The Views of Quality - 2000  

 Philip B. Crosby

Chairman and CEO, Philip Crosby Associates II, Inc.

When I was speaking to an MBA class recently they all expressed an interest in how Quality was doing out there in the real world.  They wanted to know about the ups and downs of this subject that no one is against but everyone seems to have difficulty doing.  I decided they were old enough to learn the truth.

 There are four views of Quality, not counting mine: from management; from quality professionals; from employees; and from the customers.  Each of them bases their evaluation on what they can see from where they are standing.  I am hovering above them all so mine is like the Goodyear Blimp at the golf tournament.

 Management sees the quality revolution being over with everyone understanding that it is vital to get things done correctly.  They feel that since they feel this way everyone else does also.  Their immediate interest is in corrective action programs and they respond to that.  They happily fund teams and hit squads to hop on problems and wipe them out.  They assume that prevention is going on.  They like the idea of being certified to an international standard like ISO 9000, and include it as an accomplishment in their advertising.  They have no idea of what is in it or what is happening in the corrective action area.  Most of them think that everything is moving along just right.

 Quality professionals embrace programs eagerly, particularly those in Quality Assurance, like ISO, that produce a lot of paper work and important meetings.  They are not into prevention much because they feel they have little influence with management.  This is because few of them have studied the subject enough to realize the career potential available to those in the quality department.  The result of all this is that there is a lot of activity but very little work is done in improving the processes that produce what the organization sells.

 Employees are confused.  They see that the work processes are laced with inefficiencies and confusion; they see that management talks about “excellence” and “commitment” but does little about either; they fill out the forms that get the company certified to ISO; but they see no value to them in the exercise.  They wonder why no one is really interested in doing something about quality.  They are discouraged by the attitude of management.  (Most of the MBA students are still working and they verify this opinion on the spot.)

 Customers find it hard to obtain reliable products and services.  Of course they have many choices available to them but it is really nice when one finds something they can trust.  Overall the big-ticket products like automobiles have improved but the services industries are chancy at best.  They see a lack of clear requirements and training for the employees.

 Employees and customers share a room at the bottom of every organization.  They deal with each other while management manages and quality professionals fill out forms.

 What has to happen if this is to be reversed is not that complicated.  This new generation of management, which did not live through the bad times of the quality reformation, need to be educated.  They need to understand their personal role in implanting quality and engaging the employees in the vision of the company.  The employees need education so they can share a common language with the management.  The quality professionals need to get interested in working hard to produce the result of products and services that conform exactly to the requirements promised to customers.

 That is what we teach at Philip Crosby Associates II, Inc.

©2000 Philip B. Crosby