A definition of quality

– “The dedication to quality and excellence “is more than good business. “It’s a way of life. That’s good advice from the former president of the United States, George H.W. Bush. Today, more than ever, that’s what business must be about. A dedication to excellence. is high quality. Every product you make and every service you provide. But what is quality? There are many definitions of quality, so you really need to determine what’s best for you and your organization. Some people associate high prices with quality. The thought that if it costs this much it must be good. Lots of people say quality is conforming to specifications. The product does what it’s supposed to do, so it’s a quality product. And, of course, others will tell you “I know quality when I see it.” That seems like a pretty vague description, but actually this might be our very best place to start forming a definition. You can quantify this description in three ways. First, quality consists of meeting your customers’ expectations. The focus is on your customers and what they need from your products and services. Meet those needs, and in your customers’ opinion you’re providing quality. Second, quality is everyone’s responsibility. No matter where you work in the organization, it’s up to you to ensure the customers’ expectations are met. And last, quality management is a continuous improvement effort. Companies with this kind of culture match their products and services to changes in their customers’ expectations. So you can see quality when everyone is focused on meeting customer needs by continuously improving your products and processes. Remember that most of us have more than one customer. There are customers that buy your products, but you also have internal customers. Take your boss, for example. For every work assignment you complete, your boss is the customer. Always meet your boss’s expectations. Some people believe you should strive to exceed your customers’ expectations. On the surface this seems like a good idea. Do even more than your customers expect, and they’ll keep coming back. But this can be a risky approach to quality management. Customers are not willing to pay extra for features or services they don’t require. So exceeding their needs can quickly cut into profits. For instance, you’ve probably heard of the online retailer Amazon. In America we have Amazon Prime where we’re guaranteed product delivery in two days. But sometimes Amazon delivers early in big cities like Phoenix where I used to live. We’d order online and get the product the very next day. It didn’t take long before we expected next-day delivery for every product. So you can see how that could quickly increase operating costs. Think now about your organization. How is your quality? Is everyone focused on meeting customer expectations? Is quality managed as a continuous improvement effort? These questions are definitely worth discussing with your colleagues at work. with your colleagues at work.