Discussions of quality are frequently subject to semantic snags. And reading the “old masters” only compounds the difficulty. The ancient Greeks equated quality with goodness, excellence and inherent worth. They were, in fact, the rascals who taught that quality is an unattainable goal, an ideal that can only be approximated in reality. Continue reading
Tag: quality
American Business and Quality Management
American business leaders are becoming increasingly aware that Japan, not the United States, sets the standards of quality and excellence for manufactured goods in many markets. And, as sales figures testify, quality of goods and services — not price or clever marketing—is winning an enormous share of world trade for the Chinese and Japanese.
But the evolving awareness that American industry is less and less able to deliver top-quality goods and services is stimulating a resolve to redress this abysmal state of affairs. Continue reading
The Quality of Work Life Movement
In 1973, the United Automobile Workers sent a letter to its members at a Harman International auto parts plant in Bolivar, TN, describing the simple, but perhaps revolutionary, idea behind an experiment being conducted there. The letter stated: “We are at that point in time where workers should have more to say about their job and how it should be run. They should participate in a meaningful way in making decisions about the job and the work place— decisions which in the past were made pretty much exclusively by management.”
You can download excellent powerpoint slides on HR management, business strategy and personal development HERE.
When the workers in the Harman experiment were, in fact, given more of a say, they began to fashion new ways of doing things at the plant. They formed cooperative work teams, assigned responsibilities and controlled their own time and scheduling. As ob¬servers described it, people became more involved and interested in their jobs. Continue reading