Total Quality Pioneers Paper

Total Quality Pioneers Paper

Quality is a factor that consumers eagerly refer to when describing a favorable or unfavorable good, service, or experience. There is rarely a definition consumers can give because quality essentially is determined on an individual basis, but there are key elements that can define and measure quality for businesses. This paper will attempt to define quality and its elements, explain why the elements are useful in today's society, explain about the future of quality, and show how the use of the elements made a quality pioneer successful.

According to Goetsch and Davis (2010), quality is a dynamic state associated with products, services, people, processes, and environments that meets or exceeds expectations and helps produce superior value. This definition simply means that quality is when the consumer need is met or exceeded when associated with products, services, people, and overall experiences. Quality is also ever changing; what is considered acceptable today for standards of quality may differ as time passes. In order for a business to be successful consumers must consistently receive superior value. "Total quality is an approach to doing business that attempts to maximize the competitiveness of an organization through the continual improvement of the quality of its products, services, people, processes, and environments" (Goetsch & Davis, 2010). There are eleven key elements to total quality.

Total quality has two components, the what and the how. The how component of total quality has eleven key elements which are strategically based, custom focus, obsession with quality, scientific approach, long-term commitment, teamwork, continual process improvement, education and training, freedom through control, unity and purpose, and employee involvement and empowerment. The eleven elements are all geared toward the success of the organization. For an organization to be strategically based it must have a vision, mission, board objectives, and activities that must be completed to achieve the board objectives. Customer focus is based internally and externally. Quality goods and services are focused toward external customers and the people associated with the process of the organization. Obsession with quality requires all employees to always be focused on bringing the organization to another level. The scientific approach relates to the structure of the work and being able to make decisions and solve problems that relate to the organization. Long-term commitment to the total quality management system is pertinent because it requires a new way of doing business to be successful. Teamwork within the organization can be used to generate energy that can improve processes or products and create competitive advantages. Continual process improvement, education, and training are essential elements of total quality because it is necessary to improve systems within the organization as well as contribute to the people in the organization. Freedom through control allows employees to solve issues within the scope of their ability. This element allows individuals to not only feel as a vital part of the organization, but shows the individual that the organization values the employees. Unity