Discuss the major features of quality management. How does it differ from an inspection-based, quality control system? What values does quality management ask all employees of an organization to accept?

QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Quality management (QM) is a philosophy and system of management builtupon concepts dating to at least the 1920s. QM includes tools and techniquesthat help organizations manage for quality in services, products, and processes.Although its roots are in manufacturing, it is a management system that canbring major improvements to any organization.

The earliest U.S. antecedents to QM are the works of Walter A. Shewhart,Armand V. Feigenbaum, Joseph M. Juran, and Philip B. Crosby. Shewhart wasthe first to recognize that variability in manufacturing processes could be attributed  to abnormalities or causes common to the process. He developed statistical tools that let managers know when a manufacturing process was out of control andintroducing poor quality. In the 1950s, Feigenbaum pressed for total qualitycontrol, a method of quality management that required the involvement of peopleboth inside and outside a quality control department. Juran did the economicanalyses that showed the long-term payoffs of managing for quality. His phrasegold in the mine has become a motto of quality management enthusiasts andconsultants. Crosby advocated “zero defects,” a strong departure from theprevailing view of quality levels that accepted some defects.