Research by Cheng, Li and Luo (2014) provides an important contribution to our view of quality — the fact that it is dynamic and may be determined by context. They suggest that the evaluation of quality in China can only partly take into consideration existing mature quality evaluation models traditionally accepted by Western economies (particularly the methods of evaluating customer satisfaction) because there are conditions that are unique to China, including the conditions it has experienced during its economic transition.

While there is a general perception, both nationally and internationally that, overall, product quality is poor in China (with widespread media attention on the outbreak of serious product safety incidents such as milk powder and infant formula containing melamine), there is less recognition of quality indicators — such as that China is now the largest commodity exporter in the world, particularly to countries with strict quality standards such as the United States and European countries.

Using four measures of quality: consumer satisfaction with quality; product safety; government regulations on quality; and citizens’ concept of quality, Cheng, Ki and Luo suggest that the overall evaluation of quality in China is summarised as having just reached a general standard. What is most revealing about the study is that they find that while product safety remains steady as a whole, government quality regulations are ineffective because it is Chinese citizens’ perceptions about the concept of quality that are actually poor. Supporting this are their findings of a positive relationship between the effectiveness of government regulation on quality and Chinese citizens’ concept of quality, consumer satisfaction with quality and product safety. This shows it is not enough to simply have controls in place, it is also important to communicate them. This perspective adds a twist to our traditional notions of continuous improvement, with the authors calling not only for an emphasis on product safety during quality evaluation and quality improvement systems, but also for the constant enhancement of quality regulation effects on Chinese citizens’ concept of quality, as the means to drive quality development.

QUESTION

Why is it important to communicate quality control measures to customers?