Quality (business)

Quality (business) is a measure of excellence of a business or product. However, the exact system of measurement and criteria for excellence may vary widely depending on the circumstances. Quality may be judged from many perspectives. Consumers may judge quality based on whether a good or service meets or exceeds expectations. Experts may judge quality based on a set list of industry standards and regulations. Employees may judge quality by the business environment and the motivation to do excellent work. Regardless of the exact definition, quality is a positive state and a primary goal of most organizations. Businesses may dedicate a great deal of time and effort to establishing and maintaining quality. In turn, quality may bring great benefits to a business.

Background

The idea of quality in its various forms has always been an essential element of business. Businesses seek to find the highest-quality practices to create the best goods and services with the least time and expense. Consumers demand a certain level of quality in the goods and services they purchase and will generally stop supporting any business that does not provide quality products. Although the search for quality has always existed in business, the focus on and study of quality has increased sharply over time.

Prior to the mid-twentieth century, consumers usually had fewer options in what goods and services were available. Fewer businesses offered fewer products, reducing competition and comparison. Products were generally simpler and less varied in their designs and capabilities. In addition, products were more likely to be made locally and thus lacked variations. Without high-speed communication technology, product information could be hard to find and evaluate. Consumers had to make the best of what was available to them.

In modern times, however, the whole nature of business has developed in new ways. Globalization and transportation technology have made goods and services from a wide area—even the entire world—available to consumers. Shopping done digitally can potentially give any person access to any product for sale anywhere, almost infinitely expanding the consumer's options.

Digital research organizations have compiled information about millions of products, allowing consumers to compare brands, features, and prices. Consumers themselves have many digital platforms on which to express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with products and businesses. Since the success of many products depends greatly on positive reviews and word of mouth, consumer opinions and reviews can determine the fate of a product or even the business that offered it.

Even as consumers become less tolerant of business and product errors, businesses are facing other concerns that threaten to increase errors. Modern businesses are continually challenged to bring newer and better products to the marketplace at a high rate of speed. That means a great deal of stress on businesses and their employees. This stress could result in further errors, and potentially a spiral of problems that can seriously damage businesses.

Overview

Hoping to resolve the problems and pressures of the modern marketplace, many business experts emphasize the importance of quality management. The original basic concept of quality is retained, but the concept is greatly expanded to include all aspects of business. Many modern experts note that expanding quality means having businesses and employees adopt a culture in which a focus on quality guides every business action. In that way, quality would stop being a rule or a guideline and become a way of life.

Considering the expansive nature of quality, there are many ways businesses can try to introduce more quality into their procedures and products. The most basic means by which to assure the quality of products is quality control. Quality control involves inspectors checking finished products before they are sent to market. Inspectors use a list of criteria to ensure that all goods and services meet a set standard for quality. Products that fail are scrapped or sent for repair.

Quality assurance is a process by which quality is expanded into the production of goods and services. Products are examined at every point of the production process. This assures that faults and failures will be identified earlier so improvements can be made before any more time and expense is wasted on the production. Quality assurance also involves many more employees in the search for quality, since they are all responsible for checking that products meet specifications.

Quality management expands quality over the entire organization. This involves a change in the business culture. Instead of just meeting product-related specifications, employees are asked to view quality as a way of life. To implement quality management, business managers must find ways to have employees make emotional investments into their work so that they will automatically strive to do the best work at all times without having to be prompted.

Embracing quality in business is essential for business success for many reasons. The most direct reason is to satisfy the customer. Without satisfied customers, a business cannot succeed. Only by offering consistently high-quality products can a business win and maintain customer loyalty. That loyalty can also generate positive reviews and word of mouth, which can expand the customer base. In a broader sense, it can also help create a lasting reputation for the company as a provider of quality products.

Another reason to embrace quality is to reduce costs. Low-quality goods and services often result in losses for a business. Defective products generally cannot be sold. Customers may return faulty products or demand repairs or replacements. Dangerous defects in products that result in consumer injury may lead to lawsuits. For these reasons, investing early in quality management processes can create better products from the start, thus reducing the costs of defective goods and services.

Additionally, improvements in quality can help to meet or exceed industry standards. Many organizations rate products and business practices. Some, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the American Society for Quality (ASQ), are dedicated to monitoring businesses and ensuring their conformance to standards. Businesses that fail to meet regulations may face loss of business or even serious penalties, whereas businesses that gain accreditation will likely benefit from more consumers and positive ratings. Some companies use structured programs such as Six Sigma, Lean, Total Quality Management, Kaizen, and Value Stream Mapping to ensure continual improvement and quality assurance.

Bibliography

"Benefits of International Standards." International Organization for Standardization (ISO), www.iso.org/benefits-of-standards.html. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Evans, James, and William Lindsay. Managing for Quality and Performance. 11th ed., Cengage, 2020.

"The 5 Habits of Quality-Focused Companies." Inc., 31 Jan. 2011, www.inc.com/guides/201101/five-habits-of-quality-focused-companies.html. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Linton, Ian. "Why Is Quality Important for a Business?" Houston Chronicle, smallbusiness.chron.com/quality-important-business-57470.html. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

"Quality Management." Corporate Finance Institute, corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/quality-management. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

"What Is Quality?" BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zhb6vk7/revision/1. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

"What Is Quality in a Business?" Indeed, 18 Aug. 2024, www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/what-is-quality-in-a-business. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Yohn, Denise Lee. "Company Culture Is Everyone's Responsibility." Harvard Business Review, 8 Feb. 2021, hbr.org/2021/02/company-culture-is-everyones-responsibility. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.