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Chapter 2 Summary

This chapter is about quality theory and the theories about quality. In the reading it says that theory can be defined as, a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena. Quality has a lot of theories but there isnt an exact theory about what quality can be defined as.

Quality improvement and worker morale directly relate. When quality improvement is throwed off and the workspace isnt up to par with management and just work conditions in general, worker morale will not be good because when a worker views his workplace negatively, they will not want to be a good employee because their work environment isnt good. Quality improvement is independent and worker morale is dependent on quality improvement.

Induction can be defined as an approach to theory development based on observation and description, although the process of induction is useful, it is subject to observer bias and misperception. Deduction can be defined as an approach to theory development based on modeling.

W. Edwards Deming is one of the main contributors to quality theory. He has been widely accepted as the worlds preeminent authority on quality management. The Japanese had been using Demings teachings on quality management which in turn led Americans to noticing that the Japanese had better quality products. Demings thinking was based on the use of statistics for continual improvement. He worked in the Western Electric Hawthorne Plant in the 1920s. He trained in engineering and mathematical physics at the University of Wyoming and Yale University. He worked to identify systematic quality problems. Deming also gave seminars, wrote books, taught classes, and published articles to explain his approach to quality.

Joseph M. Juran is also another leader in quality theory. Juran promotes the view that organizational quality problems are largely the result of insufficient and ineffective planning for quality. He argues that companies must revise strategic planning processes and achieve mastery over these processes. Juranstrilogy for essential managing to improve quality consists of planning, control, and improvement.

Juran also believed in control vs. breakthrough. Juranbelieves that control is a process-related activity that ensures processes are stable and provides a relatively consistent outcome. Breakthrough improvement implies that the process has been studied and that some major improvement has resulted in large nonrandom improvement to the process. Control and breakthrough related activities should occur simultaneously.

Project by project improvement is an approach advocated by Juran is a planning-based approach to quality improvement. Juran states that managers must prioritize which projects will be undertaken first.

Another leading contributor to quality theory is Armand Feigenbaum. Feigenbaum proposes a three-step process to improving quality. These steps involved quality leadership, quality, technology, and organizational commitment. Major impediments to improving quality included the four deadly sins of hothouse quality, wishful thinking, producing overseas, and confining quality to the factory.

Quality theory cannot be defined as one thing. There is not one theory to quality as seen in the quality contributors. Everybodys mindset is different about quality and what everyone views as quality is different, especially when trying to decide what is more important than the other.

Quality management can really relate to quality theory because the quality of management is based on what someone see as most fit to make the quality better in all aspects of life, especially when relating to business. Businesses need a quality theory so that workers and managers can base what they do off what the company defines as quality.

Without a quality theory in business, a business will not have anything to base their standards off and will not be as organized as it needs to be. Every business has its own standards for what they want which is what the organization it itself abides by.