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Total Quality Management - CII Institute of Logistics

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<strong>Total</strong> <strong>Quality</strong> <strong>Management</strong><br />

1.7 <strong>Quality</strong> and Competitiveness<br />

Attempt to Define and Delineate <strong>Quality</strong><br />

Webster's definition <strong>of</strong> quality is vague and simplistic. "(<strong>Quality</strong> is) that which makes<br />

something what it is; characteristic element."<br />

The ANSI/ASQ definition states quality is "the totality <strong>of</strong> features and characteristics <strong>of</strong><br />

a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy given needs." No single definition<br />

is adequate because customer needs are constantly changing and because quality is<br />

"situational" -- e.g. a good design for one purpose, and in the eyes <strong>of</strong> one set <strong>of</strong><br />

customers, may represent a poor design for another use or another set <strong>of</strong> customers.<br />

Reliance on a single definition <strong>of</strong> quality is frequently a source <strong>of</strong> problems.<br />

Formal definitions <strong>of</strong> quality followed by distilled practitioners are given in the<br />

following table:<br />

Popular <strong>Quality</strong> Definitions<br />

Transcendent definition: Excellence<br />

Product-based definition: Quantities <strong>of</strong> product attributes<br />

User-based definition: Fitness for intended use<br />

Value-based definition: <strong>Quality</strong> vs. price<br />

Manufacturing-based definition: Conformance to specifications<br />

<strong>Quality</strong> definitions, such as the user-based, value-based, and even manufacturingbased<br />

concepts are applicable both to products and services. For example, in a<br />

university setting, fitness for intended use may be seen by the example <strong>of</strong> a small<br />

liberal-arts college that provides an outstanding science curriculum for people who<br />

<strong>CII</strong> <strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Logistics</strong> 17<br />

Website: www.ciilogistics.com

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