MBA III SEM

UNIT 1
(Session 2)

Quality, Reliability and Quality

Assurance

Instructor
Dr. Syed Aqib Jalil
Assistant Professor
 Quality Management

• Quality is the ability of a product or service to

consistently meet or exceed customer
expectations.
• In its broadest sense, quality is a degree of
excellence—the extent to which something is
fit for its purpose.
• In the narrow sense, product or service quality
is defined as conformance with requirements,
freedom from defects or contamination, or
simply a degree of customer satisfaction.
 DIFINITION OF QUALITY

• The concept and vocabulary of quality are elusive. Different

people interpret quality differently. Few can define quality
in measurable terms that can be proved operationalized.
When asked what differentiates their product or service;
The banker will answer” service”
The healthcare worker will answer “quality health care”
The hotel employee will answer “customer satisfaction”
The manufacturer will simply answer “quality product”
 Five Approaches of Defining Quality

Generally five principal approaches are considered to

define quality.

• Transcendent
• Product based
• User based
• Manufacturing based
• Value based
Transcendental view
• Advertisers are fond of promoting products in these terms.
“Where shopping is a pleasure” (supermarket). “We love to
fly and it shows" (airline). Television and print media are
awash with such indefinable claims and therein lies the
problem:
• Quality is difficult to define or to operationalize. It thus
becomes elusive when using the approach as basis for
competitive advantage. Moreover, the functions of design,
production and service may find it difficult to use the
definition as a basis for quality management.
PRODUCT BASED

• Quality is viewed as a quantifiable or measurable

characteristic or attribute. For example durability or
reliability can be measured and the engineer can design to
that benchmark.
• Quality is determined objectively.
• Although this approach has many benefits, it has limitation
as well. Where quality is based on individual taste or
preference, the benchmark for measurement may be
misleading.
USER BASED

• It is based on idea that quality is an individual matter and

products that best satisfy their preferences are those with the
highest quality. This is rational approach but leads to two
problems;
• Consumer preference vary widely and it is difficult to
aggregate these preferences into products with wide appeal.
This leads to the choice between a niche strategy or a
market aggregation approach which tries to identify those
product attributes that meet the needs of the largest number
of consumers.
MANUFACTURING BASED

• Manufacturing-based definitions are concerned primarily

with engineering and manufacturing practices and use the
universal definition of “conformance to requirements”.
Requirements or specifications are established by design
and any deviation implies a reduction in quality. The
concept applies to services as well as product. Excellence in
quality is not necessarily in the eye of the beholder but
rather in the standards set by the organization.
• This approach has the serious weakness. The consumer’s
perception of quality is equated with conformance and
hence is internally focused.
Value Based
• It is defined in term of costs and prices as well as
number of other attributes. Thus, the consumer’s
purchased decision is based on quality at an
acceptable price. This approach is reflected in the
popular Consumer Reports magazine which ranks
products and services based on two criteria: Quality
and Value.
• The highest quality is not usually the best value.
That designation is assigned to the “best- buy”
product or service.
The Dimensions of Quality
Customer expectations can be broken down into a
number of categories, or dimensions, that customers
use to judge the quality of a product or service.
Understanding these helps organizations in their
efforts to meet or exceed customer expectations. The
dimensions used for goods are somewhat different
from those used for services.
Product Quality

Product quality is often judged on nine dimensions of quality:

• Performance— main characteristics of the product
• Aesthetics— appearance, feel, smell, taste
• Special features— extra characteristics
• Conformance— how well a product corresponds to design
specifications
• Reliability— dependable performance
• Durability— ability to perform over time
• Perceived quality— indirect evaluation of quality (e.g., reputation)
• Serviceability— handling of complaints or repairs
• Consistency— quality doesn’t vary
Service Quality
The dimensions of product quality don’t adequately describe service quality. Instead,
service quality is often described using the following dimensions:
• Convenience— the availability and accessibility of the service
• Reliability— the ability to perform a service dependably, consistently, and
accurately
• Responsiveness— the willingness of service providers to help customers in
unusual situations and to deal with problems
• Time— the speed with which service is delivered
• Assurance— the knowledge exhibited by personnel who come into contact with a
customer and their ability to convey trust and confidence
• Courtesy— the way customers are treated by employees who come into contact
with them
• Tangibles— the physical appearance of facilities, equipment, personnel, and
communication materials
• Consistency— the ability to provide the same level of good quality repeatedly
• Expectations— meet (or exceed) customer expectations
Important Quality Terms

• Quality improvement can be distinguished from

quality control in that quality improvement refers to
purposeful change of a process to improve the reliability
of achieving an outcome.
• Quality control is the ongoing effort to maintain the
integrity of a process to maintain the reliability of
achieving an outcome.
• Quality assurance is the planned or systematic action
necessary to provide enough confidence that a product
or service will satisfy the given requirements of quality.
Quality Control vs Quality Assurance
Quality Control Quality Assurance
It is a set of activities for ensuring quality in It is a set of activities for ensuring quality in
products. The activities focus on identifying the processes by which products are
defects in the actual products produced. developed.
It aims to identify and correct defects in the It aims to prevent defects with a focus on
finished product and is a reactive process. the process used to make the product. It is a
proactive quality process.
The goal is to identify defects after a The goal is to improve development and
product is developed and before it is test processes so that defects do not arise
released. when the product is being developed.
Finding and eliminating sources of quality It establishes a good quality management
problems through tools and equipment so system and conducts assessment of its
that customer’s requirements are adequacy and periodic conformance audits
continually met. of the operations of the system
 Quality Control Quality Assurance
The activities or techniques used to Prevention of quality problems
achieve and maintain the product through planned and systematic
quality, process, and service. activities including documentation is
done.
It is usually the responsibility of a All team members involved in
specific team that tests the product for developing the product are responsible
defects. for quality assurance.
It is a corrective tool. It is a managerial tool.
Statistical quality control (SQC) is a Statistical process control is a part of
part of quality control. quality assurance.
Validation/Software testing is an Verification is an example of quality
example of quality control. assurance.