ABSTRACT
Any discussion of quality starts off by facing an immediate problem – the difficulty of defining exactly what we mean by the term. Two quotations from the quality management literature will make this clear:
One of the main difficulties evident in the field of quality management is the variety of terms employed. Many are ill-defined and are used both interchangeably and inconsistently.
(Bell, McBride and Wilson, Managing Quality, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1994)
‘Is this a quality watch?’ Pointing to my wrist I ask a class of students – undergraduates, postgraduates, experienced managers – it matters not. The answers vary:
‘No, it's made in Japan’.
‘No, it's cheap’.
‘No, the face is scratched’.
‘How reliable is it?’
‘I wouldn't wear it’.
My watch has been insulted all over the world – London, New York, Paris, Sydney, Brussels, Amsterdam, Bradford!
102Very rarely am I told that the quality of the watch depends on what the wearer requires from a watch – a piece of jewellery to give an impression of wealth or a time piece which gives the required data, including the date, in digital form? Clearly these requirements determine the quality.(John S. Oakland, Total Quality Management, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1989)
