From my dictionary:
qual-i-ty \'kwal-at-e\ n.
1: peculiar and essential character: NATURE
2: a distinguishing attribute
3: high social status
4: degree of excellence
Well, from (1) we can see that I qualify as a quality person
because I am definitely peculiar owing to my bald head which
is definitely a distinguishing feature (2). Essential may be
going too far because as far as I know no one has taken out a
multi-million dollar life insurance policy on me. However, I
definitely have a high social status (3) -- after all, I think
the world of myself.
So, we can all agree that I am definitely a quality person. I pointed this out to my interrogator who only said that he/she simply wanted to know what quality meant for a company like ours. Well, that's easy. Definition (4) is there for companies. A quality company possesses a high degree of excellence. She/he agreed but then asked me to define excellence.
From my dictionary:
ex-cel-lence \'eks(-?)-lens\ n
1: the quality of being excellent
2: an excellent or valuable quality
ex-cel-lent adj
very good of its kind : FIRST-CLASS
Well, unspecified-gender-person said, how do we know when we
are very good of our kind? What does quality mean for an ISO
9000 organization? Since the dictionary wasn't being of much
help, it was time to use other sources.
[Quality is] the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy a given need.Well, I said, let's look at some examples. What do you think is a quality company or quality product? They thought for a moment and then pulled out a pen. "This is a Cross pen. It is comfortable to use for writing, beautiful to look at, and holds up very well." I agreed and remembered fondly the Cross pens I had had. Like the one I got for graduation from High School which somehow was lost before I arrived at college. Or the one I got when I graduated from college but didn't seem to stick around very long. These days I buy BIC pens. They're cheap. I can lose them frequently without worry. Some will disappear for days and then find their way back into my pocket. When one stops working, I through it out and pick up another one.ISO 9000 Series Standards
The true final test of the product/service comes when it is in the customer's hands actually being used or enjoyed. In the end it is the customer that judges whether quality and fitness for use are achieved.So, politically-correct-pronoun said, my Cross pen is a quality product for me and your BIC pens are a quality product for you. We can tell if some product represents quality to us. But, how does a company like ours know when they are producing a quality product? We ask, I said.Allan Sayle
[Our company] is committed to becoming the best source of [area] software, systems, and services. We accomplish this by meeting or exceeding our customers' requirements and expectations as measured by customer satisfaction, customer complaints, and reported problems. We are committed to continually improve the company's performance against these measures.My questioner left muttering to her/him/self. I wasn't quite satisfied either. It's definitely important to know if and how well we are satisfying our customer. But as an employee I need more. I realized that I am happiest when I am deeply involved in what I am doing. When I feel that my work is important and that I am proud of it. So, that's how I arrived at my signature for today.Quality Policy
Peters and Austin, A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Difference, Warner Books, 1986.