Modern quality management grew from the ideas of a handful of thinkers. Their principles still underpin TQM, ISO 9001, Lean and Six Sigma.
The key ideas
- Walter Shewhart: introduced the control chart and the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle that separates common from special causes of variation.
- W. Edwards Deming: argued that most problems come from the system, not the workers, and set out 14 points for management.
- Joseph Juran: defined quality as fitness for use and proposed the quality trilogy — planning, control and improvement.
- Philip Crosby: promoted zero defects and the idea that quality is measured by the cost of non-conformance.
- Kaoru Ishikawa: created the fishbone diagram, popularised the seven basic tools and quality circles.
- Genichi Taguchi: introduced the loss function and robust design — any deviation from target creates loss.
- Armand Feigenbaum: coined total quality control, involving every function in quality.
Dimensions of quality
Products are judged on performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability and aesthetics. Services add responsiveness, assurance, empathy and reliability of promises.
What leaders can take from them
Manage the system, use data, involve everyone and treat quality as a business strategy rather than a department.
