Philip B. Crosby: Quality Without Tears

essence embodied in the Absolutes of QualityManagement and

Basic Elements of Improvement

Absolutes:

-definition of quality is conformance to requirements, not as goodness.Requirements setting is the responsibility of management Everyone mustknow what is expected, not base quality on opinion.
-the system of causing quality is prevention. Must understand the productionprocess, and can use statistical tools to help us.
-less reliance on appraisal
-the performance standard is zero defects. AQL (Acceptable QualityLevel) out the window.
-the measurement of quality is the price of nonconformance. Need qualitycost data. Why? get management's attention, select opportunities for correctiveaction, and track performance over time. Has not been used as a managementtool and should be.

Basic Elements of Improvement

a-the effort is called a program rather than a process
b-all effort is aimed at the lower level of the organization
c-the quality control people are cynical
d-training material is created by the training function
e-management is impatient for results -education: Absolutes must beunderstood by everyone.

-implementation: Every manager must understand the implementation processand be committed to it.

Summarizes with the 6 C's:

Relies more heavily on changing corporate culture and attitudes thanDeming and Ishikawa whom rely more heavily on statistical methods.

Characteristics of a troubled organization

1. Outgoing product or service contains deviations from agreed-uponrequirements.
2. Company has extensive field service network to deal with customerproblems.
3. Management does not provide a clear performance standard or definitionof quality, causing workers to develop their own.
4. Management does not know the cost of nonconformance.
5. Management denies that it is the cause of the problem.

ACRONYM: DIRFT: do it right the first time

1. management commitment
2. quality improvement team. Purpose of team is guide process and helpit along. Leader must have access to top management. Need to change attitudesof management.
3. measurement. what to measure and how good is it.
4. cost of quality. determine what it is and areas to improve.
5. quality awareness. communicate the idea of quality around the organization
6. corrective action systems. must show where problems are and howto solve them.
7. zero defects planning. continuous improvement.
8. employee education. suggests specific course regimen to explainimportant concepts in quality improvement concept. You can buy.
9. zero defect day. management makes its commitment in front of everyone.
10. goal setting. done right after measurement. 14 steps are run inparallel.
11. error cause removal. Have people state their problems in such away so that they can be corrected.
12. recognition. proper recognition for performance which they havecontrol over. Must know what good performance is.
13. quality councils. have a group where quality professionals canget together and exchange ideas.
14. do it all over again. Continue process. Reestablish new qualitycommittee.

Many managers like Crosby's philosophy or technique becauseit is more concrete.

This document created by David Lewis 6/20/96

Last modified