Chapter 1: Philosophy and Concepts of Quality Management

The Concept of Quality and Total Quality

The concept of quality is one of the most frequently used concepts in our daily lives and the business world. This concept has become a field of study for different disciplines such as management, economics, marketing, operations management, and philosophy and it has been handled with different perspectives.

Definition of Quality

Oxford Dictionary explains quality’s two different meanings. The first one is, “quality is the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence something”. And the second is, “quality is a distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something”. In this sense, the term “quality” may be used as a comparator to distinguish a product displaying good attributes from the one displaying bad.

A product has many quality facets. In the technical manner, “goods or service is of good quality when it meets the specification laid down for it”. This definition encompasses two elements of the quality process in a company; quality of design and quality of production. Quality of design is “the level of effectiveness of the design function in determining a product’s operational requirements and their incorporation into design requirements that can be converted into a finished product in a production process”. Quality of conformance is “the level of the effectiveness of the design and production functions in conforming to the product manufacturing requirements and process specifications while meeting process control limits, product tolerances and production targets” (Business Dictionary/ http://www. businessdictionary.com/definition).

The quality definitions that we commonly encounter today are made on the basis of customer requirements. For example, “quality is performance that meets or exceeds expectations”, “quality is performance that meets the customer’s needs”, “quality is performance that is consistently meeting customer needs and expectations”, “quality is satisfying the customer today and getting better tomorrow” (Goetsch and Davis, 2016, p.3).

Someone defines quality as “a principle that encourages excellence in everything: products, strategies, systems, processes, and people. Quality is also defined as a product or service produced at a low cost that meets the expectations of the customers at a maximum level and sells at an affordable price (Taner and Kaya, 2005, p. 354).

Total Quality

Dr. Juran indicates two factors which determine an organization’s success: “system” and “people”. According to the total quality approach, management responsibility is to develop a system and to work within it. The higher the managers’ level in the organization, the greater their authority and responsibility in system development (Kavrakoğlu, 1998, p. 16).

Different Quality Frameworks

TQM is currently the last quality management philosophy and approach.

ISO 9001, depending on TQM philosophy, is an international quality management standard.

Quality Certification is a general term that is used for two main things: certifying the knowledge of individuals and certifying a company’s system of quality management.

• Quality Certifications for individuals are available through several organizations around the world, such as the American Society for Quality (ASQ). Certifications are granted to show that individuals have demonstrated and maintain knowledge in an aspect of quality management, such as: Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Quality Inspector (CQI), and many more.
• A Quality Management System (often called a QMS) can be designed according to many different sets of requirements. If the QMS is certified, this means that a Certification Body (sometimes called a Registrar) has done an audit against the requirements of the QMS, and also holds ongoing routine audits of the system to ensure the QMS is maintained.

Accreditation , Accreditation is a form of external quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body (accrediting agency) to determine if applicable standards are met.

Product quality standard is a detail of the requirements, specifications, the various guidelines and characteristics to be able to meet its quality by the product in order to meet the purpose of the product, process or the service.

Dimensions of Quality

Service quality has an equal strategic importance as the product quality. Service quality is evaluated by both service recipient and service provider. Garvin (1987) proposed the following eight dimensions for quality that, as he stated, can define both product and service quality, although they appear to be more product oriented:

1. Performance
2. Features
3. Reliability
4. Conformance to standards
5. Durability
6. Serviceability
7. Aesthetics
8. Perceived quality

Key Elements and Principles of Total Quality Management

Quality management system must have some principles in order to be successful. The principle can be defined as basic belief, theory or rule that has a major influence on the way in which something is done. “Quality management principles” are a set of fundamental beliefs, norms, rules and values that were developed by experts and are accepted as true, and can be used as a basis for quality management.

ISO9001 is an international standard that describes the requirements for a quality management system. ISO9001 was first published in 1987 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the current version was released in 2015.

Because ISO 9001 specifies the following requirements for an effective quality management system, organizations find using the standard helpful for them

• Organize a quality management system (QMS)
• Create satisfied customers, management, and employees
• Continually improve their processes
• Save costs

The requirements described in ISO 9001 is based on the quality management principles that are:

1. Customer focus,
2. Leadership,
3. Engagement of people,
4. Process approach,
5. Improvement,
6. Evidence-based decision making,
7. Relationship management.

As a management philosophy, TQM has some basic principles. The key principles of total quality management include:

1. Management Commitment
2. Employee empowerment.
3. Evidence- based decision making
4. Continuous improvement
5. Customer focus
6. Process approach

In the TQM approach, each and every person/function/organization is considered a supplier and a customer at the same time. The output of every department becomes the input of the following department in the process or work flow. The more this output is in conformity with the needs and expectations of the department to which this output is provided as input, the better the quality of the ultimate product or service.

• The perspective towards people differs in TQM from scientific management approach. Such as:
• Most of the problems relating to job or the organization (95%) stem from the system, not from the people.
• Everyone’s input and involvement is valuable.
• People closest to the job understand it the best.
• People want to take pride in their work.

The features of the businesses, which practice total quality management principles, are given below (Goetsch and Davis, 2016, p. 12).

• A total commitment to continually increasing value for stakeholders, especially customers, investors and employees.
• A firm understanding that quality is defined by customers, not the company.
• A commitment to leading people with a bias for continuous improvement and communication.
• A recognition that sustained growth requires the simultaneous achievement of four objectives continually forever: (a) customer satisfaction, (b) cost leadership, (c) effective human resources, and (d) integration with the supplier base.
• A commitment to fundamental improvement through knowledge, skills, problem solving, and teamwork.
• A commitment to fast-paced, constant learning, and an ability to respond quickly to changes in the competitive environment.
• A commitment to achieving end-to-end collaboration using internet based, on-demand tools that are fully integrated throughout the supply chain.
• A commitment to maintaining an environment in which creativity, critical thinking, and innovation are not just encouraged and supported, but demanded.

Evolution of Quality Management

The earliest evaluations regarding quality were found within the Hammurabi Code of Laws. With the invention of the printing press, replaceable standard part production is considered to be the first example of standardization. Later on, in the 17th century, King Charles I, established a commission to ensure the standardization of the weapons and equipment used by the army in England. With the Industrial Revolution, more attention was paid to quality control (Taşçı, 2013, pp. 6-7).

First studies regarding Total Quality Control in America appeared in 1910. Industrial inspection departments operated for the detection and sorting of poor quality products (Dahlgaard-Park, Reves and Chen, 2018, p. 1117). W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran, Philip Crosby have established the foundations of the Total Quality Management and Kaoru Ishikawa and Armand V. Feigenbaum have contributed to the development of Total Quality Management (Uzun Kocamış, 2016, p. 2).

Quality concept has developed and played an active role in all businesses with the works carried out in 1950s and 1960s. In 1980, Total Quality Management become a management philosophy. Quality’s historical development took place in four stages. These are: quality inspection, quality control, quality assurance and total quality management (Dahlgaard, Kristensen and Kanji, 2007, p. 7).

Quality Inspection (1910)

The quality inspection stage, which is the first stage of quality, was developed by workers who detected low-quality products. In this stage, low-quality products are separated, reprocessed, and sold as low-quality products (Dahlgaard-Park, Reyes and Chen, 2018, p. 1117). The purpose of this step is to prevent the low-quality products from reaching consumers. The disadvantage of quality inspection step is that inspection is performed at the end of production, thus increasing the product cost and causing wastage.

Quality Control (1924)

Covering the production process from beginning to end, quality control aims to produce quality products at low cost and ensure that this quality is sustainable.

Quality control function is made up of four phases in itself. These are; determining standards, conformance evaluation, making corrective decisions and improvement work. In the first step, quality standards are determined within the guidelines of business’ abilities, goals and consumer expectations. In the second step, product’s conformance is measured against the determined standards. In the third step, corrective decisions are made for the products falling outside of determined standards. In the final step, improvements regarding quality are made (Taşcı, 2013, p. 8).

During the quality control phase, quality control charts and sampling methods which helped improve the inspection phase were developed by the Shewhart, Dodge and Romig between 1924 and 1931.

Quality Assurance (1960)

Quality assurance is a system that fully meets the consumers’ expectations and ensures that products or services meet predetermined quality standards. Quality assurance system has emerged to secure the process and eliminate the quality inspection and quality control phases from production (Taner and Kaya, 2005, p. 355).

Quality assurance system takes place in 9 steps:

• Determining of quality assurance requirements
• Training of managers and personnel
• Organization
• Preliminary evaluation
• Quality planning
• Implementation and evaluation
• Internal auditing
• External auditing
• Continuous improvement

Total Quality Management (1980)

Total Quality Management is the improved form of quality assurance. In Total Quality Management, total participation in the enterprise is essential for meeting the consumer demands and ensuring quality. Total quality management is a management approach that aims to determine the current and future expectations of customers and meet them fully and economically, and to ensure creation, continuity, and improvement of quality.

Pioneers of Quality

There are people who have made great contributions in the philosophy, definition, principles and tools of quality management. Although their perspectives on quality are different, the effects of each pioneer on the effectiveness and efficiency of the total quality management system are still valid and valuable today.

W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993)

He started working for the famous Hawthorne Company of Western Electric in 1925 and 1926. He was acquainted with the works of mathematician Walter Shewhart, was seen as one of the leaders of this new and growing field in the late 1930s, and even considered as the “father of statistical quality control”.

After the war in 1947, to guide the reconstruction efforts, Deming made recommendations to General MacArthur’s Allied Forces High Command for sampling techniques for the 1957 census in Japan. During this period, he met a few Japanese statisticians and became the first honorary member of Japan Statistics Association. He was invited to Japan by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) to teach statistical methods for quality improvement in 1950. With Deming’s advice, at the end of four years of work, the low-quality perception of Japanese products turned into world leader in manufacturing excellence (Best and Neuhauser, 2005, p. 310).

Focusing point in Deming’s works captured quality in goods or services through lowering or eliminating variability and removing uncertainty in the production processes.

In The Deming Cycle, where the quality improvement activity is considered as a continuous process, there are a series of steps to improve the outcome of the process and to make these improvements continuous.

PDCA cycle was invented by Walter Shewhart and made popular by Dr. Edwards Deming. Shewhart Cycle, which the Deming stated that he took it from the Shewhart’s Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control (1939) book, is known as the Deming Cycle in Japan because it was Deming who incorporated this cycle correctly and transferred it to the Japanese in 1950. The cycle is a procedure which can be followed to improve any stage.

Joseph M. Juran (1904-2008)

Together with Deming, he was among the veteran pioneers of the quality revolution. In 1981, he was awarded the Order of Sacred Treasure, one of the most prestigious awards given to the non- Japanese by the Emperor of Japan (Sallis, 2002, p. 41). Juran believed that realization of quality was not enough, he also believed that prior planning was necessary. Juran developed an approach named Strategic Quality Management (SQM) to help with managers planning quality.

Quality improvement was always Juran’s focusing point and he aimed to increase performance to the previously unattained levels. He suggested that for this to happen, companies should make various breakthroughs in their attitudes, organizational structures, knowledge and skills, cultural values and achieved results (Zairi, 2013, p. 664).

Armand V. Feigenbaum (1920-2014)

Feigenbaum was an American management expert who completed many studies in the field of Total Quality Control in the late 1950s (Kara, 2016, p. 294). Also a mathematician, Feigenbaum was the president of American Society for Quality (1961 – 1963) and founding president of International Academy for Quality (Mandru et. al., 2011, p. 123). Feigenbaum is referred to as the father of the total quality control and quality costs concepts. His book titled “Total Quality Control” was translated to many different languages and served as a guide for quality control practices.

Armand Feigenbaum was the first person to define the Total Quality Control. According to him, quality is the force behind businesses which helps them to grow and inspection and control will not be enough in attaining quality.

Kaoru Ishikawa (1915-1989)

He was the pioneer of the Quality Circle movement in Japan in the early 1960s. The quality circle was probably the most known contribution to the quality management of the Japanese, and it spread the quality concept among all employees in the enterprise (Bumin and Erkutlu, 2002, p. 88). He is also known for many of the statistical techniques he developed including fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams (Sallis, 2002, p. 49). Pareto analysis, which he recommended in the application of these cycles, made examinations of the quality event with techniques such as fishbone diagrams, histograms, scatter diagrams, systematic. Although Ishikawa was statistically inclined, he adopted a human-based understanding and advocated that quality should not be the sole responsibility of managers but instead should be carried out with the participation of everyone.

Philip B. Crosby (1926-2001)

The name of Crosby is mentioned with two strong ideas. First is the idea that benefits of quality improvement programs cover the cost of quality. The Second idea associated with him most is that errors, failures, waste, and delay can be completely eliminated if the organization shows sufficient desire and effort. This is his controversial Zero Defect concept (Sallis, 2002, p. 44). Zero Defect, which is considered Crosby’s biggest contribution to the TQM, is one of the four requirements of quality.

Genichi Taguchi (1924-2012)

He is considered as the father of “quality engineering” concept. The reason for this is that Genichi Taguchi made contributions that helped speed up the studies on Statistical Experiment Design and Quality Loss Function. When defining quality, Taguchi used the expression “minimum harm caused to the society after the product is distributed” (Taner and Kaya, 2005, p. 354). According to him, quality should be seen as a base element both before production and at design stage and should be placed in activities (Bumin and Erkutlu, 2002, p. 88). Taguchi’s main concern has been to face the ‘loss of reputation and goodwill’, which will result from failure to meet customer expectations (Mandru et. al., 2011, p. 124).