The Need For Quality |
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What is quality? According to the Oxford Dictionary (1981), quality is
defined as being 'the degree of excellence, relative nature or kind or
character; class or grade of thing determined by this; general excellence' Over the years a large amount of organisations have tried surviving in the market place merely on price, but they have found that this was not enough. Take the example of the UK in the 1970's , the UK once had a thriving manufacturing industry, in which the products may have been reasonably priced but the quality was found to be somewhat lacking. During the late 1970's came the far eastern imports such as cars, televisions, radios, videos, etc. These products were not only comparatively cheaper but they also had a much higher quality standard, the result was a shift away from home grown products to foreign imports. The economic effects can be seen in the ever increasing UK trade deficit with the rest of the world, and it's declining manufacturing base. Wellemin defines the need for quality as stating 'Customers
have become more knowledgeable and selective when making their purchasing
decisions … The quality of the product or service offered is pre-requsite, an
entry requirement for any company that wants to remain successful over the
years' Some of the strategic advantages of having a quality strategy are discussed
by Dilworth as 'Imagine the strategic advantage a
company can achieve through quality!, the company may have lower costs, but it
may be able to sell its products at a higher price than its competitors ….
Such a company can earn higher profits even in the face of serious price
competition, it might gain market share which often leads to economies of scale
and higher profit' In an ever more competitive market, the importance of quality cannot be overstated. It must not be seen as being merely part of the production function, but instead it should be seen as concept that affects the whole of an organisation. According to the British Standards Institute
(Bsi), the
principles of quality management lie in 'The quality of an organisations
products, services and other outputs as defined by the satisfaction of the
customers who use them and efficiency of the processes by which they are
supported. Quality improvement is achieved by improving the processes of an
organisation; it should be a continuous activity aiming for ever higher levels
of process effectiveness and efficiency. Efforts should be directed towards
constantly seeking opportunities for improvement.' The best model of a quality strategy is discussed by Wellemin. This model suggests that a quality strategy should contain six stages:
Quality is a concept that should be applied to an organisation as a whole. Quality should be applied to every process, which the organisation carries out, from getting the raw materials from suppliers, through every stage of the production cycle or service provision. A Quality strategy should be developed in a coherent strategy, where the ideal of employees, sections and departments should be seen as 'internal customers' is present. Because at the end of the day, ever improving internal quality will result in there being reduced cost benefits, and better still higher quality levels in the products and services of an organisation, when it reaches the consumer. Back to Quality Strategies
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