Quality Management for Organizational Excellence: Total Quality Pioneers Essay

In this paper, Philip Crosby will be discussed as one of the pioneers of total quality. Quality will be defined and also total quality will be discussed about how each contributed to Philip Crosby’s success. Additionally, it will be explained why quality is useful in today’s business environment. Quality and Total Quality Defined In today’s world the majority of consumers require their products and services have quality. Quality is performance to the standard expected by the customer, meeting customer needs the first time and every time, doing the right thing right the first time (Goetsch, 2010). Quality is defined as â€Å"a dynamic state associated with products, services, people, processes, and environments that meets or exceeds expectations and helps produce superior value† (Goetsch, 2010, p. 5). The dynamic state of quality will change in the future as time goes on. Total quality is the collective quality concepts pulled together as one comprehensive approach to conducting business (Goetsch, 2010). Total quality is achieved through strategy, obsession with quality, teamwork, education and training, employee involvement, and customer focus in addition to many other aspects of quality. If any element of total quality is not present, then total quality has not and cannot be achieved. Philip Crosby Philip Crosby was a director for ITT Corporation for 14 years until 1979 when he opened his own company called Philip Crosby Associates. Philip Crosby Associates was an international consulting firm on quality improvements for businesses. Crosby defined quality as conformance to requirements and was known for his theory of zero defects management and prevention. Crosby also introduced Quality Vaccine that consisted of three ingredients: 1) Determination, 2) Education, and 3) Implementation. Many companies and managers also use Crosby’s concept of â€Å"doing it right the first time† (Boti, 2011). With conformance to requirements, quality is considered customer satisfaction and compliance with certain standards is required. Crosby’s zero defect management sets the standard that errors are not tolerated, and there are no acceptable levels of non-quality; hence doing it right the first time (Boti, 2011). Prevention, as Crosby describes, is â€Å"quality should not be controlled, it must be done† (Boti, 2011, pg. 205). Last, quality measure is the cost of non-compliance with quality. Quality Today and the Future Organizations that apply Crosby’s quality management concepts to their business strategies have demonstrated they can remain successful in the business environment. Crosby’s values of understanding the importance of employee and customer education have helped to create consistency in quality, increase productivity, increase profitability, and customer satisfaction. Companies using outdated management approaches are missing opportunities for innovation and growth. Organizations that understand and embrace the dynamic element of quality management will be prepared for the ever changing environment and unknown circumstances that may arise. The future for businesses that have managed the trends in quality will have a better competitive advantage to those who do not. Conclusion Elements of quality may differ from person to person and is constantly changing. Organizational awareness of changes is essential to remain competitive and necessary to produce a better quality product. Long-term success of a business is driven by quality and an organizations ability to continuously improve the quality of its product or service.