Managing Quality

Chapter 27. Managing Quality: Epilogue

B. G. Dale, A. van der Wiele and J. D. van Iwaarden

Introduction

This concluding chapter of Managing Quality pulls together the main themes and strands running through the book and identifies issues to which organizations will need to give particular attention in the future. It opens by examining what quality means to different people and its importance in business transactions. The case is made that improvement is a continuous process which is systematic, incremental and cyclic. It is argued that the senior management of an organization are always keen to know both where they are positioned in relation to the competition and also their perceived status within the industry and the marketplace. The means of carrying out such an assessment are explored. The chapter (and the book) is concluded by outlining a number of issues to which organizations will need to give more attention if they are to achieve world-class quality status.

The Importance of Quality

Most people now accept that quality is an important business issue. But what is quality? What do people mean when they speak of the quality of product, service, communications, or people? It is important for them to have a clear understanding of what they mean when the word is used in whatever context, so that they know what to do to attain it and to continuously improve on it. It is unfortunate that there are so many different interpretations of quality. But by being amenable to wide and differing ...