Total Quality Pioneers Paper
February 21, 2011
MGT/449

Total Quality Pioneers
When thinking of quality, it is easy to assume that one is speaking in terms of a product that he or she may have bought or received. The quality of an item is usually what many people base his or her judgments; what is forgotten is that quality is not only the product but also the organization and employees that one deals with purchasing an item or when receiving an item. Quality keeps the global markets competitive and keeps organizations working as hard as possible to keep consumers happy. Total quality is the key reason that the products that are manufactured are products that succeed the expectations of even the hardest critics.
Quality and Its Elements
Quality can be judged in many different categories. One can judge the quality of a product or the quality of services rendered and one can judge an organization base of these two prior judgments. When attempting to completely understand quality, one must understand the key elements of total quality. There are 11 key elements to total quality that must be examined. These key elements are strategically based, customer focus, obsession with quality, scientific approach, long-term commitment, teamwork, continual process improvement, education and training, freedom through control, unity of purpose, and employee involvement and empowerment (Goetsch & Davis, 2010).
In regards to strategically based, Goetsch and Davis (2010) stated that for an organization to have a comprehensive strategic plan the plan must include at least the elements of vision, mission, broad objectives, and activities that needed to be completed to be able to achieve the broad objectives. In regards to customer focus, two areas are applied, the external customer and the internal customer. The external customer is the customer who defines the quality of the product or service that is delivered, while the internal customer defines the quality of the people, processes and environments that are associated with the products or services received (Goetsch & Davis, 2010). Obsession with quality is explained as the company finding the need of meeting and exceeding what the company has defined as quality. Scientific approach is the approach of using hard data in establishing benchmarks, monitoring performance, and making improvements (Goetsch & Davis, 2010). Long-term commitment is considered necessary when implementing total quality and the teamwork element is considered necessary so that unnecessary energy is not spent on internal competition (Goetsch & Davis, 2010). Continual process improvement is the element of constantly improving the quality of products and services provided by the company and education training is the element considered fundamental to total quality because it improves the employees of the company on a continuous basis (Goetsch & Davis, 2010).
Freedom through control is the element of involving and empowering the employees of the company and more minds to the decision making processes while unity of purpose is the element that is considered to mean that all employees work together for a common goal (Goetsch & Davis, 2010). The last and final element is employee involvement and empowerment. This element not only increases the likelihood of a good decision or a better plan, but also promotes ownership of decisions by involving the people who will implement them (Goetsch & Davis, 2010).
Philip B. Crosby and Quality Elements
Quality is a number of related concepts pulled together by various concepts and had three very large contributors, one being Philip B. Crosby. Philip B. Crosby started his career later than the other two pioneers Deming and Juran. Crosby defined quality as conformance and is best known for his advocacy of zero defects management (Goetsch & Davis, 2010). Crosby was known for his Quality Vaccine and Crosby’s Fourteen Steps to Quality Improvement. Crosby’s Quality Vaccine consisted of the ingredients determination, education, and implementation.
Crosby created Crosby's Quality College which is an educational division of PCA II and was established for the first time in Winter Park, FL in 1979 (Johnson, n.d.). The college has taught more than 100,000 top managers and executives worldwide in helping them focus on building and maintaining a preventative culture, aiming at accomplishing tasks the first time around (Johnson, n.d.). The college now offers more than 30 products and courses and has been translated into 17 languages and operates in more than 20 countries around the world (Johnson, n.d.). Crosby uses the elements of customer focus, education and training, continual process improvement, and freedom through control in helping him become successful.
Usefulness and Future of Quality
Quality provides an opportunity for the people of the world and the organizations of the world to continuously improve. With quality comes competition, with competition comes improvement and with improvement comes better results. As the quality of products and services begins to be scrutinized and reviewed, quality will continue to be a priority. While priority keeps organizations functioning and employees constantly learning more and growing, not only with the company but for themselves, priority will always be needed throughout the world. Quality is the key component not only for organizational structural but for growth personally as well.

References
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2010). Quality management for organizational excellence: Introduction to total quality (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Johnson, K. (n.d). Philip B. Crosby's mark on quality. Quality Progress, 34(10), 25-31. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.