- Cost of Quality
- Customer Satisfaction and Value
- Data Quality
- Global Quality
- Human Resources
- Innovation
- Baldrige National Quality Program
- ISO 9000
- Leadership
- Problem Solving
- Basic Quality
- Project Management
- Quality Assurance
- Quality Control
- Quality Management
- Quality Tools
- Six Sigma
- Standards
- Teams
- Total Quality Management
- Compliance
- Career Development
- Information Management
- Change Management
Progress Report
Six Sigma has been a hot topic discussed and implemented globally in the business world, nonprofit organizations and even governments. There is comparatively less research, however, into how to assess the maturity of Six Sigma implementation....
Quality Glossary
Five years after it published its first glossary of quality terms, ASQ has revised that glossary with updated definitions and new entries, many from the lean glossary published in 2005. This reference of terms, acronyms, and prominent figures in the...
Building Quality at Veridian Homes
Veridian Homes in Madison, Wisconsin uses several quality methods to improve productivity while reducing impact on the environment. To achieve its goal of promoting and coordinating quality throughout the company, the company employed the National...
Career Corner: Three R's for Quality Professionals
While talking with the president of a growing service company, I learned he had some painful connections to the concept of quality professionalism. The words he associated with those who had "quality" in their job titles were overwhelmingly negative....
Improve Profits With Standards
The goal of CEOs and business managers is to make products that please customers and produce a profit. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) provides a roadmap for profit gains through its standards and technical reports. Used in...
Driving Organic Growth at Bank of America
The American Customer Satisfaction Index has shown that customers view banks and other financial institutions as a commodity, and consequently, they have no reason to establish a relationship with any one bank. In 2001 executives at Bank of America saw...
Managing Project Quality
Quality professionals who normally deal with ongoing processes need to know how to manage project quality effectively. Quality initiation and quality closure stages, unique because of the temporary nature of such projects, are often neglected. Failure...
Translate Know-What Into Know-How
Organizational change is a much more difficult challenge than we've been led to believe....
Quality Glossary
A handy reference is provided of quality terms, acronyms, and key people in the history of quality. Information is derived from a variety of sources and compiled by the editorial staff of the American Society for...
ISO 9001:2000 and Customer Satisfaction
One of the most important changes in ISO 9001:2000 is the inclusion of customer satisfaction data as an indicator of the value of processes adopted by an organization. Three of the most significant improvements are provisions that: Require registrants...
Six Sigma, E-Commerce Pose New Challenges
Companies feel a need to become more flexible and ready to respond to rapid changes due to the growth of e-commerce. Corporate systems for responding to such changes have the same role as that of the central nervous system in the human body. The...
Customer-Value Analysis Helps Hone Strategy
Customer-value models include the customer-value hierarchy and the net present value of customers (NPVC). These illustrate the importance of high customer value to targeting long term, sustainable, and loyal customers, who help increase profitability...
The Emancipation of Quality: Building Bridges and Closing Gaps
The recent name change of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) is indicative of the future of the quality profession. Quality goes beyond quality control in manufacturing. It extends to all organizations and to all work. Quality is not only for...
The Four Re's of Total Improvement
Repair, refinement, renovation, and reinvention are strategies for improvement. Repair includes quick, temporary fixes as well as prevention of problems through root cause analysis. Except for the most critical and cross-functional problems, repairs...
Rethinking Traditional Quality Assurance
Quality professionals should support the transition of business from mass production and traditional services to mass customization and niche services. They should find new roles that accept quality as a value rather than a department. The profession...
Teams in the Age of Systems
The notion of customer- in, which is adapted from the ideas Figure 2. The Paradigm Shift in Management Philosophy Hierarchical approach to management Origin: The Prussian army; first used in business in the railroad industry in 1840 Focus on management Q...
A Not-So-Secret Recipe for Successful TQM
Companies that successfully implement TQM (total quality management) share ten characteristics. These characteristics are often seen in Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winners, though the Baldrige Award is no guarantee of continued success....
Managing the Link Between Measurement and Compensation
Key process Process owner ( UCS or supplier) Business processes Strategic and business planning UCS Total quality management UCS Support services processes Collections UCS Management of key constituencies UCS Customer acquisition management UCS Financial...
The Five Drivers of Total Quality
Service to customers, employees, and the business itself is the mission of the Menasha Corporation. A hierarchy of five drivers of quality implements this mission. People quality is the driver with the most influence. This requires selecting the...
