Quality First

by Joel C. Amante, Ph.D. The success of a business is basically determined by the effectiveness of its management. Ultimately then the quality of people in management determines the success of a business. If a business is faltering or is less than what it was envisioned to be, the way the business is being run must be changed. But herein lies the challenge, the challenge of how to reinvent an organization and the challenge of how to change entrenched human behavior. One of the great Japanese industrialists, Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Matsushita Electric Industries, said that one has to make people first before making products. Matsushita firmly believed that only quality people can make quality products and services. Hence even before embarking on any change program, one has to first instill in peoples minds the essential values required for achieving business excellence. In the implementation of Total Quality Management or TQM, several core concepts need to be learned, practiced and integrated in the way work is done. The first of these concepts is the philosophy of Quality First, not quantity first nor cost first. The value of this concept can be seen in operations where the most economical way of making a product, for instance, is by producing only the exact quantity required by a customer. If there is no quality in designing, planning, and producing a product, one has to make more than what is required to cover for losses due to defects. Aside from doing more, rework often needs to be done as well that eventually results to higher costs. By considering quality first, therefore, one automatically creates the right quantity and the right cost at the same time. Quality first requires that a quality attitude be adopted by everyone in an organization. It is said that the creation of anything of value consists of two steps: first is the conceptualization in the creators mind and second is the actual physical creation. If there is quality in the way a product or service is conceived, there is a good likelihood that a quality product or service will be created. A quality mind conceives and creates quality processes which in turn will create quality products and services. So the next time you hear Thats okay have it replaced by Thats exactly right. Lets change our culture of accepting second rate products and services and always think of quality first even if sometimes, quantity or cost first seems more expedient.