stasis means that parties involved in a dialogue about a given issue have reached consensus on (or agreed upon) the information and conclusions in one or more of the stases. In ancient Rome, if legal disputants could not agree with the presented information in one of the stases, the argument would stop (arrest) and plaintiffs would attempt to agree (achieve stasis or find common ground) within the disputed information. For an example of how team members can work toward stasis, refer to the Stasis Theory for Teamwork page.

It is also important to achieve stasis with the issue you are investigating. Put another way, if you are trying to solve the parking problem on your campus, it will not do anyone any good to suggest that students stop smoking. The solution has nothing to do with (does not achieve stasis with) the issue at hand.

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• What is Quality? – Different Perspectives

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Quality refers to a set of characteristics expected from products or services. It is a combination of various factors such as design, performance, reliability , safety, efficiency, effectiveness, economy and timeliness. In other words, quality means conformance with specific standards. It also implies a measure of how well a product or service meets its purpose.

KEY Takeaways

• Each stakeholder looks at quality through their own lens. Each stakeholder considers different aspects while defining quality. 
• When you ask employees, suppliers, customers and society about quality, they give very different views.
• There is no one way of defining quality, it depends on who is defining quality.

In this post, we will look at the definition of quality from the point of view of various stakeholders.

1) Employees' perspective

Employees define quality as their perception of the overall value they get from working in an organization. This includes the following aspects:

• Knowing clearly what is expected of them
• Feeling proud of the work ( job satisfaction )
• Ability to earn more money than elsewhere.
• Ability to improve processes and ability to make changes (empowerment)

2) Organization's perspective

Organizations define quality as the level of customer satisfaction, leading to higher profits and market share. They also consider the following aspects when defining quality:

• Long term profits
• Being market leader
• Meeting specifications
• Better client satisfaction
• Cost-effectiveness.
• Reliability

3) Customer's perspective

The customer defines quality as the extent to which they get what they want from the organization. Customers consider the following aspects:

• Getting a good product or service
• Low maintenance
• Free from deficiencies
• "wow" effect

4) Supplier's Perspective

Suppliers define quality as the degree of conformity between the delivered goods and the required specifications. They consider the following aspects:

• Technical compliance and acceptance by the buyer
• Reduced variation
• Doing it right the first time
• Timely delivery

5) Society's perspective

Society defines quality as the extent of social benefits derived from the organization. It considers the following aspects: 

• Durable products
• Employment opportunities
• Low pollution
• Social responsibility
• Environmental sustainability

It can be concluded that there is no single definition of quality but rather multiple perspectives on the same concept. The above definitions show that quality is not just about delivering high-quality products or services. Instead, it is a complex phenomenon that involves many different stakeholders. There is no one way to define quality. It varies according to the stakeholder involved.

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How to write a quality college essay.

By Steve Aedy

Essay writing is an essential part of college life. Some students will be lucky enough to have professors who will give them guidance on what makes a good essay. Others will be left to their own devices to figure it out as they fumble along. Learning to write good essays means learning how to research a subject and craft an argument. These are skills that will serve you well after college is over.

But quality essay writing has other elements too, such as making sure your essay “flows”, is free of grammar and spelling errors and has a tightly woven argument. Here are some tips on how you can improve your essay writing:

Read a lot of essays. Reading essays other people have written is a great way to study essay writing. Don’t just read for fun, read critically. Look at the author’s writing style: how do they introduce their topic, what tools do they use to formulate their argument? Is it effective? Could it be done better? If so, how? Did they leave anything important out? What would you include that they didn’t? The more you read essays, the more familiar you’ll become with different writing styles and the better your essays will become.

Do a lot of research. While you may have a strong opinion about a topic, it’s best to look to the experts in the subject to find out what they have to say. That’s basically the definition of research. Different scholars may have opposing views on the subject. You can explore these arguments in your essay to present the reader with a more complete view of the topic. An example is this article in which various experts express their arguments on whether or not Shakespeare was a Catholic. You may notice that the author does not express his personal opinion, but rather presents the arguments of both sides of the issue using quotes from authorities on the subject.

Use a thesaurus. Oftentimes, students get caught using the same word over and over again. This can become boring for the reader and sets a monotonous tone for your essay. In the above section on research, I used three different terms for the same idea: experts, scholars and authorities. A thesaurus is a great tool for helping you find new ways to express the same idea. Merriam-Webster has a combined dictionary-thesaurus resource and thesaurus.com has the largest word bank on the web.

Use transition words. Transition words help your essay flow. The cadence and rhythm of transition words are what make your essay enjoyable to read. While the quality of your research and your information are important, it’s also important how you present them. Transition words add finesse to your essay and help guide the reader through your argument, allowing them to follow along. Here’s a great list of 100 transition words to use in your essays.

Leave time to edit. Editing takes time. Literally. It’s like baking a cake. You mix all the ingredients and put it in the oven, you let it rise, then you let it cool. Then , you eat it. You need to leave some time for your thoughts to cool so you can have some perspective on what you wrote. This is essential to the editing process. Leave at least a few hours between when you wrote your last sentence to when you go over it for an edit. During that time, your brain will have a chance to refresh itself, making it easier to spot holes in your logic, spelling and punctuation errors and other issues. You can also use these tips for editing.

Proofread. Make sure your essay contains correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. If you’re not confident in your own proofreading skills, have a friend look it over for you. One thing that helps you spot errors is reading your essay out loud. The eye often autocorrects when you’re reading to yourself, but reading out loud is a way to turn off the autocorrect and allow you to see what’s actually on the page. It’s a good practice to cultivate. Want to brush up on your grammar skills? Check out this list of common grammar mistakes.

Good luck crafting A+ essays and happy writing!

Steve Aedy is a professional writer, editor and passionate blogger. He provides essay writing assistance at Fresh Essays and covers academic writing and education in his articles. Feel free to circle him on Google+ .

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Essay and dissertation writing skills

Planning your essay

Writing your introduction

Structuring your essay

• Writing essays in science subjects
• Brief video guides to support essay planning and writing
• Writing extended essays and dissertations
• Planning your dissertation writing time

Structuring your dissertation

• Top tips for writing longer pieces of work

Advice on planning and writing essays and dissertations

University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question. This means that the starting point for writing a strong essay is to first unpick the question and to then use this to plan your essay before you start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).

A really good starting point for you are these short, downloadable Tips for Successful Essay Writing and Answering the Question resources. Both resources will help you to plan your essay, as well as giving you guidance on how to distinguish between different sorts of essay questions. 

You may find it helpful to watch this seven-minute video on six tips for essay writing which outlines how to interpret essay questions, as well as giving advice on planning and structuring your writing:

Different disciplines will have different expectations for essay structure and you should always refer to your Faculty or Department student handbook or course Canvas site for more specific guidance.

However, broadly speaking, all essays share the following features:

Essays need an introduction to establish and focus the parameters of the discussion that will follow. You may find it helpful to divide the introduction into areas to demonstrate your breadth and engagement with the essay question. You might define specific terms in the introduction to show your engagement with the essay question; for example, ‘This is a large topic which has been variously discussed by many scientists and commentators. The principle tension is between the views of X and Y who define the main issues as…’ Breadth might be demonstrated by showing the range of viewpoints from which the essay question could be considered; for example, ‘A variety of factors including economic, social and political, influence A and B. This essay will focus on the social and economic aspects, with particular emphasis on…..’

Watch this two-minute video to learn more about how to plan and structure an introduction:

The main body of the essay should elaborate on the issues raised in the introduction and develop an argument(s) that answers the question. It should consist of a number of self-contained paragraphs each of which makes a specific point and provides some form of evidence to support the argument being made. Remember that a clear argument requires that each paragraph explicitly relates back to the essay question or the developing argument.

• Conclusion: An essay should end with a conclusion that reiterates the argument in light of the evidence you have provided; you shouldn’t use the conclusion to introduce new information.
• References: You need to include references to the materials you’ve used to write your essay. These might be in the form of footnotes, in-text citations, or a bibliography at the end. Different systems exist for citing references and different disciplines will use various approaches to citation. Ask your tutor which method(s) you should be using for your essay and also consult your Department or Faculty webpages for specific guidance in your discipline. 

Essay writing in science subjects

If you are writing an essay for a science subject you may need to consider additional areas, such as how to present data or diagrams. This five-minute video gives you some advice on how to approach your reading list, planning which information to include in your answer and how to write for your scientific audience – the video is available here:

A PDF providing further guidance on writing science essays for tutorials is available to download.

Short videos to support your essay writing skills

There are many other resources at Oxford that can help support your essay writing skills and if you are short on time, the Oxford Study Skills Centre has produced a number of short (2-minute) videos covering different aspects of essay writing, including:

• Approaching different types of essay questions  
• Structuring your essay  
• Writing an introduction  
• Making use of evidence in your essay writing  
• Writing your conclusion

Extended essays and dissertations

Longer pieces of writing like extended essays and dissertations may seem like quite a challenge from your regular essay writing. The important point is to start with a plan and to focus on what the question is asking. A PDF providing further guidance on planning Humanities and Social Science dissertations is available to download.

Planning your time effectively

Try not to leave the writing until close to your deadline, instead start as soon as you have some ideas to put down onto paper. Your early drafts may never end up in the final work, but the work of committing your ideas to paper helps to formulate not only your ideas, but the method of structuring your writing to read well and conclude firmly.

Although many students and tutors will say that the introduction is often written last, it is a good idea to begin to think about what will go into it early on. For example, the first draft of your introduction should set out your argument, the information you have, and your methods, and it should give a structure to the chapters and sections you will write. Your introduction will probably change as time goes on but it will stand as a guide to your entire extended essay or dissertation and it will help you to keep focused.

The structure of  extended essays or dissertations will vary depending on the question and discipline, but may include some or all of the following:

• The background information to - and context for - your research. This often takes the form of a literature review.
• Explanation of the focus of your work.
• Explanation of the value of this work to scholarship on the topic.
• List of the aims and objectives of the work and also the issues which will not be covered because they are outside its scope.

The main body of your extended essay or dissertation will probably include your methodology, the results of research, and your argument(s) based on your findings.

The conclusion is to summarise the value your research has added to the topic, and any further lines of research you would undertake given more time or resources. 

Tips on writing longer pieces of work

Approaching each chapter of a dissertation as a shorter essay can make the task of writing a dissertation seem less overwhelming. Each chapter will have an introduction, a main body where the argument is developed and substantiated with evidence, and a conclusion to tie things together. Unlike in a regular essay, chapter conclusions may also introduce the chapter that will follow, indicating how the chapters are connected to one another and how the argument will develop through your dissertation.

For further guidance, watch this two-minute video on writing longer pieces of work . 

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• Business Essentials

Quality Management: Definition Plus Example

What Is Quality Management?

Quality management is the act of overseeing all activities and tasks that must be accomplished to maintain a desired level of excellence. This includes the determination of a quality policy, creating and implementing quality planning and assurance, and quality control and quality improvement. It is also referred to as total quality management (TQM) .

In general, quality management focuses on long-term goals through the implementation of short-term initiatives.

Investopedia / Jessica Olah

Key Takeaways

• Quality management is the act of overseeing all activities and tasks needed to maintain a desired level of excellence.
• Quality management includes the determination of a quality policy, creating and implementing quality planning and assurance, and quality control and quality improvement.
• TQM requires that all stakeholders in a business work together to improve processes, products, services and the culture of the company itself.

Understanding Quality Management

At its core, TQM is a business philosophy that champions the idea that the long-term success of a company comes from customer satisfaction and loyalty. TQM requires that all stakeholders in a business work together to improve processes, products, services and the culture of the company itself.

While TQM seems like an intuitive process, it came about as a revolutionary idea. The 1920s saw the rise in reliance on statistics and statistical theory in business, and the first-ever known control chart was made in 1924. People began to build on theories of statistics and ended up collectively creating the method of statistical process control (SPC). However, it wasn't successfully implemented in a business setting until the 1950s.

It was during this time that Japan was faced with a harsh industrial economic environment. Its citizens were thought to be largely illiterate, and its products were known to be of low quality. Key businesses in Japan saw these deficiencies and looked to make a change. Relying on pioneers in statistical thinking, companies such as Toyota integrated the idea of quality management and quality control into their production processes.

By the end of the 1960s, Japan completely flipped its narrative and became known as one of the most efficient export countries, with some of the most admired products. Effective quality management resulted in better products that could be produced at a cheaper price.

Real-World Example of Quality Management

The most famous example of TQM is Toyota's implementation of the Kanban system. A kanban is a physical signal that creates a chain reaction, resulting in a specific action. Toyota used this idea to implement its just-in-time (JIT) inventory process. To make its assembly line more efficient, the company decided to keep just enough inventory on hand to fill customer orders as they were generated.

Therefore, all parts of Toyota's assembly line are assigned a physical card that has an associated inventory number. Right before a part is installed in a car, the card is removed and moved up the supply chain, effectively requesting another of the same part. This allows the company to keep its inventory lean and not overstock unnecessary assets.

National Library of Medicine. " Walter A Shewhart, 1924, and the Hawthorne Factory ."

Toyota. " Toyota Production System ."

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Busse R, Klazinga N, Panteli D, et al., editors. Improving healthcare quality in Europe: Characteristics, effectiveness and implementation of different strategies [Internet]. Copenhagen (Denmark): European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies; 2019. (Health Policy Series, No. 53.)

Improving healthcare quality in Europe: Characteristics, effectiveness and implementation of different strategies [Internet].

1 an introduction to healthcare quality: defining and explaining its role in health systems.

Reinhard Busse , Dimitra Panteli , and Wilm Quentin .

1.1. The relevance of quality in health policy

Quality of care is one of the most frequently quoted principles of health policy, and it is currently high up on the agenda of policy-makers at national, European and international levels (EC, 2016 ; OECD, 2017 ; WHO, 2018 ; WHO/OECD/World Bank, 2018 ). At the national level, addressing the issue of healthcare quality may be motivated by various reasons – ranging from a general commitment to high-quality healthcare provision as a public good or the renewed focus on patient outcomes in the context of popular value-based healthcare ideas to the identification of specific healthcare quality problems ( see Box 1.1 ).

Reasons for (re)focusing on quality of care.

At the European level, the European Council’s Conclusions on the Common Values and Principles in European Union Health Systems highlight that “the overarching values of universality, access to good quality care, equity, and solidarity have been widely accepted in the work of the different EU institutions” (European Council, 2006 ). The European Commission (EC, 2014 ; EC, 2016 ) also recognizes quality as an important component of health system performance (i.e. the extent to which health systems meet their goals; we return to the link between quality and performance later in the chapter).

At the international level, quality is receiving increasing attention in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as the SDGs include the imperative to “achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all”. This is reflected in two World Health Organization (WHO) reports published in 2018, a handbook for national quality policies and strategies (WHO, 2018 ) and a guide aiming to facilitate the global understanding of quality as part of universal health coverage aspirations (WHO/OECD/World Bank, 2018 ).

A previous study on quality of care by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (Legido-Quigley et al., 2008 ) noted that the literature on quality of care in health systems was already very extensive and difficult to systematize ten years ago – and this is even truer today. Research is available on a vast range of approaches or strategies for assuring or improving quality of care, often focusing on certain organizations (hospitals, health centres, practices) or particular areas of care (emergency care, maternal care, etc.) (Flodgren, Gonçalves & Pomey, 2016 ; Ivers et al., 2014 ; Houle et al., 2012 ; Gharaveis et al., 2018 ). This body of evidence has contributed to a better understanding of the effectiveness of particular interventions in particular settings for particular groups of patients. However, the available literature rarely addresses the question of the superiority of individual strategies and usually does not provide guidance to policy-makers on which strategy to implement in a particular setting.

In addition, despite the vast literature base and the universal acknowledgement of its importance in health systems, there is no common understanding of the term “quality of care”, and there is disagreement about what it encompasses. The definition of quality often differs across contexts, disciplinary paradigms and levels of analysis. Yet, as prescribed by the seminal work of Avedis Donabedian ( 1980 ), assessing and improving quality predicates an understanding of what it entails. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to provide clarity about the definition of quality and its relation to health system performance as well as introduce the level of analysis adopted in this book. The chapter concludes with a brief introduction to the aims and the structure of the book.

1.2. Definitions of healthcare quality

Early definitions of healthcare quality were shaped almost exclusively by health professionals and health service researchers. However, there has been increasing recognition that the preferences and views of patients, the public and other key players are highly relevant as well (Legido-Quigley et al., 2008 ). Table 1.1 summarizes some of the most influential definitions of healthcare quality from different contexts, starting with the definition of Donabedian ( 1980 ) and ending with the definition provided by WHO’s handbook for national quality policy and strategy (WHO, 2018 ).

Selected definitions of quality, 1980–2018.

Donabedian defined quality in general terms as “the ability to achieve desirable objectives using legitimate means”. This definition reflects the fact that the term “quality” is not specific to healthcare and is used by many different people in various sectors of society. People use the term quality when they describe a range of positive aspects of hospitals and doctors – but also when they speak about food or cars. In fact, the widespread use of the term quality explains part of the confusion around the concept of healthcare quality when policy-makers or researchers use the term for all kinds of positive or desirable attributes of health systems. However, Donabedian also provides a more specific definition of quality of care, stating that it is “care which is expected to maximize an inclusive measure of patient welfare, after one has taken account of the balance of expected gains and losses that attend the process of care in all its parts” (Donabedian, 1980 ).

Donabedian’s definition is interesting because it specifies that quality of care is related to the process of care in all its parts and that the goal of high-quality care is to maximize patient welfare. Patient welfare certainly includes the health status of the patient (later specified as encompassing physical, physiological and psychological dimensions; see also Donabedian, Wheeler & Wyszewianski, 1982 ). However, the concept of patient welfare is also in line with an approach that considers what patients find important. Furthermore, Donabedian’s definition recognizes the natural limits of quality and its improvement, by highlighting that gains and losses are expected in the process of care.

A decade later the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in the US defined quality of care as “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge” ( see Table 1.1 ). At first glance, the IOM’s definition’s focus on “health outcomes” seems to be more restrictive than Donabedian’s notion of “patient welfare”. However, in their elaboration of the definition, the IOM specified that these “desired” health outcomes were expected to reflect patient satisfaction and well-being next to broad health status or quality-of-life measures. The IOM’s definition has inspired the understanding of quality by many other organizations in the USA and internationally.

In contrast to other popular definitions of quality in healthcare around that time (including Donabedian’s), which mainly referred to medical or patient care, the IOM’s definition set the focus on health services in general (as “health care implies a broad set of services, including acute, chronic, preventive, restorative, and rehabilitative care, which are delivered in many different settings by many different health care providers”) and on individuals and populations (rather than patients), thus strengthening the link of quality with prevention and health promotion. Finally, the concept of “current professional knowledge” both reinforced the movement for evidence-based care and highlighted that the concept of quality is dynamic and continuously evolving. In that sense, providers can only be assessed against the current state of knowledge as a service that is considered “good quality” at any given time may be regarded as “poor quality” twenty years later in light of newer insights and alternatives.

The definition of quality by the Council of Europe included in Table 1.1 , published seven years after the IOM’s definition as part of the Council’s recommendations on quality improvement systems for EU Member States, is the first to explicitly include considerations about the aspect of patient safety. It argues that quality of care is not only “the degree to which the treatment dispensed increases the patient’s chances of achieving the desired results”, which basically repeats the IOM definition, but it goes on to specify that high-quality care also “diminishes the chances of undesirable results” (The Council of Europe, 1997 ). In the same document the Council of Europe also explicitly defines a range of dimensions of quality of care – but, surprisingly, does not include safety among them.

The final two definitions included in Table 1.1 are from the European Commission ( 2010 ) and from WHO ( 2018 ). In contrast to those discussed so far, both of these definitions describe quality by specifying three main dimensions or attributes: effectiveness, safety and responsiveness or patient-centredness. It is not by chance that both definitions are similar as they were both strongly influenced by the work of the OECD’s Health Care Quality Indicators (HCQI) project (Arah et al., 2006 ; see below). These final two definitions are interesting also because they list a number of further attributes of healthcare and healthcare systems that are related to quality of care, including access, timeliness, equity and efficiency. However, they note that these other elements are either “part of a wider debate” (EC, 2010 ) or “necessary to realize the benefits of quality health care” (WHO, 2018 ), explicitly distinguishing core dimensions of quality from other attributes of good healthcare.

In fact, the dimensions of quality of care have been the focus of considerable debate over the past forty years. The next section focuses on this international discussion around the dimensions of quality of care.

1.3. Dimensions of healthcare quality

As mentioned earlier, Donabedian posited that assessing and improving quality of care presupposes an understanding of what it does and does not entail. Different definitions of quality often specify relatively long lists of various attributes that they recognize as part of quality. Table 1.2 provides an overview of the dimensions of quality mentioned by ten selected definitions (including those in Table 1.1 ).

Quality dimensions in ten selected definitions of quality, 1980–2018.

The table shows that effectiveness, patient safety and responsiveness/patient-centredness seem to have become universally accepted as core dimensions of quality of care. However, many definitions – also beyond those shown in Table 1.2 – include attributes such as appropriateness, timeliness, efficiency, access and equity. This is confusing and often blurs the line between quality of care and overall health system performance. In an attempt to order these concepts, the table classifies its entries into core dimensions of quality, subdimensions that contribute to core dimensions of quality, and other dimensions of health system performance.

This distinction is based on the framework of the OECD HCQI project, which was first published in 2006 (Arah et al., 2006 ). The purpose of the framework was to guide the development of indicators for international comparisons of healthcare quality. The HCQI project selected the three dimensions of effectiveness, safety and patient-centredness as the core dimensions of healthcare quality, arguing that other attributes, such as appropriateness, continuity, timeliness and acceptability, could easily be accommodated within these three dimensions. For example, appropriateness could be mapped into effectiveness, whereas continuity and acceptability could be absorbed into patient-centredness. Accessibility, efficiency and equity were also considered to be important goals of health systems. However, the HCQI team argued – referring to the IOM ( 1990 ) definition – that only effectiveness, safety and responsiveness are attributes of healthcare that directly contribute to “increasing the likelihood of desired outcomes”.

Some definitions included in Table 1.2 were developed for specific purposes and this is reflected in their content. As mentioned above, the Council of Europe ( 1997 ) definition was developed to guide the development of quality improvement systems. Therefore, it is not surprising that it includes the assessment of the process of care as an element of quality on top of accessibility, efficacy, effectiveness, efficiency and patient satisfaction.

In 2001 the IOM published “Crossing the Quality Chasm”, an influential report which specified that healthcare should pursue six major aims: it should be safe, effective, patient-centred, timely, efficient and equitable. These six principles have been adopted by many organizations inside and outside the United States as the six dimensions of quality, despite the fact that the IOM itself clearly set them out as “performance expectations” (“a list of performance characteristics that, if addressed and improved, would lead to better achievement of that overarching purpose. To this end, the committee proposes six specific aims for improvement. Health care should be …”; IOM, 2001 ). For example, WHO ( 2006b ) adapted these principles as quality dimensions in its guidance for making strategic choices in health systems, transforming the concept of timeliness into “accessibility” to include geographic availability and progressivity of health service provision. However, this contributed to the confusion and debate about quality versus other dimensions of performance.

The European Commission’s Expert Panel on Effective Ways for Investing in Health Care also opted for a broad consideration of quality, including the dimensions of appropriateness, equity and efficiency in its recommendations for the future EU agenda on quality of care in 2014 (EC, 2014 ). Similarly, WHO ( 2016 ) used timeliness (as originally described by the IOM) instead of accessibility (as used by WHO in 2006b ), and added integration in healthcare provision as a dimension of high-quality care, in line with the approach taken by the Health Care Council of Canada (Health Care Council of Canada, 2013 ). The understanding of integrated care as part of patient-centredness can also be found in the updated version of the HCQI framework published by the OECD in 2015 (Carinci et al., 2015 ).

This long and inconsistent list of different dimensions inevitably contributes to the confusion about the concept of quality of care. However, conceptual clarity about quality is crucial, as it will influence the types of healthcare policies and strategies that are adopted to improve it. Part of the confusion around the demarcation between quality of care and health system performance originates from insufficiently distinguishing between intermediate and final goals of health systems and between different levels at which quality can be addressed.

The next section aims to provide more clarity about the role of quality in health systems and health systems performance assessment by highlighting the difference between healthcare service quality and healthcare system quality. In so doing, the section sets the background for the way quality is understood in the remainder of the book.

1.4. The role of quality in health systems and health system performance assessment

Numerous frameworks have been developed over the past 20 years with the aim of facilitating a better understanding of health systems and enabling health system performance assessments (Papanicolas, 2013 ; Fekri, Macarayan & Klazinga, 2018 ). Most of these frameworks implicitly or explicitly include quality as an important health system goal but they differ in how they define quality and how they describe its contribution to overall health system goals. A particularly influential framework is the WHO ( 2006a ) “building blocks” framework for health systems strengthening ( see Fig. 1.1 ). The framework conceptualizes health systems in terms of building blocks, including service delivery, health workforce, information, medical products, financing and leadership/governance. In addition, the framework defines quality and safety as intermediate goals of health systems, together with access and coverage. Achievement of these intermediate goals will ultimately contribute to achieving overall health system goals of improved health, responsiveness, financial protection and improved efficiency.

Quality is an intermediate goal of health systems. Source: WHO, 2006

It is worth noting that quality and safety are mentioned separately in the framework, while most of the definitions of quality discussed above include safety as a core dimension of quality. For more information about the relationship between quality and safety, see also Chapter 11 .

As mentioned above, Donabedian defined quality in general terms as “the ability to achieve desirable objectives using legitimate means” (Donabedian, 1980 ). Combining Donabedian’s general definition of quality with the WHO building blocks framework ( Fig. 1.1 ), one could argue that a health system is “of high quality” when it achieves these (overall and intermediate) goals using legitimate means. In addition, Donabedian highlighted that it is important to distinguish between different levels when assessing healthcare quality (Donabedian, 1988 ). He distinguished between four levels at which quality can be assessed – individual practitioners, the care setting, the care received (and implemented) by the patient, and the care received by the community. Others have conceptualized different levels at which policy developments with regard to quality may take place: the health system (or “macro”) level, the organizational (“meso”) level and the clinical (“micro”) level (Øvretveit, 2001 ).

While the exact definition of levels is not important, it is essential to recognize that the definition of quality changes depending on the level at which it is assessed. For simplicity purposes, we condense Donabedian’s four tiers into two conceptually distinct levels ( see Fig. 1.2 ). The first, narrower level is the level of health services, which may include preventive, acute, chronic and palliative care (Arah et al., 2006 ). At this level, there seems to be an emerging consensus that “quality of care is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations are effective, safe and people-centred” (WHO, 2018 ).

Two levels of healthcare quality.

The second level is the level of the healthcare system as a whole. Healthcare systems are “of high quality” when they achieve the overall goals of improved health, responsiveness, financial protection and efficiency. Many of the definitions of healthcare quality included in Table 1.2 seem to be concerned with healthcare system quality as they include these attributes among stated quality dimensions. However, such a broad definition of healthcare quality can be problematic in the context of quality improvement: while it is undoubtedly important to address access and efficiency in health systems, confusion about the focus of quality improvement initiatives may distract attention away from those strategies that truly contribute to increasing effectiveness, safety and patient-centredness of care.

To avoid confusion and achieve conceptual clarity, we therefore propose reserving the use of the term “healthcare quality” for the first level, i.e. the healthcare services level. Concerning the second level, i.e. the health(care) system level, there seems to be an international trend towards using the term “health system performance” to describe the degree to which health systems achieve their overall and intermediate goals.

Frameworks to assess health system performance by the OECD (Carinci, 2015 ) and the European Commission ( 2014 ) include healthcare quality at the service level as a core dimension – besides other elements of performance such as accessibility, efficiency and population health. In other words, health system performance is a better term for health system “quality” (according to Donabedian’s broad definition of the term), and healthcare service quality is one of its core components.

The relationship between quality and the achievement of final health system goals is aptly illustrated in another, relatively recent framework for health system performance comparisons ( Fig. 1.3 ). The framework has condensed the four intermediate goals of the WHO building blocks model into only two: access (including coverage) and quality (including safety). It posits that population health outcomes and system responsiveness depend on the extent to which the entire population has access to care and the extent to which health services are of good quality (i.e. they are effective, safe and patient-centred). The resources, financial or otherwise, required to produce final health system goals determine efficiency in the system.

The link between health system performance and quality of healthcare services. Source: Busse, 2017. Note: *Financial protection is both an enabling condition for access as well as a final outcome.

The framework highlights that health systems have to ensure both access to care and quality in order to achieve the final health system goals. However, it is important to distinguish conceptually between access and quality because very different strategies are needed to improve access (for example, improving financial protection, ensuring geographic availability of providers) than are needed to improve quality of care. This book focuses on quality and explores the potential of different strategies to improve it.

1.5. What are quality improvement strategies? Aims and structure of this book

As mentioned in the Preface, the purpose of the book is to provide a framework for understanding, measuring and ultimately improving the quality of healthcare through a variety of strategies. In general, a strategy can be viewed as an approach or plan that is designed or selected to achieve a desired outcome (for example, attain a goal or reach a solution to a problem). The 2018 WHO Handbook for National Quality Policy and Strategy differentiates between the two titular concepts by underlining that policy refers to an agreed ambition for the health system with an explicit statement of intention, i.e. a “course of action”. Accordingly, it would usually mainly outline broad priorities to be addressed rather than the concrete steps to address them. The corresponding strategy, on the other hand, provides a clear roadmap for achieving these priorities (WHO, 2018 ). In this conceptualization, a number of tools, or interventions, can be used to implement the strategy and aid in the attainment of its milestones.

For the purpose of this book, we use the term “strategy” more narrowly and in a sectoral way to denote a mechanism of action geared towards achieving specific quality assurance or improvement goals by addressing specific targets within healthcare provision (for example, health professionals, provider organizations or health technologies). For example, we consider accreditation of healthcare providers and clinical practice guidelines as quality strategies, whereas the same concepts would be described as “quality interventions”, “quality initiatives”, “quality improvement tools” or “quality improvement activities” elsewhere.

Table 1.3 summarizes a range of selected quality strategies (or interventions) and clusters them into system level strategies, institutional/organizational strategies and patient/community level strategies. This categorization follows the one used by the OECD in its Country Quality Reviews and the recent report on the economics of patient safety (OECD, 2017 ; Slawomirksi, Auraaen & Klazinga, 2017 ). Table 1.3 also includes strategies listed in the 2018 WHO Handbook (WHO, 2018 ), as well as a few others. The strategies discussed in more detail in the second part of this book are marked in grey in the table.

A selection of prominent quality strategies (marked in grey are the strategies discussed in Chapters 5 to 14 of this book).

As becomes evident in Table 1.3 , the focus of this book is on system level and organizational/institutional level strategies. Its aim is to provide guidance to policy-makers who have to make choices about investing political and economic resources into the implementation or scale-up of different options from this vast number of different strategies. The book does not attempt to rank the best quality strategies to be implemented across countries, because different strategies will need to be prioritized depending on the motivation, the identified quality improvement needs and the existing structures or initiatives already in place. Instead, it hopes (1) to provide an overview of the experience with the selected strategies to date in Europe and beyond, (2) to summarize the available evidence on their effectiveness and – where available – cost-effectiveness and the prerequisites for their implementation, and (3) to provide recommendations to policy-makers about how to select and actually implement different strategies.

The book is structured in three parts. Part I includes four chapters and deals with cross-cutting issues that are relevant for all quality strategies. Part II includes ten chapters each dealing with specific strategies. Part III focuses on overall conclusions for policy-makers.

The aim of Part I is to clarify concepts and frameworks that can help policy-makers to make sense of the different quality strategies explored in Part II . Chapter 2 introduces a comprehensive framework that enables a systematic analysis of the key characteristics of different quality strategies. Chapter 3 summarizes different approaches and data sources for measuring quality. Chapter 4 explores the role of international governance and guidance, in particular at EU level, to foster and support quality in European countries.

Part II , comprising Chapters 5 to 14 , provides clearly structured and detailed information about ten of the quality strategies presented in Table 1.3 (those marked in grey). Each chapter in Part II follows roughly the same structure, explaining the rationale of the strategy, exploring its use in Europe and summarizing the available evidence about its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. This is followed by a discussion of practical aspects related to the implementation of the strategy and conclusions for policy-makers. In addition, each chapter is accompanied by an abstract that follows the same structure as the chapter and summarizes the main points on one or two pages.

Finally, Part III concludes with the main findings from the previous parts of the book, summarizing the available evidence about quality strategies in Europe and providing recommendations for policy-makers.

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• Cite this Page Busse R, Panteli D, Quentin W. An introduction to healthcare quality: defining and explaining its role in health systems. In: Busse R, Klazinga N, Panteli D, et al., editors. Improving healthcare quality in Europe: Characteristics, effectiveness and implementation of different strategies [Internet]. Copenhagen (Denmark): European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies; 2019. (Health Policy Series, No. 53.) 1.
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• The relevance of quality in health policy
• Definitions of healthcare quality
• Dimensions of healthcare quality
• The role of quality in health systems and health system performance assessment
• What are quality improvement strategies? Aims and structure of this book

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Essay on Quality Control of Products: Top 13 Essays

After reading this essay you will learn about:- 1. Meaning and Definitions of Quality Control 2. Quality Control Organisation 3. Advantages of Quality Control 4. Quality Control for Export 5. Indian Standard Institution 6. Quality Assurance 7. Causes of Quality Failures 8. Economics of Quality 9. Product Quality Analysis 10. Quality Planning 11. Quality Improvement 12. Quality Management System 13. Role of Top Management.

• Essay on the Role of Top Management towards Quality

Essay # 1. Meaning and Definitions of Quality Control :

Quality control in its simplest term, is the control of quality during manufacturing. Both quality control and inspection are used to assure quality. Inspection is a determining function which determines raw materials, supplies, parts or finished products etc. as acceptable or unac­ceptable.

As control becomes effective, the need for inspection decreases. Quality control determines the cause for variations in the characteristics of products and gives solutions by which these variations can be controlled. It is economic in its purpose, objective in its procedure, dynamic in its operation and helpful in its treatment.

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Since variations in raw materials have large effects on the quality of in-process materials, quality control includes statistical sampling and testing before acceptance. It also includes the examination of quality characteristics in finished products so as to assure satisfactory outgoing quality.

Cooperation between the quality control group and other departments such as production, planning and inspection is of vital importance. With proper managerial support and co-opera­tion the quality control programme will be more successful.

Definitions :

In current quality control theory and practice, the meaning of “Quality” is closely allied to cost and customer needs. “Quality” may simply be defined as fitness for purpose at lowest cost.

“Quality” of any product is regarded as the degree to which it fulfills the requirements of the customer. “Quality” means degree of perfection. Quality is not absolute but it can only be judged or realized by comparing with standards. It can be determined by some characteristics namely, design, size, material, chemical composition, mechanical functioning, workmanship, finishing and other properties.

Quality of a product depends upon the application of materials, men, machines and manu­facturing conditions. The systematic control of these factors is the quality control. The quality of a product differs greatly due to these factors. For example, a skilled worker will produce prod­ucts of better quality and a less skilled worker will produce poor quality products.

Similarly better machines and better materials with satisfactory manufacturing conditions produce a better quality product. Thus, it is clear that to control the quality of product various factors which are responsible for quality are required to be controlled properly.

In the words of Alford and Beatly, “quality control” may be broadly defined as that “Indus­trial management technique by means of which products of uniform acceptable quality are manufactured.” Quality control is concerned with making things right rather than discovering and rejecting those made wrong.

“It may also be defined as the function or collection of duties which must be performed throughout the organisation in order to achieve its quality objective” or in the other words ‘Quality is every body’s business and not only the duty of the persons in the Inspection Staff.

Concluding, we can say that quality control is a technique of management for achieving required standard of products.

Factors Affecting Quality :

In addition to men, materials, machines and manufacturing conditions there are some other factors which affect the quality of product as given below:

(i) Market Research i.e. demand of purchaser.

(ii) Money i.e. capability to invest.

(iii) Management i.e. Management policies for quality level.

(iv) Production methods and product design.

Apart from these, poor packing, inappropriate transportation and poor after sales service are the areas which can cause damage to a company’s quality image. There are cases where goods of acceptable quality before transportation were downgraded on receipt by the retailer just because they had been damaged in transportation.

Modern quality control begins with an evaluation of the customer’s requirements and has a part to play at every stage from goods manufactured right through sales to a customer, who remains satisfied.  

Essay # 2. Quality Control Organisation :

Over the years, the status of the quality control organisation changed from a function merely responsible for detecting inferior or standard material to a function that establishes what are termed preventive programmes.

These programmes are designed to detect quality problems in the design stage or at any point in the manufacturing process and to follow up on corrective action.

Immediate responsibility for quality products rest with the manufacturing departments. All the activities concerning product quality are usually brought together in the organisation which may be known as inspection, quality control, quality assurance department or any other similar name.

Quality control is a staff activity since it serves the line or production department by assist­ing them in managing quality. Since the quality control function has authority delegated by management to evaluate material produced by the manufacturing department, it should not be in a position to control or dictate to the quality activity.

The quality control organisation depending upon the type of product, method of quality is sufficient enough to carry out following activities:

1. Inspection of raw material, product or processes.

2. Salvage inspection to determine rejected part and assembly disposition.

3. Records and reports maintenance.

4. Statistical quality control.

5. Gauges for inspection.

6. Design for quality control and inspection.

7. Quality control system maintenance and development.

Functions of Quality Control Department :

Quality control department has the following important functions to perform:

1. Only the products of uniform and standard quality are allowed to be sold.

2. To suggest methods and ways to prevent the manufacturing difficulties.

3. To reject the defective goods so that the products of poor quality may not reach to the customers.

4. To find out the points where the control is breaking down and investigates the causes of it.

5. To correct the rejected goods, if it is possible. This procedure is known as rehabilita­tion of defective goods.

Essay # 3. Advantages of Quality Control :

There are many advantages by controlling the product quality.

Some of them are listed below:

1. Quality of product is improved which in turn increases sales.

2. Scrap rejection and rework are minimised thus reducing wastage. So the cost of manufacturing reduces.

3. Good quality product improves reputation.

4. Inspection cost reduces to a great extent.

5. Uniformity in quality can be achieved.

6. Improvement in manufacturer and consumer relations.

7. Improvement in technical knowledge and engineering data for process development and manufacturing design.

Essay # 4. Quality Control for Export :

Today we need foreign exchange for our requirements and for repayment of our debts and services. If our products are expensive and are of sub-standard quality then the customers abroad will not buy goods from us.

Therefore, we must be able to supply goods which may meet the requirements of foreign buyers. For this purpose quality and good packing determines to a large extent the continued acceptability of the product.

At present some organisations lite Export Inspection Council of India, the Indian Stan­dards Institution, the Indian Society of Quality Control and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade are helping about this problem of quality control.

Implementation of the Export Act 1963 and the work of Export Inspection Council (set up under Export Act) have helped in planned approach towards quality control. The advice of Export Inspection Council is very helpful for pre-shipment inspection of exportable goods.

These organisations have been authorised to issue a “Certificate of Quality” after satisfying them­selves that the goods fulfill the minimum standards of quality laid down or that they are of the quality claimed by the exporter.

Essay # 5. Indian Standard Institution (I.S.I. Renamed as B.I.S.) :

To protect the interest of the consumers, Indian Standard Institution is serving in India. In most of the western countries, consumers nave formed their own associations to protect their interest. In some countries these associations, receive official support and guidance.

I.S.I, serves the consumers through Certification Marks Scheme. Under this scheme I.S.I, has been vested with the authority to grant licenses to manufacturers to apply the I.S.I, mark on their products in token of their conformity to the desired Indian Standards.

To control the quality, I.S.I, inspectors carry out sudden inspections of the factories of the licensee. Inspectors may check the incoming raw materials, outgoing finished products and may carry out necessary tests at different levels of control during production.

Thus I.S.I, mark gives guarantee to the purchaser that the goods with this mark have been manufactured under a well-defined system of quality control. From first April 1987 it has been renamed as Bureau of Indian Standards.

Essay # 6. Quality Assurance :

Inspection, quality control and quality assurance:.

Inspection is a process of sorting good from a lot. Whereas Quality Control is aimed at prevention of defects at the very source, relies on effective feedback system, and procedure for corrective action.

In Quality control programme, inspection data are used to take prompt corrective action to check the defects. For this purpose, detailed studies are conducted to find out that from where the defect is originated, and how to prevent it, may it be at manufacturing, design, purchase of raw materials, despatch or storage stage.

Quality Assurance means to provide the necessary confidence to the customer as well as to top management that all concerned are carrying out their job effectively and that the product quality is as per customer’s satisfaction with economy. Quality products can be produced only when all the departments fully participate and co-operate.

Presently, customers demand for higher quality and reliability. It has been felt that even a single defect whatever may be the reasons, result in economic loss.

These reasons have neces­sitated the need for total quality and reliability programmes to cover wide spectrum of func­tions and various areas of product design, production system design through various states of material, manufacture and commitment to efficient maintenance and operation of the system as a whole. This is necessary for quality assurance and reliability of the product. This assures the continuous failure free system to the customers.

Responsibilities of Quality Assurance Department :

i. Plan, develop and establish Quality policies.

ii. To assure that products of prescribed specification reaches to the customers.

iii. Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the Quality programmes.

iv. Conduct studies and investigations related to the quality problems.

v. Liaise with different department, in and outside the organisation.

vi. Organise training programmes on quality.

vii. Plan and coordinate vendor quality surveys and evaluate their results.

viii. Develop Quality assurance system and regularly evaluate its effectiveness.

Quality Assurance System :

Quality assurance system should be developed incorporating the following aspects:

i. Formulate the quality control and manufacturing procedures.

ii. Percentage checking be decided.

iii. Procedures and norms for plant performances as regards to quality be developed.

iv. Rejection analysis and immediate feed-back system for corrective action.

v. Prepare a manual for quality assurance.

vi. Formulate plans for quality improvement, quality motivation and quality awareness in the entire organisation.

Essay # 7. Causes of Quality Failures :

Quality failures occur due to various causes, most of them are because of lack of involve­ment of men concerned with the quality. Studies have indicated that more than 50% of quality failures are due to human errors at various levels, such as understanding of customer’s require­ments, manufacturing, inspection, testing, packaging and design etc.

Error affecting quality can be classified into following categories :

(a) Error Due to Inadvertence:

These are due to lack of knowledge of the product, and continue due to lack of information about quality deficiency. Such mistakes can be controlled, if a system for feedback is developed in which quality performance results are analysed in a regular and timely manner.

(b) Errors Due to Lack of Technique:

These errors are due to lack of knowledge, skill, technique etc. In such cases performance of ‘better’ operation are compared with those of ‘poor’ or ‘defect prone’ operations, and the process adopted by them are studied and reasons for errors are investigated.

(c) Willful Errors:

Sometimes quality is compromised due to early delivery schedules, reduction in cost, safety etc.

Reduction of Errors by Improved Motivation :

Quality motivational programmes are developed for getting quality product from the line staff so that they take interest in improving the quality. Motivational programmes are de­signed after identifying the sources/reasons of failures.

Operators are motivated by designing a campaign to secure alertness, awareness and new actions, and by observing the managers for their behaviours or reactions on any quality problem. Campaign can be launched through mass meetings, quality posters, exhibition of quality deficiencies etc.

Campaign may also invite operators to participate in analysing the causes of defects or the failure on the part of operation and/or systems. Trainings are very helpful in making the operators aware of the technological does and don’ts and the purpose behind each operation.

Essay # 8. Economics of Quality :

The good economic performance is the most essential for survival and growth of any organisation in the highly competitive environment. Therefore, one of the most common objec­tions of every organisation is to attain excellence in its economic performance. The single most important factor which leads to good economic performance is the ‘quality’ of its products or services.

Therefore, in order to achieve economy, quality management system must contribute to­wards the establishment of customer-oriented quality discipline in the marketing, design, engi­neering, procurement, production, inspection, testing and other related servicing functions.

Everybody in the organisation must be involved in the production and delivery of quality product or services, consistently to meet the customer needs and satisfaction.

The production of defective output results in the costs of sorting, scrap, rework, dealing with customer complaints, replacement under warranty etc. It is more serious and very diffi­cult to ascertain the cost associated with the loss of goodwill, following the sale of defective or non-conforming products.

Designers of economic models use following costs:

i. Fixed costs of sampling, inspecting, testing and measuring.

ii. Variable cost of sampling, measuring, calculating and plotting each sample value on control charts.

iii. Cost of correcting and assignable cause.

iv. Total loss in profit, when the process is running out of control.

It has been experienced that the savings due to control of poor quality products, better control over the quality of purchased product, use of more economical materials or methods due to their greater reliability, are sometime spectacular.

Quality is a dynamic phenomenon and is being improved continuously with the new devel­opments in technology and management techniques.

Quality and Cost :

Studies have indicated that any reduction in quality results in a reduced level of satisfac­tion and decrease in customer goodwill toward the producer. This will lead to reduction in return on investment in the long run.

Following are the general principles of quality and cost relationship:

(i) Cost of poor quality are far larger than that had been recognised.

(ii) Appraisal costs are reduced by focussing on preventing errors at the source.

(iii) System be established for reducing the cost rather than reducing the quality.

(iv) By focussing on quality improvement overall, performance of the firm can be im­proved.

(v) Focus of quality improvement be shifted from product attributes to operational proce­dure.

Quality Cost (or Costs Associated with Quality) :

Quality cost means cost of poor quality goods or services.

Following are the main quality associated costs:

1. Failure Costs :

(A) Internal Failure Costs:

(i) Scrap and rework cost.

(ii) Costs involved in testing, inspecting and sorting for down-gradation.

(iii) Losses due to avoidable processing.

(iv) Expenditure in failure analysis.

(B) External Failure Costs:

(i) Warranty charges.

(ii) Redressal of complaints.

(iii) Loss of future sales.

(iv). Other expenses on return of materials, failure analysis outside the factory.

2. Appraisal/Detection Costs :

(i) Incoming test and inspection including materials, in-process and final quality sampling.

(ii) Quality audits.

(iii) Equipment calibration.

(iv) Evaluation of performance.

(v) Evaluation of customer satisfaction.

3. Prevention Costs :

(i) Quality planning.

(ii) New product review.

(iii) Process control.

(iv) Training and education.

(v) Process quality planning.

Quality Cost Control :

For the purpose of reducing the cost, when internal and external failure costs are cost down, the appraisal cost and preventive cost may slightly go up. Therefore, it is necessary for opti­mum balance to reduce failure cost with slight increase in appraisal and preventive cost, with the aim of substantial reduction in total quality cost without compromising with the quality.

Efforts for reducing quality cost must be continuous.

The cost reduction programme must be followed in following stages:

1. Identification of quality cost items.

2. Structuring of quality cost reporting, including related analysis and control, and

3. Maintenance of programme to ensure that the objectives of higher quality at lower cost.

Quality control and quality cost must be directed in such a way so as to provide the firm with major added business value.

Essay # 9. Product Quality Analysis :

It includes:

(i) The various functions to be performed by the manufactured product.

(ii) Life and durability of product.

(iii) Working conditions required during manu­facturing.

(iv) Product specifications.

(v) Manufacturing processes and methods.

(vi) Maintenance and installation.

(Quality at level Y is the most economical. A drop of quality to level X reduces the cost by M but also re­duces the quality value by N which is greater than M. A rise of quality to level Z increases the quality value by O and increases the cost by P, which is greater than O) — Refer Fig. 62.1.

Essay # 10. Quality Planning :

Quality planning is done keeping the company needs and customer needs in view, and a comprehensive quality plan is prepared for implementation in the company.

Quality plan is a document setting out the specific quality practices, resources and activities relevant to a par­ticular product, process, services, contract or project.

Quality planning is a systematic process for:

(i) Identifying customers,

(ii) Discovering customer needs,

(iii) Designing the responsive products,

(iv) Developing the process for creating and delivering the products, and

(v) Transferring the process and its contents to those who will perform the product or service.

Essay # 11. Quality Improvement :

Quality improvement is a structured process for reducing the deficiencies that are present in products, processes and services and/or improving performance whenever there is an opportunity to improve.

Quality problems are of following two types:

1. Sporadic Problems:

A sporadic problem is a sudden adverse change in the status quo, which requires remedy. The variations due to these problems are so significant that they trigger the alarm signals of the control system.

2. Chronic Problems:

Chronic problem is long-standing adverse situation which requires remedy through changing the status quo. For such problems, by adopting ‘continuous improve­ment concept’ better and better levels of performance can be achieved. These problems occur for a long time, and are often difficult to solve, as they are accepted as inevitable.

Essay # 12. Quality Management System :

A quality management system organises overall activities of the company in such a way that the technical, administrative and human factors affecting the quality of products or ser­vices are under control. The quality management system guides the cooperated actions of the people, machines and information to achieve the quality objectives.

1. Activities:

Activities of quality management system are:

(i) Marketing to evaluate customer needs and use requirements.

(ii) Design and engineering to translate the customer needs into product, process and material specifications.

(iii) Purchasing to select the competent vendors who can supply materials, components, sub-assemblies as per specifications.

(iv) Production to ensure that product is produced under controlled conditions in conform­ance to standards.

(v) Quality assurance to identify appropriate test methods and exercise quality control techniques.

(vi) Shipping to ensure proper packaging, transportation and distribution of material.

(vii) Documentation to maintain system and progress documents at each stage of opera­tion.

(viii) Product development for innovation and improvement based on customer’s feedback.

(ix) Auditing to identify the non-conforming of the system and product, and follow up the corrective actions.

2. Benefits:

(i) To meet the customer requirements by providing quality products or services to satisfy the customer needs.

(ii) Good reputation helps in better marketability of the company’s products and services.

(iii) Confidence is created.

(iv) Consistivity in quality.

(v) Productivity improvement.

(vi) Better financial performance.

(vii) Brings clarity in working.

(viii) Better documentation.

(ix) Better monitoring.

(x) Increases export potential.

(xi) Human resources development.

3. Quality Function:

(i) Marketing and market research.

(ii) Design and product development.

(iii) Procurement.

(iv) Process planning and development.

(v) Production.

(vi) Inspection, testing and examination.

(vii) Packaging and storage.

(viii) Sales and distribution.

(ix) Installation and operation.

(x) Technical assistance and maintenance.

(xi) Disposal after use.

4. Quality and Top Management:

Responsibility for and commitment to quality always belong to the highest level of management.

Following action points are necessary to be adopted by top management to achieve quality objectives of the company:

(i) Define and state quality policy.

(ii) Appoint a management representation.

(iii) Define responsibility and authority.

(iv) Establish an internal verification system.

(v) Establish a quality system.

(vi) Review the functioning of quality system at regular intervals.

5. Installing the Quality System :

(A) Preparations:

(i) Analyse the existing status and identify what needs to be done? Prepare an ac­tion plan.

(ii) Develop an organisation structure.

(iii) Develop quality system documentation.

(iv) Prepare the material and machinery resources.

(B) Implementation:

(i) Implement the documented quality system.

(ii) Establish internal quality audit system.

(iii) Monitor, control and stabilise the quality system.

(iv) Hormonise the practices with the standards.

Essay # 13. Role of Top Management towards Quality :

Main roles of the top management towards quality are:

1. Define quality Control. Establish a Quality Council.

2. Establish quality policies.

3. Establish quality goals.

4. Provide the resources.

5. Provide problem-oriented training.

6. Serve on quality improvement teams which address chronic problems.

7. Stimulate improvement.

8. Provide for reward and recognition.

9. Top management is required to:

(a) Develop strategies for quality, and

(b) Provide leadership for implementation of these strategies.

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