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Quality Is Free:
The Art of Making Quality Certain
McGraw-Hill (1979) |
I wrote this book for the purpose of explaining quality to management
in terms they could understand. It talks about the misconceptions of
quality management, and relates the story of how a worldwide quality
process was installed into the ITT corporation. The book contains many
case histories to explain just what quality is and how it can be improved
on purpose. The HPA case is a blow by blow story of one executive trying
to turn an organization around. This lengthy story was used as a day long
event acted out by the students. It proved to be a great help to their
comprehension. The Quality Maturity Grid provides a way of letting
management determine where their organization stands with the quality
process. QIF has sold several million copies, mostly in paperback, and is
available in many languages. I check bookstores all around the world as I
travel and it is usually on their shelves.
Chapter Content:
Part One:
The Understanding
Making Quality Certain
My original thoughts on why quality seemed to be such hard work -- because
it was approached incorrectly. The ITT strategy I applied in installing
quality management is discussed in detail. It is treated as "cultural
revolution" which meant that we were trying to change minds rather
than install a bunch of procedures and regulations. It worked.
Quality May Not Be What You Think It Is
Here is where we get into the concepts. It begins with "erroneous
assumptions" and the definition of quality. In 1979 these ideas were
considered outlandish, so don't just gloss over them; the opposites are
still flourishing - to the detriment of their companies.
The Quality Management Maturity Grid
It always was difficult to present management with the status of quality
in the organization, there is nothing about quality that can't be
explained away. The grid provides a view of the whole operation by letting
the evaluator use their own information. Usually they rate themselves a
level higher than they really are but this leaves room for improvement. It
is a wonderful tool for communications between senior management and those
who are trying to install a cultural revolution. Very useful for teaching
also; it formed our basis for the Quality College courses.
Management Understanding And Attitude
This is the first of five chapters explaining how to interpret, use, and
apply the grid. This first one begins with a story about a quality
professional and a manufacturing manager fighting about the traditional
"what is good enough." They go to a quality society meeting
where the CEO of another company explains how he came to the conclusion
that the conventional wisdom of quality was wrong. Then the chapter
provides comments on changing management's attitude. A case history on a
hotel concludes the chapter. The manager of the property is a real
disaster.
Quality Organizational Status
The second line of the grid matrix is about organization so the chapter
discusses it in detail including the necessary policies. The reader should
recognize that artificial systems, such as ISO 9000 or Mil Q 9858, are not
substitutes for a carefully designed system that applies to a particular
organization. We need to understand just what is necessary if we are to
run a professionally useful operation.
Handling Problems
Beginning with a conversation in an operations review meeting, this
chapter goes through several types of problem resolutions, specific
lectures on problem solving, and case histories to provide an
understanding of what problem handling is all about. It is very valuable
for those who don't want to do the same problems over again regularly. It
will also turn the reader into a problem solver of reputation.
Cost of Quality
"Quality is free but no one is ever going to know it unless there
is some agreed system of measurement." This chapter provides stories
to explain the cost of quality which I now refer to as the Price of
Non-conformance and a list of the subjects that offer themselves in this
regard. Using financial measurements about quality is the way to move it
to the head table. People yelled at me every meeting until these numbers
emerged, then they knew where the problems, and opportunities, were.
Quality Improvement Program
I learned to use "process" rather than "program"
when teaching about it. People think a program has a planned end. This
chapter lists the 14-step process for installing quality improvement. The
steps are really just things that must be addressed if we are to create
the culture change necessary to improve quality. There is nothing
motivational about it, just relationships and management participation by
example.
Management Style
Ten characteristics are listed to help the manager do a little self
analysis. The things that keep people from achieving the success they
deserve are not always major, and we may not know we are not doing them
correctly.
Part Two:
The Doing: The HPA Corporation Quality Improvement
Process
History Of The Project And The Program
Two chapters take a management team through setting up and running a
quality improvement effort. It is all quite realistic although the prices
of things have changed since 1979. The case was used to teach managers
about the process in ITT and later in the PCA Quality College.
Instructor's Guide For HPA Case
Here is all the information necessary to teach this case as a course.
Make Certain Program
This effort was created primarily for the white collar and service areas.
Its base is that people usually know the reasons things are not going
correctly and need a way to get help. "Making Certain" is a good
way of improving performance. Those who consider ZD to be a manufacturing
term find this thought easier to work with.
Guidelines For Browsers
In all my books, except Cutting the Cost of Quality, I took phrases
from the text and listed them in the back with the proper page number.
This began as a way to help reviewers read the book easier and became a
helper to the readers as a more pragmatic index.
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