Section 9: Quality

The nature of quality

Most people think quality is a desirable thing. Many businesses describe themselves as quality organisations. It is difficult to find anyone who is against quality.

If those who supply goods and services are so intent on achieving quality, why is it that so often customers find that they do not get the quality they want? One reason is that the word 'quality' can, and is frequently used to, mean quite different things.

Hover over each of the people below to see how many different descriptions of quality there are.

Take a few minutes to think about the word 'quality'. What does it mean to you? What would you consider to be the characteristics of a quality product or service? Activity 12 in My Activities asks you to reflect on the definitions given by these other people.

It may be that not all of these definitions of quality are relevant to your business. If you found that was the case, can you think of any business you know of where all of them could apply?